Colorado Trip Reports

I saw a couple jeeps last weekend. We didn't see anyone else except the others we called. I give the jeep guys passes. It was one guys birthday and the one in the pink shows me around and spots me and taught me a lot. I consider him a lot like a great fishing guide. Wheeling w/o him isn't the same there bc there is no way I'm doing some of the lines w/o him there. I would only have part of the fun so I show my gratitude in packed cold fruit, beer and an occasional lunch when accepted. ...I've got lots of vids of this place if anyone ever curious or coming this way.

 

Goes with above photo...The guy filming was riot.




Now after watching that and seeing the photo, you may see the fun part. In the pic you can see that it's a drop off to my left and rollover time. On my right after my tire clears the top of that rock the rock the truck shifts left a hair and roll through. good stuff

This vid goes with other pics I posted on sunday.. large hole in the wall u see going up is crucial to straddle. You cab see at the top where I let off the gas and slide to the right, at that point it's scary. I was kinda dreading that climb all day anxious to redeem myself.

 

Pink Jeep belong to Harold Off?

 

You guys out in Choke Cherry?

 

Yes kinda, I believe Harold has passed. Excuse me if I'm wrong. My buddy is close friends and works with the shop so he gets to bring them out when his rig is down.

Yes all the time

 

Ok guys - question..... what trails should I run and which ones should I avoid??

My wife and I will be traveling from MI and attending a 4 week training session in Palmer Lake next fall. I have quite a bit of off road experience in Jeeps, but have now switched to a '15 DC TRD OR. I will be building the truck over the next year to add skids, sliders, and a winch. We will have time on the weekends to run some trails in your great state, and I'm wondering which would be best. I'd like to run on some easier trails to get used to the new truck, and honestly want to avoid crunching it. We will probably be on stock tires and no lift at the time of our trip.

Thanks in advance for you suggestions. I have looked on the traildamage.com site and found it helpful, but would still like your input.

 

Yes all the time[/QUOTE]

Nice Aztec here!

 

Speaking of a lot of Jeeps, there were a lot on our Chinaman run too. And they weren't too fond of us lol.

Had over 20 vehicles at least all show up at about the same time. Not all are pictured here. It was a long day but was fun for sure!





Just to give you an idea lol

Here's some of my pics.








Those without front lockers got hung up on the first obstacle and needed a slight tug.

























This was that last hill part with the boulder I was talking about, still fairly steep and gets you close to the rock:









I'll make a video later

 

@Squeaky Penguin and I ran chinaman on sunday. It was a great trip. We had the whole trail to our selfs all day. Here are a few pics from the day. Hopefully brett will post his tonight.


Airing down





Brett being dumb. Seemed to be a common thing for him that day.



Tire was a good foot to foot and a half off the ground.




There was a 1st gen turtle but he wiggled his way out, right as I going to get a pic.




This was a fun line to spot him up.


Final pic I got.

 

No first gen turtle's ever occurred. I hit my mid skid and drove away under my own power. Unlike the two times you need a strap. Here's a real turtle:

The fun thing about Chinaman's is the ability to try something new/harder than what you did last time. Never tried the stairs, took a bit of doing buy made it through. Fun line.


And a couple more pictures.




Leo must have wanted to rotate his drivers side tires being he had both of them off the ground:

 

Oooh sub for more wheeling trips

 

Me, my lady, @3378jakesr5 and one of my jeep buddies at Yankee hill last Saturday

 

^^I am not 100% positive that you can shoot on that trail but regardless typically you need to be 100 yards off the road. I am pretty sure you are standing in the road in that shot. Just a friendly comment.

 

100 yards off the trail and you would be standing in trees. Just follow national forestry rules and you'll be fine

 

This is why I don't go on runs with strangers who intend to incorporate shooting. Most don't follow the rules, and enough have shown extremely poor weapons handling.

Here's the rules:

According to the Code of Federal Regulations (title 36), recreational shooting can take place on the National Forests and Grasslands under these conditions:

1. You are at least 150 yards from a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation area or occupied area.
2. You are not shooting across or on a National Forest System Road or an adjacent body of water.
3. You are not shooting into or within a cave.
4. You are not shooting in any manner or place where any person, property or resource is exposed to injury or damage as a result of such discharge.
5. You are not firing any tracer bullet or incendiary ammunition.

*Edit: Links for those who might question:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5163234
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/recreation/?cid=STELPRD3836311

 

We were following all of those rules as well as having enough range and a proper backdrop for safe shooting, no need to be a dick. The place we were shooting at could be called the "designated shooting section" of the trail where I have seen numerous other people shooting at using anything from small handguns to shotguns and even sighting in high power rifles. I personally have never asked a ranger if that's an acceptable place to shoot but the fact that I see people shooting there EVERY time I've wheeled there leads me to believe that it's ok. Thank you for your input but I am going to continue shooting there until I am told otherwise

 

When I was younger (my Spidey senses tell me I have a few years on you) and dumber, I had to appear in court for following the logic you are using here: If everyone else is doing it, then it's OK for me to do it. Just because everyone else does it, do not make it legit, safe, or smart.

Who's been to Lefthand Canyon and remembers (if it's even still there) the area not too far into the trail/FS road where target shooting occurred. That was NOT a legal area... but there were people there every time I drove through and some were even positioned to be shooting across the trail. Just because I saw people there every time I visited did not mean it was OK. I even had the pleasure of talking to several FS rangers and local law enforcement who showed up that particular day to bust shooters. One guy was using a full auto, so they planned to check his paperwork... and that SOB was shooting across the trail as well.

Official 'designated shooting' areas in a national forest are also documented on the FS websites. If where you all were shooting is one of those, that's great. I'd love to get the name so I can add it to my places to go.

When I read this:

it says to me that you were not 100 yards off the trail. My apologies if I read that incorrectly. If providing the rules (which you cited incorrectly) makes me a dick in your eyes, then that's fine by me.

 

I will be sure to consult a Ranger before I plan my next trip out there but as it stands right now I have never heard of anyone having an issue shooting at that location

 

Do you mind sharing with me (through PM if you'd like) some places that you go to shoot? I typically go up to portions of the Hayman fire burn area that are in national forest land but would like to find a place with a shorter drive from Denver if possible. Thanks in advance!