My Favorite Trail of All Time: Slick Rock

on this Trail Recon Adventure I take you with me as I head for the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California to spend the next several days exploring some incredible Trails getting after it on some challenging obstacles finding some spectacular camping spots enjoying some delicious meals and camaraderie around the campfire this adventure however won't be without its challenges but it will all be worth it because this Trail would go on to become one of my favorite all-time trails and I already can't wait to go back [Music] welcome to Trail Recon I'm Brad and it is a very brisk morning here in a Northern California Forest Marco Ali and I drove up nine hours to meet up with Adam and some of his good friends and they're going to show us their backyard trails and I'm really excited about it we started off last night on this Trail called sour grass and it's just a really cool trail that runs along this River where we have camped which is unbelievable but there was some rocks and a little water crossing a nice little way to kick it off and then today we're heading to a place that I've really been looking forward to check out it's called slick Rock it's a little bit of rubicon-esque there should be some Granite some more Forest then we're gonna head over to a place called Deer Valley do a little camping there I hear it's very Scenic and then we're going to explore that one the following day and then Camp again this is going to be an awesome time Marco is going to cook up some ciao so that'll be fun hopefully they'll just be all kinds of cool stuff that I can share with you along the way I'm so so excited to be up here what an opportunity I cannot thank Adam and his team enough for inviting us up here this is going to be a great trip guys the sour grass Trailhead is located a couple miles Northeast of a small town called Arnold just off of Highway 4. the trail is an up and back that is only a couple miles long and it winds through the forest and there's a few obstacles that will require high clearance or larger tires and we noted some really nice campsites along the trail this was a great place for us to meet up spend the night and get a slight Taste of the terrain that would lay ahead of us over the next couple days foreign after coming off the trail airing up and assessing a few new bumps and bruises that we took it was time to continue our Drive Northeast along Highway 4 to the trailhead of slick Rock the anticipation was really starting to build I have heard so many great things about this Trail and to finally be here and have the opportunity to explore a new place is really what I live for so we've driven about 45 minutes east and we've ended up here to the trailhead where everybody is airing down and then we're going to get ready to roll and it is so beautiful to drive out here it was awesome and there are some amazing mountain ranges granites the forest to give you some perspective of where we are at to the north of us is Lake Tahoe to the south of us is Yosemite and this place is just as beautiful as those places I cannot wait to see the trail ahead we should be getting a little flexi from what I understand but we've got eight rigs here let me introduce you to everybody and then we're gonna hit the trail this is going to be a great time all right a quick introduction to the group so you have probably seen Adam's Jeep here before we did a full walk around with it and he was with me on the Jeep dirt and drive where we did some pretty gnarly Trails Marco's here got the Jeep all set up and the cooking is going to be happening tonight buddy I cannot wait many of you guys have been asking about the JK and here it is and for the type of Wheeling we're going to be doing today the JK is the way to go I think it's going to be awesome I can't wait to show you guys in here we've got Josh and Michelle this is an awesome build I can't wait to see them out on the trail with this thing been following him out on Instagram for a while here is Kayla's Jeep big sexy this is Adam's wife she's got her own Jeep she loves to wheel it's going to be great to see that one out there the folks from powertank have joined us which is pretty cool so we've got Steve Tyler and Ken in the back and they are towing a trailer so some of this stuff we're going to go through it'll be interesting to watch to see how that trailer performs be keeping a close eye on that Ollie is here with Kate the Jeep he cooked up a great meal last night and it's always great to see that rig on the trail this is CJ he's a local sheriff here in town he knows these Trails really well and then last but not least they said there were eight vehicles but Eric just joined us here in the ninth vehicle so guys we're ready to head out I cannot wait to see what's in store for us one of the things I really love about the off-road Community is how quickly people form bonds and friendships this was a great group of like-minded folks I was happy to be sharing this adventure with our Convoy headed into the woods along an easy Forest Road that was filled with amazing views all along the way we had to stop in and soak in one for just a minute so we just pulled