- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Headed up 21 Road with a couple friends today, @drtsqrl in his Sami buggy & @ghetto in his killer Scout and us in the TJ. My wife was riding along and she has never been to the top of 21 Road, so today was a big deal for her... considering we moved to GJ to be close to 21 Road! 
21 Road can be a bit long if you run it all and there are enough optional lines. Plus, it gets harder the further up you go. I wanted to bypass the lower part of the trail and go play in the big rocks. We started into the trail around 9:30 and noticed the skies were already getting dark as we headed in. Before we got to the hard parts, the rain started falling... it only lasted about 5 min, but the tires and ground were wet. We dropped into the wash, working our way past the boulders. Outside of the Alcove, we found a 21 Road Toad, adopted by the Grand Mesa Jeep Club! It's a protected species and part of the wash is closed off to keep them safe.
It didn't take us long to reach the Alcove and we played on an optional climb up and over a massive boulder. Took me a bit to find the right line, but eventually went up & over. The others followed and then we went into the alcove. There's another optional line that gets crazy and Josh gave it hell... but it was really putting his Scout in a bind, front & rear. After a few tries, he decided to back out.
We continued on and the canyon got more narrow & steeper.... with the rocks getting larger. Around Carnage Corner we took our time with some fun optional lines, getting hung up in massive holes, tires not staying where we hoped. It was getting brutal. Watching Josh work the rear steer and 42's was fun, he had way more options when it came to staying on his line. That Scout works killer!
We got towards the end of the trail, there it a massive rock about the size of a house with two lines around it. The common route is to the right, but it's so dug out and there are 6-7 large boulders that make it so nasty, it's difficult to see a possible line. The route to the left is super tight, it used to be the optional line and was gnarly... but it's filled in and not nearly as bad. I headed into the right and instantly slid off my line and got hung up hard. I was able to back out and went back in, only to get really hung up. Couldn't go forward OR backwards. Josh yanked me back and it took quite a pull, but eventually I got out. Took the left line and hit my roll cage and roof HARD, squeezing by.
Josh took the right line and with some tricky rear steering and 42's doin' work, he was able to get thru it. Jeff was smart and opted to take the left line right away, just catching his cage and roof on the large rock.
We headed up the remaining bit of the trail, with even more lines and options... then reached the final obstacle. It's 100% optional and sketchy, you're wedged down in between some massive rocks, off-camber and trying to climb up an out. I got impatient and headed in while the other guys were working their way up around the corner. It's hard to explain how it looked and I didn't get any pics, but we got really sideways trying to climb out and it felt fine, until it didn't. The passenger front was climbing up a 4-5' rock and the driver tire dropped into a hole... and we were on our side. My wife was kind of freaking out... I put it in reverse and the Jeep unloaded even more, but as the tires caught traction, we were able to get back to kinda level.
I had my fun and backed out of it... Josh headed in next and crab walked up the offcamber, far left. Then spun around, dropped down the part that I flopped in, turned around again and worked his way thru that same part of trail. It took some effort and plenty of rear steer to get the line, but eventually he crawled it.
It was just after Noon so we took a lunch break, let the rigs cool down and headed back down the trail. Still having fun, playing on the big rocks and made out way out. As we exited the canyon, the rain was falling lightly and it was a good time to load up.
I have some vids to upload and include... and missed pics, because I was filming.
21 Road can be a bit long if you run it all and there are enough optional lines. Plus, it gets harder the further up you go. I wanted to bypass the lower part of the trail and go play in the big rocks. We started into the trail around 9:30 and noticed the skies were already getting dark as we headed in. Before we got to the hard parts, the rain started falling... it only lasted about 5 min, but the tires and ground were wet. We dropped into the wash, working our way past the boulders. Outside of the Alcove, we found a 21 Road Toad, adopted by the Grand Mesa Jeep Club! It's a protected species and part of the wash is closed off to keep them safe.
It didn't take us long to reach the Alcove and we played on an optional climb up and over a massive boulder. Took me a bit to find the right line, but eventually went up & over. The others followed and then we went into the alcove. There's another optional line that gets crazy and Josh gave it hell... but it was really putting his Scout in a bind, front & rear. After a few tries, he decided to back out.
We continued on and the canyon got more narrow & steeper.... with the rocks getting larger. Around Carnage Corner we took our time with some fun optional lines, getting hung up in massive holes, tires not staying where we hoped. It was getting brutal. Watching Josh work the rear steer and 42's was fun, he had way more options when it came to staying on his line. That Scout works killer!
We got towards the end of the trail, there it a massive rock about the size of a house with two lines around it. The common route is to the right, but it's so dug out and there are 6-7 large boulders that make it so nasty, it's difficult to see a possible line. The route to the left is super tight, it used to be the optional line and was gnarly... but it's filled in and not nearly as bad. I headed into the right and instantly slid off my line and got hung up hard. I was able to back out and went back in, only to get really hung up. Couldn't go forward OR backwards. Josh yanked me back and it took quite a pull, but eventually I got out. Took the left line and hit my roll cage and roof HARD, squeezing by.
Josh took the right line and with some tricky rear steering and 42's doin' work, he was able to get thru it. Jeff was smart and opted to take the left line right away, just catching his cage and roof on the large rock.
We headed up the remaining bit of the trail, with even more lines and options... then reached the final obstacle. It's 100% optional and sketchy, you're wedged down in between some massive rocks, off-camber and trying to climb up an out. I got impatient and headed in while the other guys were working their way up around the corner. It's hard to explain how it looked and I didn't get any pics, but we got really sideways trying to climb out and it felt fine, until it didn't. The passenger front was climbing up a 4-5' rock and the driver tire dropped into a hole... and we were on our side. My wife was kind of freaking out... I put it in reverse and the Jeep unloaded even more, but as the tires caught traction, we were able to get back to kinda level.
I had my fun and backed out of it... Josh headed in next and crab walked up the offcamber, far left. Then spun around, dropped down the part that I flopped in, turned around again and worked his way thru that same part of trail. It took some effort and plenty of rear steer to get the line, but eventually he crawled it.
It was just after Noon so we took a lunch break, let the rigs cool down and headed back down the trail. Still having fun, playing on the big rocks and made out way out. As we exited the canyon, the rain was falling lightly and it was a good time to load up.
I have some vids to upload and include... and missed pics, because I was filming.
