Charlou Gap... anyone?

OK, so I haven't been out much lately and I'm looking to do Charlou / Charouleau Gap just north of Tucson, mainly because for some reason it's one of the few trails I've never done.

Some info here and here.

I would like to do a long day trip, but if anyone wants to camp afterward go for it. This means leaving the Phx area by 8am or so and getting back sometime after 5pm. If any Tucson people wanna go then it's easier for you.

I would like to do this sometime before the new year, preferably on Saturday but could do Sunday. I'm pretty flexible on dates if anyone is interested in going. If I don't get a tentative date with anyone else in the next week or two I plan on running it solo anyway toward the end of November.

I would have posted in the Az trail run topic but I'm n00b and it's just easier for me to check back in a separate thread.

 

Its a fun one, but not nearly as fun as it used to be. The USFS took a giant jackhammer to the trail a couple years ago citing "fire crew access" as the reason. Really killed some of the big obstacles but its still a super cool area.

 

Yeah I heard it was pacified a few years ago but there are still a few decent lines depending on recent erosion. That's ok though, I'm not as into the technical stuff anymore.

 

I have time Sunday the 20th or Saturday the 26th in November.

 

it was pretty drastic, I havent been out there in years

 

Wowza! Might as well pave it. Oh... they did.

 

Hah, my appetite for obstacles like the before pic has diminished a lot... my nerves are starting to fray a little just looking at it. I think I have 4x4 stress related PTSD :/

 

Have you figured a date yet ? I'm open most Saturdays . I've wanted to see that one for a while.

 

I may be interested in this one as well.

 

I have a buddy that wants to camp, so it'll be a Saturday... Nov 19, 26, or Dec. 3. We'll see if anyone else chimes in before locking a hard time.

 

I'm definitely in for this. The trail has eroded a lot. It's much more like the first pic now, at least a year or so ago it was. I actually went around that spot since I didn't have a spotter. I heard they came in and did a lot of work to the trail several years back but I haven't heard of anything being done in the last few. We've had some good rains in that area and erosion does its thing. I didn't leave the trail without damage. It's a fun run, I've only done it once and I've wanted to go back since, I'm sure more Tucson boys would show up too if they are free. @JeepAndrew @TucTaco520 @mbmack1

I'll be on the rug road run on the 19th. I could probably do the other weekends depending on work.

 

Glad I got to run it a couple times before they did that... It looks way worse that it truly was

 

Wow, can't believe that. It used to be an awesome obstacle. Ran it a few times in my 1st Gen, as well as friend's Jeeps and a crawler...

 

It looks like we'll do it Nov 19. One or two vehicles will camp right afterward... as of now I plan on driving back to Phx. Definitely a few slots open if anybody has the time and inclination.

 

Hey are you still planning on going ??

 

Yep. Early Saturday... still deciding if I'm camping afterward.

 

Defeated!!

We got down there a little after 10am Saturday and hit the trail. Here is what I can tell you: It's deteriorated a lot and is a legitimate 3.5-4.0 trail. To run it effectively I'd say 4x4 with 1 locker, lift and 33"+ tires, and sliders and skids... required minimum. The little grey truck has no extra lift and open diffs and it took a hardcore pounding.

The picture above with the dozed obstacle was an optional line, and it has become a fairly significant wall again.

The trail is 19 miles of some pretty slow-going crawl... but we didn't make the whole 19 miles!

























2/3 of the way through we hit a really steep (the picture doesn't really show just how steep or jaggedy it was) spot that was pretty tore up with loose spots and a flop off on one side. The 2nd vehicle blew the front diff right at the bottom... bang-bang-bang-bang! There was no way to get that truck up it with 2WD (and not knowing if there were other spots like this ahead) we made the decision to retrace our steps to the beginning. Yes this involved a shit ton of strapping as we slowly inched out way out the next morning. Needless to say the little grey truck took an extra thrashing on the strap. I caught a glancing blow to my upper rear body. You gotta respect this trail.

 

Looks like it was a great time.

 

Dang that sucks. Glad you made it back safely..any thoughts on why the diff blew ??
Sorry couldn't make it. Couldn't get the second day off work.