Monache Meadows last weekend | 4WDTalk - Overlanding and offroad Forum
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Monache Meadows last weekend

smritte

smritte

Well-known member
This last weekend, my group went out to Monache Meadows.

Myself and another vehicle went out Friday morning. I planned to stay there until Tuesday. The group was going to be heading home on Sunday afternoon.

I wanted to be on the road by 7am Friday morning. Right off the bat, my Land Cruiser developed a misfire. Looped back home and threw everything into my Tacoma. Two things. First is I have never towed my trailer with my Tacoma. Second, I know damn well I’m going to forget something. Yep, called it. No coffee and more importantly my In-Reach. The trailer has emergency coffee bags (like tea bags) but their old and don’t really taste the same. The In-Reach is more important because that's how everyone knows where were camped. As far as I knew, there were a few planning on arriving in the dark. There are several different trails once your up there. This is why I make everyone run good radio and antenna.

We topped off fuel at a station located a few miles from where we turn up to the mountains. There had to be 20 plus “Overlanding” vehicles parked near it, with everyone standing around taking a break. Earlier, while driving down the highway, I was listening to a small group chatting on the GMRS. I believe they were somewhere behind us. Evidently, they pulled into the same station.

As we left, I heard one of them say, they had asked the “Overlanding” group where they were headed. Considering where we were going is wildly popular, it didn’t surprise me to hear everyone was going to the same area. Fortunately we were ahead of both groups.
About an hour up the mountain road we passed a small store at Kennedy Meadows. This is the only fuel up on the mountain and they were charging almost $8 a gallon.
45 minuets later, we turned off onto the trail head. This is where I realized my Tacoma doesn't have an air compressor and the vehicle with me didn’t have one either. Even though the route is considered a black diamond trail, I didn’t really need the lower pressure for traction, just comfort. The trail in was more rutted than I have seen before but even though I don’t have lockers, the traction was good.

We had a few camp spots in mind. All of them were at the far end of the area and two of them were next to the river. This route dead ended. You have to drive in and out on the same road.
The first thing I noticed, was the number of people there. Every site we passed was taken by a group that looked like they've been there for a while. Driving to the end of the area, we found the spots we wanted already occupied and one of them had a huge group with the vehicles almost literally stacked because there were more vehicles than space. Fortunately I had spotted an area that would hold our group behind us a bit.
I didn’t know what our final group size was but these farther trips normally don’t draw as many people. I was guessing 6-7 rigs total (of course, I was wrong). We back tracked a bit and claimed our spot around 2:30 PM. The area we parked was a bit spread out and was actually three small areas in between the trees, each with their own fire ring.

While we were setting up, several groups of vehicles kept driving past, most were headed farther in where the other groups were. I still hadn't seen the large group from the gas station and I got worried about someone taking the other side of the area I just claimed. I parked my trailer in one spot, Tacoma in another and set up a table in the third. Mind you, the area I got was about 30 yards across but, if the groups driving past didn’t have a spot, there were no other big spots left. Over the next several hours, I saw at least 30-40 vehicles drive past, heading to the crowded area with only a few driving back out.
About 9PM, I heard one of my group on the radio coming in. We got him into camp and he sent out the coordinates to the others. About midnight two more of our group showed up. The rest were probably going to get here around lunch time.

Morning came, the weather was clear with an overnight temp around 50 degrees. Some of the guys wanted to go fishing and I wanted to go exploring some. We broke up into two groups of two and off we went. The weather was great with a few clouds moving in but, nothing that concerned me. We drove around looking at the sites and around noon, heard the rest of our group coming in on the radio. We headed back to camp for lunch and help the others get set up. Earlier I had estimated our group being small (ish). We ended up with 12 rigs and managed to squeeze everyone in except one who parked across from us. He actually had the best spot and was just across from us. I want to mention, the number of vehicles driving back and forth didn’t stop.

