FJ Cruisin' around Mammoth Lakes

Chupacabra · 09-24-2006, 09:14 PM

Took off Thursday Morning with my Buddy Swampchicken and headed north on 395 for Mammoth. We had a weekend of fun planned with Friday scheduled on a private ranch in Nevada to fish a secluded 2 mile stretch of the East Walker River.

When we arrived Thursday afternoon, we checked into our hotel and uloaded our gear and then headed out to do a bit of four wheeling. Soon enough we were having some fun on a nice single track area bouncing rocks and rubbing trees when we found a killer hill climb. YEAH! The first real test for the new FJ. Unfortunately the hill was so steep, that by the time Swamp or I thought to get pictures, we were already committed. Oh well... onward and upward. My FJ is a 6SM and I put her in 4 Low. Decomposing granite rocks and plenty of talcom powder fine Sierra dust made for some slipping and slidding, but up and over we went. Too much Fun.

Me - "Hey Swamp, want to do it again and get some pics?"
Swamp - "Ummmmm... No." LOL

Friday we were up and gone by 5am and headed into Nevada where we found fast, high moving water, but we had a blast. I have NEVER lost more fish in one day as I did that day. Swing and a miss was my battle cray for the day, although I did manage to land a few nice Browns and some Rainbows.

The day was soon over and we took the back roads from Bridgeport and did some Wheeling back to the old Masonic townsite and mill ghost town. Managed to find a hill I could not get the FJ up, but I blame that more on street inflated Stock BF Goodrich tires than a failure on the FJ. Just too damn loose and too much of an incline to get up, but backing down a 30% single track grade sure can be exciting.

Saturday was the Double Haul in the Fall and Swamp and I headed over at 6am to get the boat ready. Ice al over everything and man that wind was cold. Took care of the anglers on the north cover by leighton springs. Unfortunately the wind came up and the tourney was called off about an hour and a half early. Swamp and I trolled in and we got a nice Brown that went almost 21" and was a good 4.5 lbs.

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Chupacabra · 09-24-2006, 09:24 PM

After we got in we headed to the hotel for a nap and then off to the awards ceremony. It was OK, but the beans Brats and Cheese held the most promise for an entertaining evening later on.

After we headed out we drove to Minaret Look out and found a 4X4 trail which we decided to explore. Pretty damn cool trail. A few good technical sections and some good steeps which required 4Low, but other than that simply a good workout for the suspension.

Soon enough we found ourselves on top of the world with aview to die for.

10190' elevation and 37 degrees F.

In the Photo titled FJ 3, you can see Mammoth Ski Basin behind us to the right of my truck and I think below us in elevation.

Soon enough it was getting very dark and even colder, so after watching the sunset over the Minarets, we headed down.

In this shot you can see the temp gage and inclinometer. Sorry it's a bit blurry, but taking a photo while going down a 15% - 20% incline while pitching to the side the same amount was a pain.

Great trip. Can't wait to get my new wheels and tires and lift kit and then see where I can go. You can't beat the Eastern Sierras for outdoor fun.

Chupacabra

for realsss · 09-24-2006, 09:55 PM

Wow. 38 degrees. Yikes. Sweet trip though, I would love to go on something like that minus the fishing part.

Chupacabra · 09-24-2006, 10:11 PM

Fishing Makes a handy Excuse to go 4-Wheelin and Exploring. ;-)

Chupacabra

tnegiet · 09-25-2006, 10:49 PM

Wow, what a great trip! I'm envious!

**Woodsman** · 09-26-2006, 05:51 AM

You westerners with your great scenery and stories really make it tough for me to get out and go to work every day. . .

jbd2002 · 09-26-2006, 07:07 AM

That looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for the pics.

MDK · 09-26-2006, 07:49 AM

Looks like a great trip all round-thanks for sharing- nice brown! With that much wind and water did you fish a dropper nymph deep behind a dry?

Chupacabra · 09-26-2006, 01:57 PM

MDK,

I was stripping streamers, both on the river and on the lake, as well as super slow trolling with streamers while tooling around.

Perch Mautka's, olive green Matuka's, and other baitfish streamers worked best.

The bite at Hot Creek was on Dry Flys and I had the best luck on Griffths Dunn Parachutes.

Hey Alphabet Soup (Tnegiet), sorry I gave you the wrong pattern name last night. The Matuka is the critter to use.

Chupacabra