I took a wild ride up around Lake Isabela called Freeway Ridge trail.
Freeway Ridge trail (31E73) is in the Sequoia National Forest about 7 miles southwest of Lake Isabella, CA. It is found in the Charles Wells “Guide to Northern California Backroads and 4-Wheel Drive Trails (Trail #70) and is rated “most difficult”.
I found this trail coming back from fishing the upper kern river and found myself in the high country, sun going down and didn't want to back-track. This is by far the test of my skills and I was in my totally bone stock 95 Grand Cheroke. Loved every minute. After leaving the trail I noticed a sign that read "High clearance vehicle only". lol Not when you got skills.
I own Three Jeeps, 95 Grand Cherokee, 90 Cherokee and a 73 Wogoneer. I grew up in Los Angeles but now I live in Taft, CA. Taft is right in the middle of the Sunset Midway Oil Fields. The area is loaded with criss-crossing and miandering everywhich way but nowhere. The hills are full of wildflowers in the spring time and nobody seems to care where you choose to go, trails or cross country. The only think lacking is running water and trees. This has been a local secret for years and if I had known about it earlier, I would have come out here to visit long ago. If you guys ever want to check out some trials in Taft, send me a message.
If you haven't been there lately, they've made some nice improvements in the 4WD practice area over the past year. A few new obstacle courses, and others improved (made more difficult).
We went up about a month ago, had to test out my new lift. Damn near rolled down the practice hill haha. Lots of fun though, hopefully we can get back out there soon.