UTV Trip on the Dusy Ershim Trail

The 31 mile long Dusy-Ershim Trail is one of the most rugged and challenging Jeep trails in the country. It is most often compared to the more famous Rubicon Trail which is 14 miles long.  See Kevin’s pictures and Videos!

By Kevin McKenzie, DuneChasers.com

Besides the difference in the length, you will also find no workarounds on this trail like the Rubicon. It is also unique in that it travels along the border between two Wilderness areas within Central California’s Sierra National Forest. The Dinkey Lakes and John Muir Wilderness areas are known for some of the most scenic and remote wilderness in the west so it truly is special that this trail is available to travel on with an OHV. We must all fight to ensure this never changes!

Most people who run this trail are in a street legal vehicle and can normally drive the 31 miles in 3 days, and then drive on paved roads back to the beginning. Since we are driving an OHV we have to return back out the way we drove in. So the plan is to climb the most difficult part of the trail; Thompson Hill, camp at the lake, and then retrace our path back out the way we came in.

After leaving the parking area we wasted no time in sprinting to the Gatekeeper and Chicken Rock. What a disappointment! The Gatekeeper could’ve been run by my grandma in a Go-Cart with a blind fold on. Someone went to great pains to clear the boulders and made this way too easy. Normally, the gatekeeper is difficult and a notice to beginners that if you can’t handle this, it’s time to go back home!

After climbing chicken rock, we take the customary photo of the group with Courtright Reservoir as the back drop. We then make our way down the backside of Chicken Rock and eventually to our camp for the first night at the far side of the lake. I notice that my son Daniel, who is driving, is very eager and is skimming over the rocks without much worry. He notices that the Teryx shocks installed on our Rhino are better than the stock Rhino’s which have given us about an inch more ground clearance. He quickly earns the nickname “Parnelli”, and I remind him to be more careful; that we can’t afford to breakdown on the first day. He then in turn reminds me of how old I am!

After setting up camp, a few anglers in the group easily catch quite a few fish at the lake. Our camp is alongside the trail and a couple of groups pass us by; one with a few jeeps and one with a few Toyota pickups, but no side x sides. We joke about how we will have to pass these guys tomorrow.

The next day we head out and quickly pass the first group of Toyotas who are still at camp. One of the guys in their group makes the comment that to do this trail in a side x side “ain’t wheeling”. We of course, disagree and motor along.

We pass several of the more difficult obstacles we encountered the last time we rode this trail, like “Chago’s rock”, with ease. We wonder if someone has made the trail easier or are we just that much more experienced than the last time we ran this trail? Click this link to see the action: Chago’s Hill on the Dusy Ershim

As the trail begins to climb Thompson Hill, memories of last year trickle in. We seem to easily reach and climb over the rocky ledge that stopped me cold last year. Parnelli led the group up this most difficult part of the climb, his “no-fear” attitude and his “lack of investment” in the machine enables him to “breeze” up the rocks. He kept up his momentum and seemed to just bounce over each boulder. Click on this link to see the action in HD: Climbing Thompson Hill on the Dusy Ershim # 1 .  He certainly has become a competent driver. I wonder to myself how much this is gonna cost me! Everyone takes his turn over the difficult sections. We all wish we installed that after market power steering box!

After approximately 4 hours of forearm busting fun we finally crest the hill and reach Thompson Lake. The group of Jeeps that past us at camp the night before was already there. We are initially disappointed we didn’t beat them up the hill until we find that out that they drove all the way to the lake last night, in the dark! When asked what we drove in on, and after we told them; “Rhinos”, one guy states “I would’ve liked to have seen that”. I’ve been researching the subject of side x sides on this trail for at least 2 years and to this day I still haven’t heard of another UTV attempt of this hill. We may be the first! Check out a couple more HD videos of the climb.Climbing Thompson Hill on the Dusy Ershim # 2 and Climbing Thompson Hill on the Dusy Ershim # 3

We could’ve easily continued on the trail to Ershim lake but we are tired and knowing that we have to drive all the way back in the morning we decided to stay at Thompson and do a little fishing and relax. We had no luck with the fishing but the relaxing part was very welcome.

About 4 hours later the Toyota’s roll into camp. From them we find that two vehicles in their group busted drivelines (not sure where) and had to field weld them. We mention to the guy who made the remark about side x sides not being true wheeling, that if breaking down on the trail is true wheeling than I guess he was right. We all had a good laugh. Like the other guys, they are impressed at the capabilities of our little 25″ tired vehicles.

Around 10am the next day we head back down Thompson Hill and almost immediately come across a Jeep Rubicon who has busted a bead off of his faux beadlocks. They are struggling with a jack and spare and we can’t get around them. Bigdaddie (Frank), being the resourceful guy he is, suggests trying the Ether trick. You know the one we’ve all seen on YouTube? Where the guy ignites the ether and pops the bead back on. Take a look at this video to see the result Resetting a tire with Ether

They also did not have any onboard air, so once again this little group of sides x sides had to assist by using our CO2 Power Tank! Always be prepared!

After helping get the Ruby back on its feet we descended Thompson Hill. This was definitely harder then we thought it would be. Someone said it was even harder than the climb. Take a look at the following 3 HD videos to see what I mean.
Thompson Hill Descent #1
Thompson Hill Descent #2
Thompson Hill Descent #3

After reaching Courtright we took a break for lunch on the beach. Which, by the way, happened to open up a unique new riding experience. Since the lake level was really low and the shoreline was a few hundred yards deep; it was strewn with boulders and stumps. We rode up and down the sandy beach on a challenging track that snaked around the rocks for quite a while. We called it; Beach Crawling.

At this time we decided to call it a day and head back to the trailhead, marking another successful trip in the books. We may plan for a follow up trip in the future, perhaps Swamp Lake! Or, maybe we’ll just have to make this an annual event. Hmmmmmm?

Trail notes
Google Map with tracks
Trailhead: 37° 4’57.67″N 118°57’44.86″W
Trailhead to Voyager Camp 1.8 Miles
Voyager to Courtright Camp 2.6 Miles
Courtright Camp to Thompson Lake 6.9 Miles
Total 11.3 Miles

If you didn’t stop and check out the movies along the way, here are the You Tube Videos of the Trail Ride!!

Climbing Thompson Hill on the Dusy Ershim # 1

Climbing Thompson Hill on the Dusy Ershim # 2

Climbing Thompson Hill on the Dusy Ershim # 3

Resetting a tire with Ether

Thompson Hill Descent #1

Thompson Hill Descent #2

Thompson Hill Descent #3

Tags: Chicken Rock, Courtright, Courtright Reservoir, Dusy Ershim Trail, Thompson Lake, Yamaha Rhino

Category: Featured, Trail Rides