Colorado Trip Reports

So that winch line saw it's last pull huh?

 

Naw. I'll duct tape it back together

 

He only lost like 12 feet of line. Just redo the end.

 

That good then. Thought maybe it was more in the middle.

 

I bet it was closer to 20 feet.

 

Bret wasn't entirely honest about the first stuck....

I may have gotten stuck, but at least I didn't have to get pulled out by a GMC Jimmy

 

I think my front clip is going to be a solid block of ice until spring....

 

So how did the Coops do in the snow Eric?

 

They did good. I've been real happy with them on the snowy roads too.

 

yeah, that's what's happening here.

 

Thats what I saw...

 

https://goo.gl/photos/WFZT1FCfomPbrBku7
^^video^^

why can't we embed google video @tcBob ?
The end of the road today...

 

Twas my first time taking a truck up the Poudre...

Found a street sign I'll be stealing when I move up there... "N. Overland Trail"


The energetic one of the day!



Plowing over the wall I created, then coming to an abrupt stop.





Someone did most of the bashing...and got many pictures.


Arches... yeah Utah, we got those.


He was worried about having to clean my blood off his truck. Not sure why.


Doh!


Heading down


Spring water


My first time wheeling in that area, I'll have to spend more time there. And maybe relocate to that area. So many less people, old houses, land... I saw an old 50s? Chevy pickup that looked nice with a wheel barrow and dirt in the back, being used... that made my heart smile.

 

Nice pics guys! Looks like a great time.

 

Yankee hill summit

 

So... after goofing off on the ATV all day and getting it stuck, I decided to go for a drive to find the real snow, since I only got 6" or so at the house.

I cruise though Golden Gate State Park... see some cool picture opportunities but didnt want to stop in the road, not that there was another soul out there. I continued west to the Peak to Peak and then north. I wanted to see if I could find some wildlife and I thought there might be some of that hanging around the Beaver Reservoir (at the south end of Coney Flats).

I cruised down the road by West Magnolia... nothing spectacular, continued north until I found the turn-off to Beaver Reservoir. The sun was fading somewhat fast at this point so I knew any pictures would be a bit dark; but I had come this far! I debated on swinging by Switzerland Trail on the way north, but I was hoping for epic pictures at the lake. I practiced my powerslides often, thanks ABS kill switch that also kills all traction control, and brings it back at the flip of a switch. I made it to the reservoir and it was completely snow covered. I was hoping for some water, and a moose family. Nope.

As I turned around the last corner to be alongside the reservoir, I did a bit of sliding... while trying to put on a glove... realized there was a huge effing drop off into the reservoir to my left (with not much of a snow berm). I ended up on the other side of the road. A longer drop off, but a larger snow berm. I LOL'ed... literally. Took a picture or two, threw a maxtrax behind the rear drivers wheel and backed out.



At this moment I was deciding whether I should run switerland. I forgot my chains, but had all my other gear. I figured I could get some cool night pictures up there, it was getting late, but... I have plenty of recovery and survival gear in the truck. Dead honest... at this point I thought to myself that there was a reason that I wanted to hit the trail... maybe someone was stuck, or I'd see some wildlife or awesome picture. But I had that spidey sense that I needed to hit the trail. So on I went.

Got some cool pictures as I was leaving the reservoir.



I cruise on down the road, and begin Switzerland Trail from the west side where it intersects with 72. The trail was traveled but not plowed, and after I past the last house, there were tire marks, but I was at the point of using the skid, it was decently deep. I thought about calling it, but figured I would stop if it started to get sketchy. I started to get into some more fluffy stuff where you want to keep momentum because you know if you slow or stop, starting moving again MIGHT be hard to do. As I was entering a little canyon, I came around the bend and see brake and reverse lights ahead. This was maybe 3/4 mile into the trail.






The driver gets out and I figured heres that recovery! He said he has a Taco as well and is stuck. The trail is single vehicle width for a while, no way to turn around, and he did not have a hitch... or any rear recovery points. We were pointed downhill, tried to reverse out with maxtrax, but not enough grip. Going forward didnt seem too bad; there were ruts that seem like they were made at some point during this storm, not fresh by any means, but they were there. We just needed momentum to get him rolling. Maxtrax would earn a car length, used the winch to get him through a bow wave of snow, but eventually got to a wider area with digging, maxtrax. I aired down was able to break trail around him and sneak past him. Once ahead, he was able to follow my tracks and continue. It was quite interesting breaking trail... the snow was splashing up onto the windshield, but I also at many points had a bow wave of snow that was coming over the hood and completely covering the windshield. I didn't want to slow and lose momentum, but also wasn't sure exactly where the trail was! We cruised the rest of the way out without incident. Nearing the end, we found fresh tracks of someone who had turned around. Got out to the road and aired up.

My OBA or new double tire airing up system seems to be acting strange. I used an air pressure regulator as a tee, and I think it was killing the pressure, it took forever!

Dash cam is uploading, I'll search through it to find some videos of my crash, and the snow plowing.

And he's been on TW before, I told him to post up...and get addicted to group buys and such.

 

And, some dash cam

 

Sweet area. Very expensive.

My one "secret" spot exists up there. I swear to god over the course of twenty-plus years only my buddies and I get there.

It's where my bachelor party/camp out was held.

 

Not strictly a CO trip, but a trip from CO with @TBuzz back in Nov down to Chokecherry just outside of Farmington NM to try out his new rig.

Watched a Jeep roll and become a trail tampon on the first obstacle so we just played around for the rest of the day and didn't run a trail.







The sandstone down there is even more grippy than Moab slickrock.