Sacramento Area Thread

The snow has melted, higher elevations are open again! And there's nobody out there. Hunting season is over, timber harvests on hold, time for some 4RUNNING!

 

Atta boy!!!!!
Meet Fitz.... The 8 week old GSP reason I am not runnin until his shots are done hahah!

 

What a great looking dog, you must be stoked! And yes, be careful with taking him in public, especially with this new thing going around.

I'm down to one dog as my last Lab died last year. It's really past time for me to get another. Problem is I want them all.

 

Awww! I love labs. The last one I had broke my heart when she got sick, had a grapefruit sized tumor on her spleen. I cried over losing her. We explored the Sierras together above Oakhurst, around Jackass rock, Mugler and Chiquita Creek. She was my shadow, always by my side, never wandered off. I still miss her.

 

Found some fun roads today, even after it rained last night.

 

Took some customers to Uncle Tom's Cabin for beers, then rockhounding for some tourmaline on massive quartz. They went home, I continued searching for new sites and was digging the scene so much I drank four Sierra Nevada IPA's and camped overnight. What a glorious night, full moon in fog. I slept in until 11 the next day, must've needed it.

 

Hi all, forum noob here, enjoyed reading this thread. I'm a county dweller near Rancho Cordova.

What are the current recommendations regarding local shops that do quality work on lifts? Seems Hunters 4x4 is gone, and mixed reviews about Stellar.

 

Welcome @sactown

Stellar is great, not sure where the mixed reviews came from. Also, a lot of shops can do a lift for you that aren't 4x4 specific. You only need experts work when you have the KDSS option.

 

I am a bit skeptical of stellar. They are pricey and I've worked on a few trucks they have done and have not been impressed with some of the quality. King shocks remote reservoir mounted where it was making contact with the tire and rubbing through the reservoir hose. Custom bumper that sagged 1/2" low with only the tire on it with no way to adjust it. It has provisions for rotopacks etc but just the weight of the tire was sagging it BAD. Cross threaded skid plates they installed. I get it that things happen but it just seems some of the attention to detail is missing and they are charging TOP dollar for it. I've seen beautiful stuff from them too but I don't send friends there.
If anyone has good experiences with shops tell me and I add them to the first post in this thread.
Lastly, I do side work out of my shop so if you don't find what you are looking for PM me and we can chat about what you are wanting to do.

Adding pic of bumper, incomplete welds as well I just saw:

 

I have good experiences with them, but to be fair, my first experience them was 5 years ago wasn't great. I'd say they're far better now but that picture looks newish.

 

I've got one with and one w/out KDSS. Took a long time waiting to get the '23 TRDORP w/out KDSS, hard to find that combo in Cali. The mixed reviews on stellar are right here in this thread some years back.

 

Paying top dollar comes with the expectation of top quality. I don't know the details of their operation but I wonder if it's a case of one or two folks who cut corners while the rest do top level workmanship. I dread taking that chance. When I get closer I'll give you a ping to discuss things, still sorting out options, you know how it goes. But for now it's back to taxes

 

Northern Lights may be visible tonight, heads up! Find a north-facing viewpoint with no cities north of you. Signal Peak would be good, but I don't know if the summit accessible yet.

Update: Signal Peak is snowed in per local who was there yesterday. I think I'm headed up towards Uncle Tom's Cabin, have a couple beers, then crawl to camp. Come up, you slackers! First round is on me!

 

Chris, where were you when this picture was taken?

 

Backside of Signal Peak is open yall, but watch that water. It's coming down

 

This was the Carson spur

 

Going back up tonight because the wife wants to see it and there is a chance it will work out again.

 

I'm going out tonight between Livermore and the Carnegie Off Road Vehicle Park. Up on the mountain ridge where city lighting will be behind us. Will post pictures tomorrow if I get something good.

 

I've been chasing solar storms for 35 years, and finally saw the lights last night! Makes me question our place in the universe. For all our might, we are bugs.

 

Got skunked last night, didn't see a thing. Departed my viewing spot at 1:30. I'm guessing neither of you saw anything due to no new photos posted?

 

I went to bed early, haha. I saw them the previous evening, a huge, spectacular display over the Sierra summit, but my son in Auburn said he could only see it thru his phone, in night mode. He got a sweet pic of pink sky above our home, but he could barely see it with the naked eye. None of my pictures came out because I was using an actual camera, but had the wrong settings. Nor did my GoPro pick up the lights.

I saw big green curtains, fading in and out, with occasional beams, brighter and narrower. Plus a general red glow to the NW and very blue to the NE. It came and went for several hours.

I did get a strange pic of sunset, no filters applied:

 

Night mode... don't think my iPhone has that - or I'm ignorant. I tried a number of long exposure shots with my phone - but I may not have been in a dark enough place. I was on Patterson Pass - with the lights of Tracy far enough away, or so I thought.

EDIT: I looked it up, and I was using night mode. The phone is smarter than I am and automatically used it.

 

About as good as it got last night. Definitely a good green haze but none of the columns or the reds and pinks like the night before. You didn't miss too much last night and I was in ideal conditions.

 

Well, at least you have the memory with your wife last night. Was it visible to the eyes? I hope it was since she wanted to see it for herself with you.

 

Definitely visible. Just the greens. It looked like there was a big city on the other side of the horizon. She said it was pretty but that I still have to take her to the glass igloo under them in Canadia or Iceland haha. Fml!

 

"Happy wife, happy life!" Just take her to the Donner Summit tunnels in winter, and throw some LED's behind the ice formations. Same thing as those fancy ice hostels.

 

Just throw her off some of the formations! Haha

 

Someone did that near me. I was on my dirtbike and a sheriff helicopter kept following me, all over the forest. I finally topped out on a viewpoint above the canyon, and that fricken helicopter immediately buzzed over to me. Being rather annoyed by it, I flipped them off, then turned around and found two more cops walking up the trail towards me. Oh shit. I immediately apologized, but they pretty much ignored me and walked right by. They were going to the cliff where some guy had just pushed his fiance off the edge. Colfax, circa 1990.

 

I'm thinking she must have pushed him over the edge first?