To get there, travel north on 395 past Ridgecrest and 3 miles past Pearsonville, turning left on Nine Mile Canyon Road. Take the road 37 miles past Kennedy Meadows to the Blackrock Visitor Center (Ranger Station) to find out about local conditions. If you don't have a California Campfire Permit, here's a good place to get one.
The ranger told us that contrary to posted information, the restriction against campfires had been lifted the day before, though admonished us to try to reuse an existing fire ring. The ranger can validate filled deer tags.
Continue along the road 3.5 miles to the Monache turnoff, then another 3.5 miles to the start of the Monache 4WD Trail (aka Jeep/4x4 Trail). I don't have enough experience to rate trail difficulty, but the trail is overall fairly easy except for a handful of rough areas (e.g., dusty boulders) for which a high clearance 4WD vehicle is welcome.
The 10-mile Monache 4WD Trail to Kingfisher Stringer took 1¾ hours without many stops. A synopsis of the trail can be found in my YouTube video of Monache 4WD Trail. There are a number of similar videos.
We stopped when we ran out of road at a gate and found an existing fire ring made of stones.
Temperatures ranged from high 60s to mid 70s during the sunny days with mid to low 20s in the early mornings, warming comfortably after sunrise. A well stocked wood pile was a comfort during evenings and mornings.
It's a beautiful area without much human intrusion. Perhaps three vehicles in three days turned around at the gate at the end of the road near where we camped, with one fellow asking me for directions back.
Our hunt was successful within four hours of the opening.
The rest of the story with pictures can be found at Google Photos.
On the way back, I made it to the Blackrock ranger station first and caught the ranger as she was driving off after signing another hunter's deer tag. I told her that my compadres would be along in a few minutes with a deer tag to validate, but she said she had to be elsewhere and quickly took off.
My friend got his tag valdated at a fire station in Ridgecrest. It was a great trip with overall pleasant weather in the scenic eastern SIerras. I'd recommend the trail and exploring / camping in Monache Meadows or anywhere in the many meadows around the trail. However, much of the public land there is divided into a number of wilderness (i.e., no vehicle traffic) areas so keep your maps and/or GPS handy.
