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Montrose, Colorado
September 19-20, 2009
Trip report below by Dewey Williams
These photos contributed by Dewey Williams
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These photos contributed by Scott Grimm
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| Montrose Rock Crawling |
Scott Grimm, his son Russ and I made the trip to Montrose Colorado on Thursday September 17th for a weekend of rock crawling. On the way into town I stop at a couple of the local 4-wheel drive shops (McPherson Off-road and RockworXtreme) to say hi to some friends and get an update on the trails. In the RockworXtreme shop I got to check out Craig’s new buggy he is building and a narrowed bodied wrangler he is building for a customer. Both are going to be awesome rigs. They both gave me some ideas for future upgrades to my jeep. I meet up with Scott and Russ for dinner to plan out Fridays 4-wheeling. After returning to my motel room the rain came it rained steady for four to five hours that night.
Friday morning we were greeted with clear blue skies and lots of sun. We started our wheeling with the trail Topless. As we locked in the hubs and shifted into low range the carnage for the trip happened. I broke a shifter cable for my transfer case. A screwdriver and hammer later I was in low range and ready to go. Long gone is the tree that helped name the trail but all the rocks are still there. Due to the rain the night before the trial was very muddy. The jeeps tires would just grow wider and slicker with each foot you went. Slow speed super low geared crawling was not going to happen. So the technique of pointing the jeep the way you hoped to go and standing on the throttle was adopted. Scott with his new 42 inch Iroks made short work of each climb and rock pile. I made my way through also but Warn did have to help me over one rock pile.
After Topless we circled back around and headed up Cactus. This was the first trial that the Western Slope 4-wheelers made in the area some ten plus years ago. The sun was a shining but was doing little to dry out the trail. So we slipped and slide and some crash and bashed our way up the trail. His trail may have been around for awhile but it still provides some awesome crawling. As we made our way up the trail it brought me back memories of the first couple time in ran the trail back when my jeep had 35 inch BFG’s. All though the trail remands much the same I would venture to say you definitely would want at least 37 inch tires and some great armor under and on the sides of your rig to do the trail now. For those that have run the trail I sure you remember the last climb out. Well it has grown some over the years. With me standing at the base of the climb I cannot see over the first step. I again employed Warn to get me up and over. Scott climbed up onto the ledge with his longer Jeep and the look on his face was priceless as the frontend became very light and the right front tire caught a couple foot of air. A quick shift into reverse an all 4 tires were back on the ground. A quick pull from the winch Scott was at the top of the trail. A good thing about the rain is on the cruise back out there was no dust just an occasional mud puddle to dodge. To finish off a great day on the trail we cleaned up and headed to the Red Barn (Steak House) for a great meal and a few cold ones.
Friday night brought some more rain. It did not seem to rain that much in town but out where the trails are must of received a long down pour. You could see where the mud and chunks of tress and such had been washed down the trail. Unfazed Scott and I pointed the jeeps up Die Trying. As you walked up the trail sometimes you would step on a soft spot and it be like quick sand you would lose you foot and shoes up to your ankle the mud just caked on your shoes then you would step on a rock and slide right off. Scott was able to drive a good portion of the trail with a little winch help now and again. I had to winch more than I liked but with the condition as they were I was more than happy to keep the jeep in one piece. At the end of the trail you make a hard left hand turn and start the climb out. Man mud, loose rocks and the angle of the climb created some kind of fun. For those that have been there you know the climb for those that have not it hard to explain other than it is steep with several large (steeper) steps as you go up. The bigger tired rigs sure have made some big ass holes all the way up too. Scott made the climb look easy. His jeep was working well and the driver was spot on. It took us all day to get our two rigs over the trail but other than a little rock rash and lots of mud we made it through with no damage.
I want to say thanks to Scott and Russ I had a great time. A fun weekend of hard core 4-wheeling just does not get better than that. And to those who are telling yourself I should have went your right you missed out. But that gives all of us something to look forward to next year I cannot wait.
See Ya On The Trail
Dewey
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