off the trail to check out the view of the Utica Reservoir what an amazing spot and apparently this is really big with the kayakers and hikers just beautiful out here the scenery I think is just going to get better and better I mean just look at all these granite rocks around us oh yeah we're gonna go have some fun just a few minutes later down the trail we reached the trailhead of slick Rock and I've seen many signs that say rough road ahead that are usually just dirt roads with a few potholes in them this one actually means it foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] foreign I was having a blast on the trail and up to this point we had only experienced a few tight turns and some good sized rocks that we needed to roll over but this section here would be one of many that would test our suspensions and our tire grip it's a series of a couple Granite waterfalls that are pretty easy to navigate with a good line even throttle control and a rear Locker can be helpful [Applause] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign okay guys so we've come up to this next obstacle it's called staircase I don't know how well the camera is going to show up but I'm sure once the Jeeps start coming through here and getting flexi you'll get a good idea of it but this is pretty steep and Rocky this will be fun to come down this is what I'm talking about thank you [Music] [Applause] there you go perfect perfect foreign [Music] foreign [Music] slick Rock really reminds me of the Rubicon Trail but without all the constant obstacle after obstacle there were plenty of sections of easy driving down dirt Forest roads unlike the Rubicon that really never gives you a break I've wield all types of terrains over the years from the desert to the mountains to sloppy mud to Slick Rock and Moab and even a little snow and I enjoy the uniqueness each one of those terrains has to offer but if I had to pick just one what my favorite terrain to wheel would be it would be this in the Mountain Forest with a little dirt and some Granite obstacles along the way oh yeah this is it for me I'm loving this Trail [Music] [Music] all right [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] so we have stopped here for lunch it's about 12 30. we've been going for a couple hours it's been an awesome Trail this is so amazing but we are now at the base of the actual slick Rock and I don't think it shows up very well on camera but that is super steep should be fun getting to the top of that thing it seems like this is almost how lunch always turns out on the trail you pull over when everyone gets hungry you grab the easiest thing you can out of your cooler you stretch your legs and just have some good camaraderie I'll take this over a fast food drive-through lunch any day of the week [Applause] foreign foreign [Music] so we've been going in and out of some beautiful Scenic trees and just it's actually smoothed out it's a nice dirt road but we've got to a y here and we've got to make a decision to the right is definitely Technical and I know Adam is going that way and I think I'm going that way too Marco I am going I think we're all going to go that way but there is another section here that's a bypass I'll show you here in a second I don't think anybody's going that way but it's probably easier but we're going the fun way okay so we come up this section here which is right here no big deal it's kind of what we've been doing on and off all day but then there is this sharp left turn you got to make and you've got to navigate these Boulders and if you take a look at this one right here you've got to hit that one just right otherwise you're going to slip off and catch your diff let me show you the other side and the bypass here you can see you got to navigate around this big rock come through now you got to come up in here and then you got to make a pretty sharp right turn it looks a little easier it probably is a little easier but we're not going to go that way so here you will see Adam and others use a technique that I've used many times and that is to rest your rock slider on a rock and pivot the vehicle around it a good reason to have some strong Rock sliders because they are really helpful in tight situations like this one made that look easy but it's not fair there you go there you go forward [Music] [Music] all right I was talking to Steve earlier in the day and he had built this trailer over 20 years ago and has been Wheeling it all over it's Stout light and Nimble just large enough to carry some extra gear but small enough to navigate tight Trails like this now he obviously had to take a different line than the rest of the crew through this section but he was able to navigate that with the trailer nonetheless I'm pretty impressed with this little trailer thank you foreign foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] was smiling ear to ear and having a blast but we were definitely putting our Jeeps to work on this Trail and while everything was fairly easy to navigate sometimes components on your rigs get fatigued and even break when you are flexing and bouncing a lot like this and that's about to happen to someone in the Convoy here shortly so CJ was