A couple of years ago I found some web articles about a trail called the Dusy-Ershim, located in the Sierras northeast of Fresno, California.  The articles made the trail sound quite intriguing, and I vowed to drive it someday.  Last spring I learned that the group I do most of my serious wheeling with was planning a trip across the Dusy in August, so I signed on to join them.  This is my report on the trip.  Additional pictures can be seen on the Sacramento Valley Varmints home page.

The Dusy-Ershim Trail is 35 miles of high altitude wheeling.  The trail can be covered in 2 days if you’re a driving maniac, three without much trouble, but is worth about a week so that you have time to enjoy the area’s beauty.  And if you want a nice weekend trip, the trail to Thompson Lake and back is a perfect candidate.  The Sacramento Valley Varmints planned to head out Sunday, finishing on Friday.  I needed to be back in San Jose on Thursday, so was planning on driving with them Sunday and Monday, then scooting ahead Tuesday to cut a day off the trip.

Luckily for us, the trail opened the week before we planned to arrive; for a while we were concerned that it might not open at all this year due to El Nino’s considerable snowfall of the past winter. Mother Nature finally relented and a late July/early August hot spell melted the last of the snowpack and allowed the opening of the trail.

Packing for such an extended trip was problematic, and we each chose different methods.  The menu for Tyler (my 10 year old son) and me was structured so that we wouldn’t need ice after Tuesday, and the cooler was packed accordingly.  I usually freeze two one gallon jugs of water and use them in place of ice.  This has the added advantage of providing ice cold water.  Gary (a neighbor with a 79 CJ5) and Scott (his 10 year old), elected to go the dry ice route to try and make it through Friday.  In the end, both methods worked well, so it’s a matter of preference (bean & cheese burritos vs. steak or chicken for dinner).

Sunday, August 17

Gary and I left San Jose at 7:00am to join the Sacramento Valley Varmints at the Voyager Rock Campground at the beginning of the Dusy-Ershim Trail.  As we headed down the big hill to Highway 101, Gary pulled over and explained that something in his front end didn’t feel right.  We returned to his garage, jacked up the front, shook the left front tire and guessed that the wheel bearings were shot.  Good thing he had elected to drive, because we were originally planning on towing his CJ behind my Cherokee so that he could cross the Central Valley in air conditioned comfort!  Luckily, Kragen opens at 9:00 on Sundays, and had a bearing in stock.  By 1:00 the left side was done, the right side double checked, and we started out again.

The trip to the trailhead was uneventful, marked only by an occasional burst of CB communication concerning the temperature or the amount of fuel left in the CJ.  Gary gassed up in Madera, then we both topped off in Shaver Lake.  A note for those seeking wilderness fire permits – there is no longer a ranger station at Shaver Lake.  There’s one at the day use area by Voyager Rock, but it closes at 4:30.  The main one is at Pineridge, at the base of the hill leading up to Shaver Lake.

We arrived at Voyager Rock Campground a little after 6:00.  The Varmints had already headed up the trail (duh!).  We reached them on the CB, they had set up camp at Dusy Meadow, which they said was about an hour and a half up the trail.  Looked like we’d once again experience the thrill of pitching camp in dwindling sunlight!

The Dusy-Ershim Trail officially starts at Chicken Rock, which is a straightforward climb up a granite surface, at maybe a 30 degree angle.  It’s steep enough that the boys wanted to walk to the top and watch.  It’s actually more intimidating than difficult, but it’s a cool feeling, driving straight up to the sky.

After Chicken Rock the trail wends its way along the edge of Courtright Reservoir, wandering through the trees.  It gets a bit tight in places for the XJ, Gary’s CJ makes it look like a Sunday drive!  After about a mile of this, we started a mild, steady descent down the trail.  This section was relatively loose, with the occasional boulder to make you pay attention, but nothing too difficult.  To the amazement of our compatriots, we rolled into camp about 40 minutes after heading up Chicken Rock.  We spent the evening catching up with each other over beers and a campfire (Mike, Mike, Dean, Dan, Doug, Rich, Danny, Gary and I).