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Trail Report – Dusy Ershim Trail (Part One)
Not far from Shaver Lake, there is one of the most technical but scenic trails in California. This is the Dusy / Ershim Trail. It is actually two trails that were joined over time that were originally made to reach the fishing lakes of the western high Sierras. The USFS has specifically asked that the trail be maintained as it is and to NOT make it any easier! One book that describes the trail says that this is a trail for 'heroes'. Having run the trail for the first time, I would have to agree!
The ‘Dusy’ is not for the faint of heart. In theory, the 33 mile long trail can be driven in one day, but I would have to say that from pavement to pavement would require a most focused driver and one willing to traverse at least a very difficult portion of the trail in the dark to make it in a single day!
Several MJR folks met to take the Dusy challenge. We set aside 3 days to do the trail, but if I get a chance to run the trail again, I will set aside 4 to 5 days to make the run.
Max7 (Maxwell), Dirtman13 (Chuck and Alicia), Rat Patrol (Kurt), and Malachi (that’s me and Sharon) met at Voyager Rock Campground on Saturday evening. I love these pics over the Courtright Reservoir on the way in:
After a great meal by Chuck and Alicia, I headed down to the beach for some great shots of the fading light:
We discovered that Saturday was Rat Patrol’s birthday, so we dubbed this run as 'Kurt’s Birthday run'. Since his birthday wasn’t over until the run ended, Kurt had a three day birthday!
On Sunday, we awoke to an overcast sky. After an excellent breakfast provided by Rat Patrol, we headed out of Voyager Rock campground to the first BIG obstacle on the Dusy Ershim trail: Chicken Rock. This is a large granite dome that has a small rock garden to traverse to get to. The climb is long and steep. As long as you do not stall, the climb is really only moderate.
The vid captures the height of the climb fairly well:
There are great views from the top of Chicken Rock:
Afterwards, the trail drops down to the Reservoir for a while:
Next the trail passes into Dusy Meadows. The trail is never less than a difficult rating, but the meadows give the allusion that the trail isn’t so bad:
The corduroy roads across the wet spots are a great idea that still challenges the driver:
Even with the meadows along the way, the trail is full of rock-crawling challenges. This eventually culminates in the VERY long climb up Thompson Hill. This is a nasty, loose boulder climb from about 8500 feet elevation to 9500 feet elevation. It just doesn’t end when you really start hoping that it does. Check out these pics and vid:
Eventually, we made it to Thompson Lake… only 9 miles into the trail! We set up camp and fended off the mosquitoes. The area is absolutely beautiful in everyway:
The next morning, we headed across the high elevation (over 9000 feet) forested mountains. The trail was challenging every foot of the way. It was just as beautiful:
to be continued....
Not far from Shaver Lake, there is one of the most technical but scenic trails in California. This is the Dusy / Ershim Trail. It is actually two trails that were joined over time that were originally made to reach the fishing lakes of the western high Sierras. The USFS has specifically asked that the trail be maintained as it is and to NOT make it any easier! One book that describes the trail says that this is a trail for 'heroes'. Having run the trail for the first time, I would have to agree!
The ‘Dusy’ is not for the faint of heart. In theory, the 33 mile long trail can be driven in one day, but I would have to say that from pavement to pavement would require a most focused driver and one willing to traverse at least a very difficult portion of the trail in the dark to make it in a single day!
Several MJR folks met to take the Dusy challenge. We set aside 3 days to do the trail, but if I get a chance to run the trail again, I will set aside 4 to 5 days to make the run.
Max7 (Maxwell), Dirtman13 (Chuck and Alicia), Rat Patrol (Kurt), and Malachi (that’s me and Sharon) met at Voyager Rock Campground on Saturday evening. I love these pics over the Courtright Reservoir on the way in:
After a great meal by Chuck and Alicia, I headed down to the beach for some great shots of the fading light:
We discovered that Saturday was Rat Patrol’s birthday, so we dubbed this run as 'Kurt’s Birthday run'. Since his birthday wasn’t over until the run ended, Kurt had a three day birthday!
On Sunday, we awoke to an overcast sky. After an excellent breakfast provided by Rat Patrol, we headed out of Voyager Rock campground to the first BIG obstacle on the Dusy Ershim trail: Chicken Rock. This is a large granite dome that has a small rock garden to traverse to get to. The climb is long and steep. As long as you do not stall, the climb is really only moderate.
The vid captures the height of the climb fairly well:
There are great views from the top of Chicken Rock:
Afterwards, the trail drops down to the Reservoir for a while:
Next the trail passes into Dusy Meadows. The trail is never less than a difficult rating, but the meadows give the allusion that the trail isn’t so bad:
The corduroy roads across the wet spots are a great idea that still challenges the driver:
Even with the meadows along the way, the trail is full of rock-crawling challenges. This eventually culminates in the VERY long climb up Thompson Hill. This is a nasty, loose boulder climb from about 8500 feet elevation to 9500 feet elevation. It just doesn’t end when you really start hoping that it does. Check out these pics and vid:
Eventually, we made it to Thompson Lake… only 9 miles into the trail! We set up camp and fended off the mosquitoes. The area is absolutely beautiful in everyway:
The next morning, we headed across the high elevation (over 9000 feet) forested mountains. The trail was challenging every foot of the way. It was just as beautiful:
to be continued....
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