Baby GGG in Pine Valley, Ventana Wilderness January 19-21

Put in for my time off. Kat, thanks, but I’ll drive.

So drive to China Camp trailhead and hike to Pine Valley looking for cottage gear?

Time to look at a map…

Current trail info

http://www.ventanawild.org/forums/ventana-wilderness-trails/263

Map

http://calipidder.com/wp/listing/ventana-wilderness-pine-valley/

Anyone have information about Poison Oak on the trail and in Pine Valley?

Forum post from last May reported minimal poison oak along the trail. Whatever minimal is.

Two weeks from right now I should be in camp.

I’m guessing that after this storm water will not be an issue in camp?

It’s a new year. Get those campfire permits

http://www.preventwildfireca.org/Permits/

There is a creek running through Pine Valley so water is availabke once there. No water for the 6 mile hike in  but it is mainly downhill from China camp to the valley.

Pine valley is not that big and it should not be hard to locate others. I will try and have some knd of a sign or marker at the site… Think of it as part of the adventure :)

my number up umtil I hit Tassajara road iwilo be Eight Three One, Three Three One, One One Eight One.

One more…. if it looks like rain it might help if a few of us bring an extra tarp/ tie outs/ stakes so we can build us a hang out shelter.

Expect some wet,

I’ll bring a tarp and such.

If I wanted a ride, what airport would I fly into?

San Jose

We are going to where the green marker is.

I sure hope we have clear skies for the lunar eclipse!

The local point forecast for Pine Valley doesn’t look encouraging.

It does look wet but we’ll figure out a way to still have fun, misery and all.

Let me know if you need a ride Doug.

Doug – Long shot, but if it suits you and other options don’t pan out, you could fly to one of the smaller central coast airports (SLO or Paso Robles) and you can hitch a ride with me. Hope to see you there!

Thanks all for the offers, but my original trip was to Joshua Tree, and now that it’s staying open I’ll be heading there.

Have fun, see y’all at the next one!

Forecast 6.5 inches of rain in the next 10 days for Chews Ridge means a muddy 7 mile dirt road into China Camp. Roughly 6% grade in the last mile.

Might be exciting in 2WD vehicles – or even 4WD.

Anybody with local knowledge?

— Rex

Hammock might be wise. Has to get pretty deep, lol.

Watching the weather with interest. The forum from the Ventana Alliance is active and pretty up to date. I’m guessing they’ll know if Tassajara will close or not. Link a page or so back.

Good luck folks, hope it doesn’t get too wet and you have a good trip.

Well…

Guys, this is a tough one for me, but my son has already bailed because of the weather, and I am really reluctant to drive with the weather forecast from such a distance.  6″ of rain is more than half of our annual rainfall where I live!

So I am going to have to hold off and hope for another opportunity soon! I hope that it all works out! Have a great time.

Hint: lets all go to the desert!!

The ever changing forecast,

I don’t have a good answer for you Rex. From what I remember Tassajara road is quite rocky, not packed dirt so the issue is more with the road having given in places or fallen trees, not deep mud.

Steve, we’ll see you another time.

For me it’s a little adventure :)