coming up a little flexi section here on the rocks and he's got a ram assist and his whole track bar bracket just got ripped right off and so now we got to figure out how we can fix it and get on the trail because we do have another pretty Hardy section to go through so we're just trying to sort that out there was a lot of experience in this group and we all realized that look sometimes it breaks happen and sometimes you've got to do some repairs out on the trail it was great seeing these guys come together to figure out how best to solve this problem and get CJ moving along again Steve had a pretty primitive battery Rod weld setup and with a little Force to get the bracket lined up to the axle tube he threw on about eight rods of weld onto the track bar and surprisingly it held really well he did a great job then for good measure we added some ratchet straps and after about an hour CJ was rolling along again these are the best kind of friends to wheel with so total bummer that CJ had that break but so awesome that they were able to fix it and uh got that ratchet strap on there we should be able to get him off the trail tomorrow the Silver Lining to all this is we actually found a beautiful campsite that's just less than a quarter mile from where he broke down so he's actually on his way over here right now this is this is really nice there's a river running over here we were supposed to be going out to Deer Valley but we're not upset that we have to Camp here and Marco has already started prepping dinner what's for dinner buddy shrimp and carne asada burritos oh yeah these guys are so lucky to have a place like this in their backyard to wheel and Camp I think I could spend every weekend up here just exploring and relaxing and camping Marco with Ali's help it began preparing dinner and the rest of us got camp set up and a fire going it was so great to see the joy and positive attitude everyone had how can you not be in High Spirits when you're in a place like this and the aroma of Marco's cooking in the background let's go see what he's making so Marco you've been over here prepping all kinds of food dude and you just pulled out something that I have never seen before what is this my portable blender to make salsa a little blender look at that it's hooked up to your little jacket battery and what are you making in there salsa salsa que Mala buddy I can't believe you bought a blender oh I needed one all right Marco you've been working hard for the last hour preparing dinner before we show everybody all the ingredients this is not in the new cookbook right no it's not maybe not second edition Second Edition all right show us what we got okay I'm gonna be making shrimp and carne asada burritos I already finished the guacamole and the salsa the guacamole is avocado tomato onions and it's got chipotle oh yeah that's the secret ingredient right there I like it this is a salsa kimada so I put everything on the fire the Tomato the chili and the onion yeah and I mix it on my blender blender some salt and garlic a little spice a little spice okay I got the carne for the carne asada it's got salt it's got pepper he's got garlic salt and um a little bit of oil okay and uh this is the shrimp oh yeah and we're ready I'll Ali helped me clean them yeah and they're already clean they got the Chipotle powder it's got a little bit of oil salt garlic powder and some oregano okay okay and um got the tortillas for the burrito and we got a very hungry crowd right back here over the years I've watched Marco cook dozens and dozens of times and every time he's cooking he's smiling with just as much joy as when he's smiling and Wheeling it's great to see the passion he has for food with all of the prep work done all he had to do was cook up the shrimp cook up the beef and then begin putting the burritos together but it is cold it's cold it's cold it's cold uh but this is gonna warm me up because that Salsa's got a little spice to us uh dude once again man thank you so much for cooking because you know dude it's amazing and guys if you are visiting the channel for the first time Marco's a vegetarian he just cooked steak and shrimp for everybody but you've got a guacamole one for yourself right I'm ready to dive in let's do this oh that guacamole the salsa all of it just oh so so flavored shrimp I could eat 10 of these guys thank you buddy all right Adam take a bite we want your first impressions oh man thank you phenomenal so good you like it thank you this is awesome with full bellies we called it an early night it had been an amazing last two days I feel so blessed to be out at a site like this I am so thankful for Adam and their crew leading us here this is amazing we had a great night last night hanging around the campfire eating some good Chow just talking about the day's events and all kinds of laughter it was awesome there's nothing better than a little camaraderie about the campfire now this morning was very chilly when we woke up but now that the sun has come up things are starting to warm up we're getting ready to pack up our gear another one of their buddies just joined us he's got a really cool Toyota Tacoma so we I'm looking forward to checking that out on the