Sherman Pass Run 2025

On the morning of July 19, 2025, Mary & I, George & Susan Croll, Stephen & Heidi Farmer, Bill & Kathy Martin, and Chad & Jason Marxsen met up at the theater parking lot in preparation for traveling up Nine Mile Canyon to run the Sherman Pass 4×4 Trail from west to east, something that we have not done as a club since 2013.

We joined up with Gary Luckeroth in Pearsonville and drove up Nine Mile, making brief comfort stops at the Kennedy Meadows store and the Blackrock Ranger Station. From there, we proceeded on to the Paloma Horse Camp to meet up with George Graham, and Byron & Patty Self who had driven up the day before and camped. Before arriving at the Paloma Camp, we had one brief stop when Bill Martin had a transfer case shifter issue, but it was quickly resolved.

From Paloma Camp, we drove on to the western trailhead. Imagine my shock when I rounded the last turn to see a huge mob of 4×4’s had arrived at the trailhead ahead of us. There were 19 Jeeps airing down. All we could do was air down and patiently await our turn on the trail. Getting 19 Jeeps moving quickly is not an easy task, although we probably only waited 15 to 20-minutes before we were able to get moving.

We pulled in on the tail end of their group and it was so Slooooow. They had some stock vehicles which had troubles on some of the rougher spots. It took just over 2-hours to travel the 3-miles to North Meadow. Much of that time was spent sitting, wondering what the holdup was. We were very fortunate that the large group opted to stop for lunch at North Meadow, about 1/8-mile short of the lunch place we normally use, and took the opportunity to pass them.

We had a quick lunch at the Embry Mine Road intersection and then moved on before the other group caught up with us. I skipped the spur to Sherman Peak, because I did not want to end up behind the other group again.

We had an uneventful drive the rest of the way and reached the eastern trailhead, which is near the Paloma Horse Camp, at about 230pm. At the last water crossings we spotted a beautiful orange flower that I’ve never seen anywhere before, called a Kelley’s Lily.

We went into the horse camp to air up & visit, then people began to trickle toward home as the mood struck them. BTW: the large group finished the trail at 530pm. We stayed & had our dinner of Jersey Mike’s subs with By & Patty, and George while waiting for the sun to go down & the desert heat to subside. Thank you both for the scrumptious desserts that you then brought out to share.

Rusty was a great help supervising.

I was surprised that the 3-mile trail segment between the western trailhead and North Meadow was much easier than in 2013. I don’t think minimum tire size requirements are necessary, however, there are a couple of obstacles where it is handy to have a locker. At one of them, my front tires slid off a rock down into a bigger rock pile. I was able to back out of it and realign, making it the second try. Whether anyone else had any issues, I was not able to see. I did hear a rumor that George Croll, with his ultra-wide track, had an issue with some of the narrow tree cuts.

Thanks to all those who came along. I hope you enjoyed your day.