CO offroad trip #5 - Tons of pics and video

me, Jace (lotsoftoys), Jason (DOT) and Bob (NYCO) went from Idaho Springs to Georgetown via Cascade Creek>Saxon Mountain then went up Guenalla Pass to McClellan Mountain.

this was the first time i have been able to go out with a group of people. previously, i have gone out alone and i have been very cautious about the trails and obstacles that i would tackle. going out with the group allowed my to try harder trails and increase my offroad skills. now that i have done these trails, i have a new threshhold as to what i will attempt.

also, i had a friend with me taking pictures so i had a ton to go through. i culled them all down to about 170 pictures and 8 compiled videos.

so, here we go...

airing down before starting cascade creek trail. jace in the foreground and bob in the background


my truck in the foreground and jasons in the background


heading up the trail






at this turn off, jace was like, "hey, whats up there?" he did that throughout the entire trip and it got to be really funny. we used him and his truck as the litmus test for many areas.


jace and bob about to try going up this hill with soft and loose dirt








they got to the end of the trail and had to turn around










classic jace expression. he was like a kid in a candy store out here




















video of this hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDcdTYmD1KY

continuing up the trail. this bypass leads past a mine and merges up with Ute Creek trail






at the mine






looking inside the mine from the gate


cabin at the mine


gate on the mine entrance


piece of machinery at the mine. it was hard to tell what all this machine did, but i had 2 engines and what looked like a water pump on one side. it also smelled of oil inside.


inside the cabin








debris near the mine












view from the mine






we got to a split in the trail and jace came on the cb and said, "hey, look at that up there!"


we chuckled and then continued onto the main trail








jace excitedly found some water


this was just past the first obstacle. approaching this obstabcle from the truck made it seem much bigger than it really was. once i got over it, i realized that it was really no big deal.


i did however scratch my rims. in the end, i got 8 scratches on 2 rims. oh well... it was bound to happen


here is the video of going over the obstacle. you can hear jace saying, "ohh! whats that !?!" also, i was flamed for my "ATRAC training wheels" also, i think i could have aired my tires down more. i dropped them to 23psi, but i think i will try 18psi next time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9BewKCHJ9M

view from the top of saxon mountain










it was a long way down


you can see I70 down below




looking down the valley towards georgetown


I70 and the lake in georgetown






tons of these little guys running around up there








stopping for a little break and some lunch. jace was eating some crackers and bob made him lick off all the salty coating before giving it to his dog. it would have been funny if the dog refused the cracker after that






continuing down saxon mountain. was came to the switchbacks above georgetown. these were steep, tight, and rocky. there had been many rock slides along the trail and it made it interesting to maneuver around them.


georgetown below the switchbacks






very narrow and very steep. many 180 degree turns. here there is one coming up on the right center of this pic


bob about to make a 180 degree turn


bob making the turn




very steep drops










me in the process of making a 180 degree turn




bob turning down a short, but steep and rocky bypass






here is the video of everyone going down that bypass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtrHgDIxLiY

 

part 2..

so we got down from saxon mountain and started to head up argentine pass/mcclellan mountain. here, bob decided that we should go up this bypass. he headed up first to check it out. once he got to the top we all headed up. however, when i got half way up he said, "nope, back down." turns out that there were some huge boulders in the creek that would have bene impassable for us.




this is what was at the top. there are some large rocks in the way.




the water was moving fast up there




so we backed down and continued along the main trail




much of this trail had water coming down it or across it.


it got narrow and there were areas that you could not pass in






so we got to this one area where the trail just seemed to end. as it turned out, the snow run off had over flowed the main stream and it had diverted down the trail. but we didnt know if the trail was passable, but jace we ready to find out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdL7y8BStJs

here is jace all excited about exploring up the stream


so we waited here while jace went exploring up the stream. he eventually radioed back down giving the all clear and then we headed up










the trail got narrow in some spots


especially narrow when try to get around boulders






this pile of boulders forced us to to go around


bob coming up the stream


then we got to this spot. this crossing appears simple, but the second half has a 3-4 foot drop off. we watched while jace tried crossing first. once he made it across, then we all followed here he is waiting for me to cross. he spotted nicely


here is me crossing. the water went above my tires, half way up my door, and up to my headlights. this was awesome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_WlC7hg0R4

continuing up mcclellan trail


this area got very rocky and narrow. it was a slow crawl all the way up
















the mclellan trail finally merged with the argentine trail. the other guys decided to continue up the mclellan trail, but i stayed on the argentine trail up to waldorf mine.




here is bob turning up to continue on the mcclellan trail. it was funny to listen to them on the cb as they went up this trail. "oh shit, thats narrow". "ohh... colorado racing stripes". "wait, that rock looks much bigger when you are right next to it"


up past 12000 feet and we are still seeing snow in july


almost to waldorf mine


valley across from waldorf mine




waldorf mine






the mine. its been sealed, but water flows from it.






awesome views out here


lots of people were up here... hikers, bicyclists, dirt bikers, families, etc...




piece of machinery up here. it looks like it was a water pump and there is some remants of a structure that enclosed it.






debris from what was a building here. you can see lots of lumber, rebarb, foundations, etc..








old equipment of some sort






cabin off on the hill across the valley from the mine
























video from the waldorf wine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69xEDx2o__k

there is very steep and lose trail up the side of the mountain. i saw a '90s ford F-250 try to go up it and it had a hell of a time. it dug itself in deep and the guy kept having to try different lines. but jace? nope. he just drop right up it like it was nothing here he is coming down.


heading back down. the other guys tried heading up to top of mccellan mountain, but i was getting tired so i headed back. as it turned out, there was too much snow on the trail and they couldnt get up anyway.


this is near the start of the argentine pass trail. the runn off had washed out this road and made a HUGE chasm




here is some video of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfJ1wHCHTpQ

thanks for the run guys, it was alot of fun

 

Awesome looking trip and great pics! Let me know the next time you are dong one and I'll try to make it down.

 

great pics and vids!!!!!

enjoyed going through that, thank you for getting all that..

we'll definitely have to hit that trail up again and explore up near the mines some more..

stole some pics and vids for my build page btw..thanks

 

Nice pics. Jeff, Justin, Matt and I were up Saxon on Thursday night/ Friday. That obstical you got your scratches at is where Jeff and I camped where the remains of the cabin are.

 

Sweet looking trip man.

You took some awesome pics. Thanks for documenting!

 

got pix?

 

ohh, just a few

 

so when i was out there, i never made it up to the santiago mine. so my wife and i went out there today to check it out. its funny, the first time i did those trails it was kind of intense for me because i hadnt done a trail that difficult. today, it was no big deal.

anyway, here are a bunch of pics from the santiago mine. it looks like someone is trying to restore the mine. there were many areas that had fresh wood tacked onto the building.

 

glad you made it up there again...such a great place to visit..that whole area is a great place to visit when the leaves start changing

 

Great photos! Thanks for sharing!

Ren

 

Looks like a great trip, thanks for the photos!