trail we'll definitely capture some footage of that this last little section of the trail that we're running today is called The Gauntlet it's supposed to be kind of challenging so we'll see how that goes looking forward to that and then we're heading over to Deer Valley and there's supposed to be some few obstacles there but really there's supposed to be some Lakes some nice scenery it should be beautiful more of this I'm hoping what an amazing place it's definitely some place I think Marco and I are already talking about coming back to well make sure before we headed out Tyler with the power tank Jeep treated us to some delicious fried rice for breakfast that he actually cooked on a homemade Scuttle that they had built right before this trip was a very cool little do-it-yourself project and that savory hot fried rice really hit the spot on this cold chilly morning of course the trail Recon Barista was at work I really enjoy caffeinating my friends we soon packed up ensured our fire was completely out picked up around camp and then it was time to head out today was gonna be epic [Music] foreign foreign [Music] [Music] okay guys so we've come to a little V in the road here and Josh you've been running this Trail for a long time I think it's a really cool story about why we're going to the left can you tell everybody kind of how this happened why are we going this way and not this way sure so this Trail's been out here for a long time and uh it used to this used to be the end of the trail and basically you'd run off just go straight here and you'd run through private property so we were able to access their private property and it was just kind of a smooth little through the woods uh deal and the the owners of the property decided you know that they had had enough of the Jeeps going through and the dust and just people being out there so they kind of shut off access to the public on the private property and um the group that runs the trail the San Joaquin Jeepers decided to create a new section of the trail and it's now the the new exit or entrance whichever way you run it so those guys in another groups of other people from the area formed this whole new section of the trail and it's actually the most difficult part of the trail they did a really good job I think the intent of it was to make it difficult to add some complexity to the trail um and so we're about to enter what's called The Gauntlet and it's just rock rock and then you hook a hard left and uh Boulders all over the place and then you'll go to another section which is called The Rock Garden you can bypass that but the bypass is also difficult so this part of the trail is my favorite part of the trail and I'm really glad they added it and they did I think they did a really good job with it awesome it's great seeing communities and off-road folks getting together to make things work out with everybody using the forest service and private property coming together I think it's a great story guys keep at it if there's a trail closure in your area I think there's ways to work through things and I think this is a prime example so this is the base of the gauntlet and you can see here just some Boulders and rocks and this will be pretty mild but then you get to the top where these guys are kind of scoping out the line things are going to get pretty interesting we're gonna have to be very careful about where our tire placement is today [Music] our Trail leader Adam was first up the gauntlet and he has gone up and down this section of Trail many many times and has built his Jeep to make easy work of this when you reach the top the direct left is the hard line and of course that was the way he went because he loves pushing the limits of his Jeep foreign Marco and I have been Wheeling for years and watching him navigate an obstacle like this is a thrill his Jeep is heavy and it's a manual so keeping everything in balance is really crucial on off-camber obstacles like this this was probably the most extreme obstacle I've ever seen him wheel and man it was impressive to watch research awesome buddy that's what we built them for Buddy absolutely so I'm Gonna Keep I'm so excited I was up next and this Trail to me really has the feel of the Rubicon flexing banging tight turns this is the kind of stuff that brings a smile to my face because being able to tackle an obstacle like this with a rooftop tent and all my camping gear is exactly why I over build my Jeep for over Landing or in today's case Rockland [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] up next was Steve in the power tank Jeep with his trailer and up to this point he had navigated everything with no problems and he's a seasoned veteran on this Trail so he knew what he was getting into pulling a trailer along here but it was just getting over the hump here where he finally ran into trouble so after a few attempts we broke out the winch because sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry once up and over making the turn around after that tree just required a wide approach and the rest was easy going going perfect this Tacoma is a great looking truck and a solid build that is very capable however not having any lockers did