On The Rocks Jeep Club - Sept 6, 2009

Run by Gary & Susan Sheets, Cheryl Wood riding with Roy Lenhardt, Tom Willis, Kevin & Terri-Ann Stoeckle w/Lacey

Directions:  North on Hwy 131 out of Walcott approximately 15 miles to State Bridge.  Go east on Trough Road, approximately 3 miles, just before the road turns south and crosses the railroad tracks and river.  The trailhead is on the left, with ample parking on the south side of the tracks.  It's about 32 miles to Kremling, heading east on Trough Road from there.

Comments from Gary

This is a trail that will kick your butt before you know it.    On Sunday 9/6 we departed the McDonalds in Idaho Springs around 8:30 am and arrived at the trail head shortly after 10:30.   There is plenty of parking there for trailers and airing down, disconnecting, etc...   Gary & Susan, Roy & Cheryl, Kevin & Terri Anne were all in TJs running on 35's except Kevin was on 33's (and he did a great job).   Tom in his JK Unlimited was on 35s as well.   The best part of this trail is the Spur I think called "Trough your Rocker " that branches off to the left nearly 3/4s of the way along the main trail.   This spur is less than a mile long but has one tough obstacle after another.   It was 4:30 in the afternoon before we stopped for our cookout near the end of the spur.  

I would compare this trail to Spring Creek's rock garden only there were several of them and the trail was very narrow.   The boulders were very similar to the size of the large boulders at Iron Chest, they were very loose, and seemed to be mostly volcanic.   We had damage to every vehicle in varying degrees.   I dented my rear passenger corner again even though it's protected with 3/16" PS steel, tore my front drive shaft boot, dented a flair, and re bashed the rear liscense plate holder.   Cost me me a dollar to the Quarter Jug!   I was probably the luckiest of the bunch.   I just love this trail!   Others that went on this trip can add their comments as well, and post up some Pics and videos too!   - Gary

Comments from Roy

I can definitely say that Trough Trail is one of the knarliest trails I've ever run, and the Trough Your Rocker spur, could easily be nicknamed "Dis Your Diff".  The trail is full of diff-getters, and proved challenging for us all.  With most of us on 35's, and Kevin doing a standup job running 33's, it still kinda beat us up a bit.  I sheared both air fittings off my rear shocks, crushing one a bit, re-damaged my right rear corner, totally tore my CB antenna off, and bent the center body mount under the right rocker.  Oh yeah, my Kilby also starting making noise by the time we were aired up.  So... what is that, like $1 to the quarter jug.  All-in-all, definitely worth the drive to run this trail.

These first sets of pics are frame shots from video taken on my camera.  I just captured a bunch of the best flex shots.  We hope to get media from other cameras and a bunch of video soon.  Roy

 These are the last of the frame shots I have.  We stopped taking video after one battery, and after Tom blew his left front bead, which we were able to air back up with his onboard air without too much trouble.  The last five shots are on Trough Your Rocker.

Next page - Videos-Coming soon...

BLOOPERS & FUNNIES... Check back for updates

 Next page - Trough Trail Damage Pics

 TROUGH TRAIL DAMAGE

Tom had things going on today beginnig with a blown bead, sidewalled right front tire, slightly bent tire rod, broken emissions box, and flattened tail pipe.  The above pic is after he opened it up!
Roy did a whole lot of bumping and grinding, tearing off both rear shock air lines and his CB antenna, just to be brief.		Only one pic of Gary cuz that about covers is all.
Kevin did an AWSOME job on 33's, although some of his damage is related to his tire size.  Also, the crimping on his 'used once' winch failed during a recovery attempt and couldn't be used.

 Next Page - Happy Trails

 HAPPY TRAILS, from ON THE ROCKS

Left to right:  Kevin, Susan, Terri-Ann, Gary, Cheryl and Tom, with Roy taking the picture.	Gary animating "Gosh we had a good time on Trough Trail Today".

Check out Tom's take on the next page..

 updates to this page are currently onging...

 Tom's "Mile From Hell"

Everyone has heard of the "Longest Yard."  Well, this is the longest mile.  This trail is supposed to be .98 miles long.  We started at 10:30 AM and got back to the parking area at 7:00PM.  The only time lost due to breakdowns was due to me blowing a bead and then blowing a tire.  This trail is a challenge!  We were cussing at the time but laughing at the end.  The hard thing about this trail is that you never get a rest.  They pack an awful lot of obstacles in that mile.  There are no bypasses.  The Trough Your Rocker spur is so narrow you are almost scraping your sides as well as your undercarriage.  Luckily the only life we saw on the trail were the vultures flying up and down the trail.  When we stopped for lunch we picked the flattest spot on the trail and set up the grill right in the middle of the trail.  We used every trick in the book including winches, straps, and manpower.  One minute you were high in the air the next you were dragging rocks along.  At one point Roy was making big rocks into little rocks by pounding rocks together.  Thanks to Gary's and Roy's spotting we made the whole trip without any major damage.  Then again I remember watching Roy cruising along and in a blink of an eye his antenna was gone!  This is not a trail to relax on. Tom

 Thank you all for viewing.  We hope you enjoyed it.