Leadville July 21st-23rd

[yellowbronco]

We headed up to Leadville, CO. for my Birthday extravaganza weekend!! We had warm weather, not much carnage, and some really great wheelin'!

Friday afternoon was spent checking out some stuff around town

DAY 1: Holy Cross Trail (Start to French Creek)
Holy Cross is a trail that leads up to the ghost town of Holy Cross City. There are 5 obstacles with some other stuff too. French Creek and Cleveland Rock are the only two of note IMHO. Wheelin' in this place is like none other, the setting is magnificent!

Saturday morning we met up with John, Travis, and Jack in their Ruby's to get a good late morning start

A sign

Jack on the 1st obstacle

Me goofing around.

Bottleneck at French Creek. We were here 2 and a half hours, mostly waiting for open diff "vehicles" who wouldn't take a strap

Our friend Steve spots his wife down French Creek in their Cummins powered Hummer.

This Waggy was pretty cool!

That's all for tonight folks. Stay tuned tommorrow for us finally getting across French Creek, Holy Cross City, Chi Assist Mosquito Repellent, and Cleveland Rock.

Goodnight.

 

[Herzog]

So beautiful up there... More pics Chris!

IMO, more trails need signs at the beginning like that one. Too many rockstackers out there not willing to take straps because they feel that they have something to prove.

 

[yellowbronco]

So beautiful up there... More pics Chris!

IMO, more trails need signs at the beginning like that one. Too many rockstackers out there not willing to take straps because they feel that they have something to prove.

Ok, I'm getting ready to load up another batch And you are right about the sign, I think they should throw a couple up at the obstacles as well. Just as a reminder

 

[yellowbronco]

Day 1 (continued)

Ok, we finally got our turn and all three of us made it through the creek in under 10 minutes. We had seen the right and wrong lines through about a Ba-gillion times by then, so we pretty much knew exactly where to go.

I opted for the far right "deep water" route (on a side note: I did score a Pepsi after it flew out of some guys cooler while doing this line... Excellent!)

John took the "standard line" (I seem to be using quotations alot)

We finally made it to Holy Cross City about 5:00 I think

The mosquitos were kind of gnarly so Me, Travis, and Brendon combined all of our chi into a sort of Super Chi Mosquito Repellent. It worked quite well.

A structure

There are only a few buildings left standing now, but I am told if you're nerdy enough you can count seventeen foundations. WHAT, I didn't count them....

Cleveland Rock next...

 

[yellowbronco]

We left the town and went about half a mile up the hill to Cleveland Rock which is pretty much at the wilderness boundary.

I had to double hat it just to get on the rock

It took a few tries.....

And then...success, I believe with some Chi Assist from my compadres. The mud at the bottom really lubed up the tires nicely, I found it quite invigorating.

Coming back down.

We got back down to the trailhead in no time, even before dark which is rare...at least for us. It was a great trail and a great day. I give Holy Cross my Triple Stamped seal of approval.

I'll post some pics of Day 2 next... (woohoo.....right?)

 

[Catherine]

I'm sad that we didn't go. Looks like a beautiful run...no need for the blue tarp.

 

[high_roller]

Sweet, nice pictures. Thanks for sharing them with us

 

[BroncoMama]

I'm sad that we didn't go. Looks like a beautiful run...no need for the blue tarp.

We were very sad too, you were missed!

 

[yellowbronco]

This is like the longest trip report in the world! Tonight is night 3.
Ok, here is Day 2: Iron Chest
This is one of the oldest and might I say coolest "hardcore" trails in Colorado (there I go with the " " again) We were all back on Sunday raring to go, we were also joined by Dan and his fam in the black Taco.

This time Tara took the wheel and drove the whole trail start to finish while I was running around being the nerdy little camera guy.

These kids live to wheel!

The first half mile is the most challenge, lots of boulders and whatnot.

It was a little squirelly for the IFS We only had to strap it once.

 

[yellowbronco]

After all the rocks the physical difficulty ends and the mental begins. The roads gets narrow and stays that way for pretty much the rest of the trail. Of course the several hundred foot drop a few feet away doesn't bother anyone.

Another poser shot

Almost to the top!

There are some way cool cabins at the mine

The kids having fun with rusty mining implements.

Nice view to wake up to every morning.

No iron chest, but we found an iron fence!

 

[yellowbronco]

The reason the iron fence is there.

Heading back down with Brendon and Alyssa directing traffic.

Rocky Road

Looking back to where we came from.

Sunset

There, thats it! We had great time, how could you not! I also learned from a couple of my less fortunate colleagues that, A: Rubicon lockers don't engage unless you are in 4wd , and B: Toyotas actually need to be "shifted" into 4lo . I love this stuff!

 

[Greg]

Awesome report Chris!! We really missed out on this one, I'm kicking myself now that I've seen the pics! Thanks for taking the time & sharing the trip with us.

 

[yellowbronco]

Awesome report Chris!! We really missed out on this one, I'm kicking myself now that I've seen the pics! Thanks for taking the time & sharing the trip with us.

You should kick yourself, and give Shane a whack too! We'll just have to go again. It would have been fun to have you there.

 

[vader]

Nice report Chris.

I feel like such a boob, but I really thought I was in 4-wheel drive when I started the trail. It's a good thing you were there or I might have turned around. I was a little embarrassed. OK more like ..alot..

That Black Taco could have used a solid axle and a few more inches of lift for that trail. It's mine now, The red Four runner blew up and it's going to the grave yard in the sky. Now that the black truck is mine I will have to fix it up.

 

[BroncoMama]

Ohhhhh....ahhhhhh. A new toy! So what is the lovely wife going to be driving now that the bucket of bolts is kaput? (Sorry, quick hijack for some gossip )

 

[yellowbronco]

Nice report Chris.

I feel like such a boob, but I really thought I was in 4-wheel drive when I started the trail. It's a good thing you were there or I might have turned around. I was a little embarrassed. OK more like ..alot..

That Black Taco could have used a solid axle and a few more inches of lift for that trail. It's mine now, The red Four runner blew up and it's going to the grave yard in the sky. Now that the black truck is mine I will have to fix it up.

It's good to see you here Dan! I wouldn't feel too bad about the 4-lo thing. Heck, the day before at the start of HC John told me his lockers weren't engaging, so I was crawling around underneath his Heep looking for loose connections while they were in the engine compartment checking fuses. All of a sudden I got the idea that we were getting waaaaay to complicated, so I checked the T-case; not engaged in 4wd They won't work otherwise. So you weren't the only one I'm glad you and Tamara and the girls could come, maybe next time you'll have a live front axle

 

[vader]

Ohhhhh....ahhhhhh. A new toy! So what is the lovely wife going to be driving now that the bucket of bolts is kaput? (Sorry, quick hijack for some gossip )

We just got her a 2002 toyota. It's that really big model. The one that looks just like a 4-runner, but it's bigger. I Forget right now what it's called, but it sure is big and Green.