| Red Elephant - 10/2/10 |
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Red Elephant Hill - Near Dumont-Downieville-Lawson & Empire, CO
On The Rocks Jeep Club - October 2, 2010 Run by: Tom, Roy and Kevin, w/puppy Gibson
Directions: From this Google Downieville-Exit 234 Meeting Place map link, travel west on CR 308 for approximately 1.5 mi, passing under I-70, through the small community of Lawson, and then just after passing under I-70 again to the north - there's a dirt road on the right - heading up a hill, along westbound I-70. That there is the trailhead. It's also the driveway for a small number of homesteads for approximately the first 1/2 mile, so please respect their neighborhood. The above map link can be used if traveling from the Empire direction as well.
So here's how it was....
Kevin was really itchin' to hit a trail after fixin' up one of his front upper control arm mounts and helping with my radiator swap, and suggested Red Elephant - and maybe Bill Moore or Spring Creek afterwards, for their closeness' to home. Tom was really itching to check out his new Teraflex longarm (as was I), and I hadn't been out for awhile myself, so I figued "What the Hell?". Red Elephant would be a quick, easy shakeout run for us all on this beautiful fall Sunday. I hadn't run Red Elephant for a few years, so let me start off by saying... "This trail ain't what it used to be". And I mean that in a good way!
REH appears to be on it's way to stardome for some, and 'doomsdome' for others... It could be a winch/strap-fest for those that used to be able to almost lesierly traverse this trail on their way to Bill Moore Lake. Or, it can now be quite challenging for lifted rigs running 33-35's+, depending on your individual "gumption". Hell! Who knows??? You could be so close to laying your rig on it's side you could smell It (And I Could!), at one point. The trail has evolved into it's own "Mini Rock Garden" through it's realatively short, but challenging climb.
A stock-ish rig would have several 'Hells-of-a-Time" making it up the Hill in the current trail condition. It seems that things have been so dry, that the soil that used to surround large boulders, has simply been churned out and blown away by whatever has gone through there for awhile...
This would explain why that first, more heavily traveled fork to the left, seems to be a more popular by-pass these days. We probably only traveled a mile or so on this fork before we turned back (that's two bits to you, my friend), and caught the right way to the Hill.
Only a small number of scenery pics were taken, because we didn't have any photographers... We were all busy operating our equipment through the good spots, and having so much fun doing it! I apologize for not having any of the obstacles. Maybe we can get back out there again soon to snap some pics of the obstacles...
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