It's been a couple years now via shotgun in an 09 Tacoma, N to S so maybe we went down that section your talking about going up? But my previous experience was like yours 12 or so years before that, in the XJ.
Two things -
#1 the sxs woop-de-doo's, don't know what it is about those that makes the most annoying frequency of ups and downs along what I remember years ago being mostly smooth sandy two track or wash bottom sailing. It was slower going when it seemed it should have been easier going.
#2 A lot rockier and tighter trail than I remembered? Generally just tighter cornering to get around rocks or avoid pin-striping etc.
Maybe I just remembered it with rose colored lenses, couldn't be the XJ was that much better than the Taco right? [it was of coarse] ; )
The Tacoma did fine with OME suspension, did not touch his rock rails. I only spotted him down one or two spots on the shelf road going down from I-70 and maybe one other tight spot along the canyon. Don't recall any real concerns. It would be a bit tighter for a Tundra in spots.
Can Do by
Jared Payne, on Flickr