As the afternoon wore on, the clouds got thicker and about 4PM it started raining off and on. Dinner was going to be pot luck and someone decided my awning was the best spot to park all the food. Then it was decided to eat under another awning (270 degree with walls) that was located on the other end of camp. We got most of the group in there comfortably with two ammo can fire pits to warm it. A few chose to eat in another spot. The picture below is most of us under the awning. After dinner, this spot turned into the community center. We spent the rest of the evening drinking and laughing. Good times.

The rain kept on through the night and into the morning. At this point, I decided to head home with the group that morning. I had planned on a few more days but, if the rain degraded the trail too much, I wasn't sure if my Tacoma would be able to navigate the trail pulling my trailer. FYI, my Tacoma only has a lift and tires, no other gear or mods. If I had a winch, I would have been good.
Also, due to the shear number of vehicles camping past us, we decided to get out early or be stuck behind a huge group.

I was packed and driving out by 9AM. There were a total of five in my group with the others following about 30 minuets behind us. The rain was on and off the whole way down then steady once on the highway. I made it home by 2PM.

Even though I had planned to stay a few more days, the short time up there was still great. The rain doesn't bother me at all. Wind on the other hand is something else. For me its about the camping and the friendship shared with the others.


Picture time.

Main camp. You cant see some in the back or the one behind me.
Main camp sm.jpg

Most of us under the awning
Groupsm.jpg

River and meadow
medow1sm.jpg creek1 sm.jpg

medow2 sm.jpg creek forest sm.jpg
 
Lucky for you the misfired happened close enough to home! Monache Meadows is a favorite here. Did you notice the water in the river deeper on the way out from the rain?
 
Scott Macon said:
Lucky for you the misfired happened close enough to home! Monache Meadows is a favorite here. Did you notice the water in the river deeper on the way out from the rain?
Click to expand...
So far it looks like plug wires. One would think the factory wires would live longer then six years.

Scott Macon said:
Lucky for you the misfired happened close enough to home! Monache Meadows is a favorite here. Did you notice the water in the river deeper on the way out from the rain?
Click to expand...

Water levels were slightly higher. I was told, a few months ago during the snow melt the water was almost too fast to cross. Considering the storm wasn't as bad as the media said it would be, I regret not staying until today.
 
First point - media is full of @#$#%^

Second - what a cool adventure. With the rain, that must have become a mudfest back there. I've been up there a number of times, but never during or immediately after rain. I am surprised to hear there were so many people up there. That's a buzz kill. Downside to places gaining popularity. That country store cracks me up. You speak about $8 gas, last time I was up there, I paid nearly that for ketchup! :ROFLMAO:
 
BootLeg JK said:
Second - what a cool adventure. With the rain, that must have become a mudfest back there. I've been up there a number of times, but never during or immediately after rain.
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Not as muddy as one would think. Even the river crossings were good traction.

BootLeg JK said:
I am surprised to hear there were so many people up there. That's a buzz kill. Downside to places gaining popularity. That country store cracks me up. You speak about $8 gas, last time I was up there, I paid nearly that for ketchup! :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
One of the end river side camp spots that sits parallel to the stream looked like an Overlanding exabit. That's how tightly they were packed. After we made camp, the people kept driving back there. One group of ten (ish) looked like a guided trip. The lead vehicle had "something Overland" on the side. He had every cheap gaudy bolt on item you could imagine. They drove past all happy and 30 mins later drove back looking disappointed.

I will say this, 80% new Tacoma/4Runner. 19% Jeep and a smattering of full sized. As you passed our camp site, there was a turn with a large rock. You just had to take the turn wide. Almost all of the Toyotas tried to drive over it and most got hung up. No one needed to be strapped and it did provide entertainment.

One more thing. People need to NOT drive with all their amber lights on. Every time we crossed paths with one they blinded the crap out of us. It was getting old quick.
 
Benefits of having a second truck! I bet you all had a blast out there. Crummy weather can bring some of the best experiences.
 
I only drive with my ambers on when going down roads with tight turns and blind corners.
 
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