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Hackett Gulch, 3-25-17

Hypoid

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Golden, CO
Crazy day today! I got lost a number of times on my way to the trailhead. I was an hour late! :mad: We did finish the day in true "Lost Boys" form when I decided County Road 3 looked like a good short cut.

Oh yeah! There was some stuff in between.

We had three Cherokees in attendance.

From left to right: dirteexj94- Lorenzo + Brian (?), Xhavier_5478- Adam, Me.

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This is a great start to the season. We had more XJs show up for our first official monthly run, than all of the 2016 official monthly runs combined! ;)

Teaser pic:

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Worst carnage that we know about, so far...

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There was one obstacle that would have given you trouble...

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:D
 
I'll try to keep a time line to this report.

As I said in the first post, I got lost a number of times on the way down. When I finally did get on Cedar Mountain Road, it was already after 10:00 AM, so there was already some frustration and stress when I got on the shelf part of the trail. I wish I had taken at least a few pictures. That was my first time driving through the Hayman burn area. The trail was nothing short of eerie. Add my pre-existing frustration to driving alone on a narrow, choppy, off camber, snow covered, shelf road, I had no choice but to focus on driving. I would have had more enjoyment driving that section if I were on time.

I was really happy to see everybody at the trail head! While we had our tailgate meeting, a group went ahead of us: a few Grand Cherokees, a JK, a Toyota truck, a stock XJ, and a Kia Sedona. Most of that group was riding on stock tires. I told the guys that if the Kia makes it in and out, the guys who cancelled are due for some crap. Well guess what, it really happened!!!!!!! :D

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When we got on the trail, the weather was nice, put the packed snow was still a little slick.

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The rocks were in pretty goods shape.

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When we got to the dirt hill after the big rocks, half of the trail still had packed snow. Us guys who run open/open had some trouble. Fortunately, there was some loose gravel nearby. :)

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Not that Mr "I have lockers" needed gravel, we had him ride tail-gunner, just in case...

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After we topped the hill, everything was sun-drenched and mostly dry.

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We took the fork that goes off to the North. We looked at the water crossing, but nobody wanted to wade in with a stick to see how deep it was. ;)

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After spending some time at the river, we headed out while the weather was still warm, and the snow was soft.

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There might be some video from this climb...

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This is where I smashed my tail pipe. See that one lonley track off to the left? I forgot all about that ledge on the return trip.

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Everyone else remembered...
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On the way out, we took a little more time to play around.

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DUDE! Great pictures!!! SO bummed I could not come.

Glad everyone had a good time and hopefully the guys that couldn't make it come next month!!!!

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
 
For future reference, it makes much more sense to meet in Divide. The Western gas station didn't seem to mind having 30 jeeps in their parking lot.

I'm glad it went well. I do feel shamed and felt guilty, and was worried yesterday. I am glad you took my advice about the water crossing.

Was that downed tree on Cedar Mtn road, or the trail?
 
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