High Sierra Topix

TehipiteTom wrote:

Big Ed wrote:

TehipiteTom wrote: the Dinkey Lakes trailhead is one I will not do again. The condition of the "road" is just too horrible, and there are too many places where anyone with a normal vehicle risks major damage.

It never occurred to me that anyone would get their vehicle damaged on that road, so I would think you were driving too fast for conditions. I see cars at that trailhead every time I go there. Drive the road accordingly, and don't expect to be able to drive it like a highway, and you should be fine.

Um...no. I wasn't.

(Though there are some nasty surprise potholes--pot-trenches?--in the first mile or so, where the initially good pavement goes suddenly terrible, and I imagine some folks run into trouble there.)

I'm talking about the last couple miles in particular, where the road deteriorates pretty significantly and there are a couple big outcrops that take some maneuvering to avoid. Maybe someone with a high-clearance vehicle wouldn't worry about that, but I'm talking normal vehicles like my Honda Fit.

Big Ed wrote:

TehipiteTom wrote:

Big Ed wrote:

TehipiteTom wrote: the Dinkey Lakes trailhead is one I will not do again. The condition of the "road" is just too horrible, and there are too many places where anyone with a normal vehicle risks major damage.

It never occurred to me that anyone would get their vehicle damaged on that road, so I would think you were driving too fast for conditions. I see cars at that trailhead every time I go there. Drive the road accordingly, and don't expect to be able to drive it like a highway, and you should be fine.

Um...no. I wasn't.

(Though there are some nasty surprise potholes--pot-trenches?--in the first mile or so, where the initially good pavement goes suddenly terrible, and I imagine some folks run into trouble there.)

I'm talking about the last couple miles in particular, where the road deteriorates pretty significantly and there are a couple big outcrops that take some maneuvering to avoid. Maybe someone with a high-clearance vehicle wouldn't worry about that, but I'm talking normal vehicles like my Honda Fit.

Do you go in from Dinkey Creek road, or HWY 168 Tamarack Ridge?

TehipiteTom wrote:
Do you go in from Dinkey Creek road, or HWY 168 Tamarack Ridge?

DoyleWDonehoo wrote:Its been a long time since I have been to Dinky Lakes, and if it were not for some pictures, I would have few memories, though some stand out. What I do remember vividly was driving that road, very close to the TH parking lot, and bouncing hard into a shaded surprise trench. It was a good thing I was driving a 4Runner. Anything less than a high clearance vehicle would have bottomed out or worse. I would have thought the situation would have improved by now. Drive carefully out there.

TehipiteTom wrote:

DoyleWDonehoo wrote:Its been a long time since I have been to Dinky Lakes, and if it were not for some pictures, I would have few memories, though some stand out. What I do remember vividly was driving that road, very close to the TH parking lot, and bouncing hard into a shaded surprise trench. It was a good thing I was driving a 4Runner. Anything less than a high clearance vehicle would have bottomed out or worse. I would have thought the situation would have improved by now. Drive carefully out there.

Yeah, that rings a bell. IIRC there were also one or two rocks that might not be daunting to a 4Runner, but definitely gave me paus. The stretch closest to the trailhead is the worst.

The other thing about Dinkey Lakes is that while it's pretty enough, for me it's not enough of a prime destination to be worth the pain-in-the-neck road to the trailhead.