Colorado Trip Reports

^^Learning from your elders.

 

Here we are airing down at the trailhead




Surrounded by mountain ranges



Charlie decided he should finish installing his leaf springs before we hit the trail.



Monkey see, monkey do.....

 

Charlie found out quickly what Chinaman's is all about...


We checked out the exit of Carnage


I gotta see if there's some video online somewhere of the vehicles that hit this trail!


I think this is the rockpile?

 

Brett hopped right up on the rockpile



While Charlie played with this cute little rock he found.



Look! Something shiny!




Brett made it look easy

 

Well if Brett can do it so can I!




Charlie was done playing with his little rock so he tried to block my attempt



an attempt which ended like this

"High centered" would become sort of a theme for the day...


I remembered some chatter in the BS thread about the merits of hooks and whether or not one could fit them over a clevis if one got stuck on a parking block in the mall or not so I took this picture as evidence

 

Then it was on to the whale tail




And my whale's tail got stuck in the dirt




It was a valiant attempt at the hard line




Charlie almost wet himself over how cool my truck looked on there so he had to try it himself.
With similar results



Brett's turn



Brett cleared the dirt ridge better than either of us



For a minute there it really looked like he was going to make it



But since his driver rear tire was not in the best spot.....
and he's still learning how to use a clutch.....
we backed him down too.
That rock is so steep that we had to pull his rotopax off or he would have ripped them off.

 

Unfortunately, he tried backing up without proper supervision and hung his axle on a rock.




Damn I'm tired.... more in the morning

 

Nice!

 

Then it was on to the stairs. Brett and I had the benefit of having seen numerous others get stuck here so we didn't even attempt it. Charlie, however, was feeling his oats so he hopped right up there.





Some excellent spotting from yours truly got him to this position continuing our theme of "High centering"



Then it was the chutes... I remembered this as one of the biggest pucker factors of my trip here last year.




This time, it was a non-issue. We all walked right up it.

 

That was the end of the major obstacles, but Charlie found another place to get high-centered anyway just for good measure.




This picture defies explanation




Almost out

 

sweet looks like a great time

 

I really really like Chinaman's gulch.

I wish it were a bit closer because the drive plus the length of the trail makes for a really long day.

But it's also a really fun day.
I think the trail makes for a really good "measuring stick" for both truck and driver.
The really difficult obstacles have bypasses so it doesn't require an expert wheeler or a super built-up rig, but there are lines that can challenge both.
The trail between obstacles is no dirt road either. You pretty much have to pay attention the whole day. We proved this many times yesterday, walking up obstacles with ease, only to get stuck or in a hairy situation on the "easy stuff" between the obstacles.
I pulled such a bonehead move on one section that I almost flopped and managed to scrape the TOP of my slider.

When I ran it last year, I had 33s, sliders, and a front bumper. I also had real limited wheeling experience and it was by far the hardest trail I'd been on. I had some really good people helping me through and spotting and made it out with only a squished exhaust pipe and a little bit of bent sheet metal on the bottom of a bedside (both of which got cut off anyway)
This time around, I had a little more armor and I'd done a little more wheeling, and it was an entirely different experience.
Things that were terrifying before, were pretty easy this time. I attempted lines that I wouldn't even consider before. I also got cocky and almost got in trouble in spots that shouldn't have been an issue.

And there's still more to conquer. If it weren't for that dirt ridge at the base of the whale tail, we might have made it up that left line. Brett probably could have made it. I want another shot!
Obstacles like the stairs and the rock pile have me thinking about larger tires (probably not)
At any rate, it's not the kind of trail that leaves me thinking "been there, done that". Instead, I'm thinking about next time.


TL;DR
Chinaman's rocks! Had fun.
Here's a link to all my pictures if you want to wade through them...
https://plus.google.com/photos/104088801709080718214/albums/6092520295278734385

 

looks fun! i got my clutch in, ill be down for some 4 wheel fun in a few weeks

 

Well done, sad i missed it. Where did you hit the top of the slider?

 

Also, really think you could have made that line on the whale other than the bumper hitting?

 

It was some silly part of the trail where I wasn't paying enough attention. Cluster of rocks pushed you either right or left and I went right but it was too narrow and a rock face on the right edge of the trail tipped me into the rocks enough that my slider made it under one of them and I lifted a tire or two I think. going left around the rocks was uneventful for Brett and Charlie.

I don't know honestly, but I sure thought Brett was going to make it. His major downfall was the standard tranny. It's just too damn steep. But we did have his rear tires at the rock and ready to climb. We were going to reposition him just a bit (his driver rear was a bit too far right) but the clutchwork would have made it really tough.
The only time I've seen it attempted was this guy.

My thought was that our wheelbase would give us an advantage over him. Brett never got a tire in the air like that.

It's possible though, even if that ridge weren't there, that there's just too much truck behind the rear tire. It would all depend on what angle the truck was at when the rear tires got to the rock. Even if I ended up having to winch myself over, I would count that as a win over having to take a different line


Here's Brett's rear tire at the rock. It just needed to come over towards the camera about 6" to a foot.

 

Awesome. I would of like to give that a go, but until I am locked, not sure if it will be possible.

 

The other problem that runner had last year was when he Wranglered himself into the crack. Fortunately it was the driver tire.



Charlie almost Duratracked his passenger tire into the crack and that might have flopped him.

Michelins, interestingly enough, seemed to stay put pretty well.

 

LOL. Was that big ass rock in the middle of the Z turn still?