put him at a little bit of a disadvantage but look with good Tire placement and throttle control sometimes you can get around just fine with out lockers heat cleared the gauntlet in short order [Music] thank you if you remember from the previous episode CJ had sheared his front track bar completely off and they were able to weld it up and add some ratchet straps to keep things nice and tight we were keeping a good close eye on things and everything was going just fine until right about unfortunately the trail Gods just were not favoring CJ on this trip but look when you wheel hard sometimes as things break his drive shaft just didn't want to play anymore on slick Rock thankfully you can remove the drive shaft and still wheel around in two-wheel drive so after pulling it and winching him through this obstacle and the next and getting the last man up and over the gauntlet we were finally cruising along the trail again this was the hardest part of slick Rock but we did have a few more miles and a couple more obstacles that would need our attention before we hit the pavement and set out for Deer Valley foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so I realized that the angle you were watching this from doesn't really look like that big of a deal but this was downhill making a sharp turn to passenger and then that big step off it felt really Tipsy inside the Jeep Marco Ali and I can all agree this felt a little uncomfortable just because we're a little more top heavy than most but taking our time and a little good spotting from Adam no problem [Applause] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign little delay on our travels so we did take the bypass just because we need to save some time but this is a pretty hairy obstacle up here as yours coming up nice XJ up here which they just got done recovering which here let's roll into that and then I'll show you something else that's pretty interesting [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my chemical forward so pretty easy recovery but this is the vehicle that they would have used to recover it but if you look down here let's peek in here for a second they sheared off the knuckle so they're not able to use this as a recovery rig so now the XJ will probably be Towing this guy home but at least they're good to go now [Music] thank you [Music] slick rock is an amazing Trail and look you need to have your vehicle built a little bit to get out there you know some oversized tires so high clearance lockers are probably really going to be helpful but worth it to get out there you know you're going to get a little Flex you're gonna have a little fun but the reward once you're out there on those granite slabs the views the camping oh I think we're definitely going to be coming back all right everybody is airing up and then we're gonna head out to Deer Valley have a little lunch and then go explore that trail this is awesome I don't know what's to come but I know it's going to be amazing so it's good to have friends in the area and uh Adam's buddy Keith is here with the trailer and is going to get CJ home he's got some repairs to do but I know he'll be out on this Trail again soon after hitting the pavement we drove for a few miles hit a store fueled up and just enjoyed another scenic drive it wasn't long before we were at the Deer Valley trailhead it was a beautiful drive out here just through the mountains in the forest we've arrived here at the trailhead it's actually a bunch of campsites here so if you want to just come to this area and camp and then go explore you could do that but we're gonna head in to the trail into Deer Valley it's supposed to be a little bit Rocky but not as bad as slick Rock and then there's some lakes and some scenery we're just now airing down our belly's a full fall lunch we're gonna go hit the trail soon guys what an amazing adventure foreign telling Marco and I that Deer Valley is an easy Trail but I'm not sure driving the jeep he has that Adam fully understands anymore what an easy Trail is now this Trail is easier than slick Rock for sure but there are still plenty of obstacles along the way that require oversized tires high clearance and excellent Tire placement the trail quickly climbs up the mountain and throws some fun and challenging obstacles at you thank you [Music] [Music] only about a quarter mile into the trail but a little traffic jam and there's not a whole lot of room to go left or right so we're trying to make it work they've got nine vehicles in the group that's coming down the trail and we've got eight so we're letting them go past as best we can here [Music] very good [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] Deer Valley really is a fun trail and admittedly this is my favorite type of terrain to wheel on the beautiful Forest some fun obstacles and plenty of tight Trail it didn't seem like it was long until we reached an opening on the side of the mountain that presented some views that will take your breath away it's crazy the different types of Landscapes you will find here in California you know this state may have plenty of things that needs to improve upon but the landscapes for Wheeling is not one of them foreign [Music] [Music] all right so this Trail reminds me a little bit of the Rubicon and you know it's just it's not a marathon where you're just constantly rock crawling and I'm going through a little section here hang on a second one second let me just get over this but there's plenty of rocks to keep things interesting and I've been in four low ever since we started this Trail and for a trail like this where you're not going more than you know 10 15 miles an hour you might as well just stay in four lows that way you're not shifting back and forth I've used my lockers several times already but that's all right that's what they're there for could you make it without lockers yes but you're gonna have to bump it a little bit this is a fun trail it's definitely reminds me of the Rubicon just not quite as hard [Music] [Music] foreign the trail so far has been beautiful but you've got to pause every once in a while and just soak it all in How Majestic is this this is this is beautiful I cannot believe we're in California guys this is amazing [Music] [Music] so truth be told this is actually my favorite type of Trail you know we're in the forest on the dirt and there's some rocks and some scenery just varies in the terrain a little bit you know it's nice and stretch as a dirt road and then we're hitting the rocks and then we're winding through the trees real tight this is exactly the type of trail I love look I love being out in the desert I love being out in Moab those are all amazing places but this honestly this is kind of where my heart is when it comes to off-roading foreign [Music] just called on the radio and said hey I think I lost my power steering and so we've just kind of stopped here to kind of reassess I think it's just getting pretty hot hitting all these rocks the altitude we're just going to give it a break here and then try to head on but it looks like everything's okay [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] well I will tell you this Deer Valley is a trail that's going to be on my return list because this Trail is beautiful and I love this type of terrain and tomorrow it's supposed to be just kind of easy in Scenic so we're going to get that tomorrow after we cross the river but we found a nice campsite there's a little river here that apparently is usually a lot Fuller than this but you can look down and actually see some brook trout fishing swimming in there so if you want to do a little fishing you could we're going to set up camp get a campfire going because there's a little snow on the ground so we're definitely gonna need to stay warm tonight and I know Marco has got dinner plans for us this really was a great camping site for our size of a group which allowed plenty of room for us all to kind of spread out a little bit as soon as the sun dropped behind the mountains the temperature dropped pretty quickly so everyone huddled around the fire and Marco started working as magic all right buddy before we talk about dinner what'd you think about the trails today it was awesome I had a blast I think it's one of the best weekends that I ever had this year yeah it was an awesome amazing Trail I think we need to come back what do you call yes yeah okay uh what's for dinner I know there's a hungry crowd behind me I know I got cod with vegetables yeah in foil paper with my mix of stuff there not going to give away all your secret sauces yeah well it's just the regular regular stuff that if you salt pepper onions simple stuff simple stuff gonna be tasty and Obey all they gotta have the secret all right man well I know this crowd over here around the campfire is uh is hungry and what a good night huh guys great day too this was a nice easy meal for feeding a large group and it didn't take long to cook all the fish up and everyone was very thankful to have a good meal at camp you can't buy better fish than this Steve's chowing over here you're not even coming up for air he's ready it's really good that's my goodness I like the the bok choy stuff well that's you know oh look at that butter that's my my stuff that's healthy butter dude the real stuff with all the vegetables the vegetables cancel out all the birds this had truly been a memorable day with good friends the next morning was cold and we were having a casual start to the day Tyler once again cooked up another hearty breakfast which was delicious and everyone was very thick that's enough [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] thank you so much for joining me on this incredible Overland Adventure I'm really looking forward to getting back up to this Trail again and again if you're visiting Trail Recon for the first time be sure to hit that subscribe button and visit us over at trailrecon.com

Channel: TrailRecon

Views: 230,373

Keywords: trailrecon, jeep, wrangler, overlanding, 4x4, adventure, trail, review, light, lift, tires, led, overland, rock, crawling, desert, forest, rubicon, socal, California, product, jk, tj, yj, cherokee, toyota, fj, cruiser, overlander, truck, bronco, four wheel drive, offroad, off-roading, off-road, overland vehicle, news

Id: tUdXeGlAl9M

Length: 55min 17sec (3317 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 26 2022