9/21: Colorado, Chinaman's Gulch

[OffroadGirl]

Hey all, this should be a fun one! Big rocks, with easier workarounds for all obstacles. It's just outside Buena Vista so we're meeting at the Conoco Station in Bailey at 9AM. There are a few of us going already, but we'd love a big crowd. The season is almost over, it should be snowing soon enough in the Rockies -- this would be a great last run of the summer!

» 4x4trails.net Review (http://www.4x4trails.net/db_view_trail.asp?trailNum=113)
» 4x4now.com Review (good directions!) (http://www.4x4now.com/trcocm.htm)
» Trail Review and Tons of Pix (http://www.ilovejeeps.com/trails/trail.cfm?ID=9)

[2K1TJ]

Maybe they are all scared :eek: , it's only rated a 7.

See ya there.
9:00am, fsr/cb 7
Which Conoco?
There is three in Bailey.

[longboy]

i'm scared :eek:

[2K1TJ]

There is no reason to be scared......get this...Holy Cross City (8/10), someone we know blows his tire, and has no full size spare. He does the trail just fine (although slowly) on a standard donut tire, in his bone stock cherokee.

Kind of made me wonder why people really spend all of their cash on huge lifts, big tires, lockers, etc (yes I am guilty of that too). If it is really bad, I will give ya a lift. Usually on these "hard" trails, the trail is easy with only one spot or two that is hard. That spot is what boosts the rating of the trail high. Holy Cross was easy, just for 1 spot. Overall your CJ (now lifted and pumped) would have done grand.

BTW whatever happened to that movie digitizing, I am still waiting to see how much air I caught.

[longboy]

beth has never gotten in touch with me. she's left me voicemails, i've returned them, she was out sick for a week...i go to longmont for lunch and call her, she's never at her desk.

btw, i'm not scared--just gotta work saturday and sunday :(

seems like we promise stuff to our clients without having the resources to do the work :rolleyes:

Monica, if you can get me that tape of the flying 2K1TJ, i can edit down some mpegs or real media files.

LMK (and have fun tomorrow--i'll be dreaming of wheeling)

[longboy]

Originally posted by 2K1TJ:
...someone we know blows his tire, and has no full size spare. He does the trail just fine (although slowly) on a standard donut tire, in his bone stock cherokee. geee, i wonder who would do such a thing :D

[2K1TJ]

I didn't think you were scared, but I didn't know you had to work either.....BUMMER!!!!

I will mention to Monica about those tapes tomorrow, maybe she can get them around faster than beth.

dude, we'll be missing ya up there. I have a feeling there may even be snow in those hills too.

yup you guessed who did it, and he is now the proud owner of a new full size spare. BTW if you get around to it try to find some Quick Disconnects, I think for the runs we go on, your lift and clearance, that would put you easily on par with everyone else. I figure if Monica can do it, although she is disconnected, you can to. Your CJ is comparable in size to hers, and she does not have any problems. Have fun at work! We will take pics for ya!

[OffroadGirl]

Hey, Beth handed the tape off to me today so it's in the glove compartment. Though I'm starting to wonder if my 8mm tape drive will read the originals and maybe this is all for nothing and I can do it... we'll have to see.

Beth isn't going tomorrow, now, she doesn't like the long drives where we're driving for so many hours. It's worth it to me if we get to see some action!

I think this trail can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be, it sounds like there are a lot of workarounds -- unlike Holy Cross where it was one-way or the highway. I'm psyched!
:cool:

[Captain]

I'll be curious to see those vids too! Though it would have been interesting to see Mr. Right-Foot-Technique blow a tire and continue on his donut, I doubt the others on the trail thought it was either intelligent or humorous. Don't know though, as I wasn't there. I would guess that most people's reason for the lift, tires, etc. is so they can complete the trails with a bit more elegance than spectacle. It will also keep our trails open a lot longer! If any legislators had been at the Bill Moore Lake run and seen his display of ignorance, they probably would have locked the gate on their way out. I know that sometimes it is impressive to see people complete trails in less modified vehicles, but there comes a point where common sense has to kick in. Sorry for ranting, but it's just maddening to come from NH (where there is no legal four wheeling unless you are on private land and have landowner permission) and see people literally tearing up the trail. I mean, beat on your own vehicle as much as you want - I couldn't care less about that. But when you are running over trail markers on your fifth unsuccessful full-throttle attempt, spewing baseball-sized rocks a hundred feet behind you, you are impacting EVERYONE out there. Not only for safety reasons, but for the whole treading lightly thing. Looking at the pictures from Holy Cross, it seems like it wouldn't have been as big a deal there as the trail looked mostly solid. But I was pretty horrified at that hill, and I know others were too. It reminded me of when I first started driving off-road when I was 16 and would drive over stone walls or ignore POSTED signs. I wish I had had someone around to tell me to smarten up. I know I am new to the CO four wheeling scene, but isn't that the stuff that gets trails closed?

OK, stepping off my high horse now...

Sorry for the rant.

[OffroadGirl]

Wow I didn't know he ventured off of the trail -- that's news to me! I thought people were irritated because he wouldn't give up, though I thought that was fine. I understand it's frustrating to not be able to do something in your stocker, I was there once too (I'm sure we all were). I thought he stayed on the rocks the whole time, I guess I missed that part.

Agreed, if he wandered off that's not cool. Pretty stupid to be on Holy Cross without a full sized spare too, but he learned a valuable lesson. My first blow out on a trail taught me lessons, too.

smile.gif

[kennedy]

FYI.... I loved that trail... It was my first ever Colorado Trail,until that time Badlands was the most i'd seen. I ran it with Daryl (MysticalPlaya9) and his 4wheel club, Big Horn Four Wheel Drive Club out of Colorado Springs.. it was a blast!

[OffroadGirl]

Cool, kennedy, which trail? We're jumbling them all together (Chinaman's Gulch, Holy Cross, and Bill Moore Lake). Let us know the next time you'll be out here!

[OffroadGirl]

Hey for those of you who haven't been to Colorado, I thought I'd post a picture of near the start of the trail. Yes, the sky here is really that color (do not adjust your monitor).

http://www.offroadgirls.com/m-020921a-Chinamans_gulch/at_the_final_gate.jpg