A few of us decided to check out the Left Hand Canyon trail on Saturday, November 19.  Don, Ben, and Kevin & Kay met in Boulder at 9am.  We drove to the trailhead, air down, and were on the trail around 10am.  The weather was perfect for mid-November and the trail was mostly dry.  We were comfortable in light jackets.  We came to the first intersection, where 286C goes to the right.  We took 286C to Big Momma Hill.  This hill is rocky and steep.  You have to attack it with momentum if you don’t have lockers.  Don went first and made it up without any problems.  Kevin went next and made it all the way up to the last rock ledge near the top.  He didn’t make it over the ledge on his first attempt.  He back up and tried a different line.  He kicked up a lot of dirt and got a huge wheel stand as he crested the ledge.  It took some skillful driving to get his TJ over the last ledge.  Kevin’s TJ has 33” all terrain tires, open differentials, and no front sway bar disconnect.  Ben followed Kevin and made it up Big Momma Hill without any difficulty. 

We finished the 286C loop and rejoined 286.  We turned right at the intersection of 286 and 286D.  286D is the Fireman Hill loop.  This trail leads you to the top of the hill and a nice overlook.  We stopped at the overlook and took in the sweeping view of the front range.  There is also a rocky section on this trail that was fun to drive on. 

We finished the Fireman Hill loop and rejoined 286 at the top of the trail system.  We started driving back down 286 towards the “the squeeze”.  Just like earlier reports we’ve read, “the squeeze” isn’t much of an obstacle anymore.  There is plenty of room to get your jeep through the squeeze without having to drive on the rocks and get tippy.  We drove over the large rocks on the high side of the trail just to make it interesting. 

Shortly after “the squeeze”, there is a sharp right turn that takes you off 286 on to 286E.  That takes you down to a rocky wash. 

The wash is not very long and rejoins 286 after a short distance.  We drove the rest of the way down 286 back to the trailhead.  We started to encounter a lot of traffic near the entrance to the trail.  Much of the traffic is people in trucks and SUVs driving to shooting areas in Left Hand Canyon.  There were quite a few people shooting this day, but I can only imagine how busy this trail must be on a Summer weekend.

We aired up and were off the trail at 1:30pm.  We went to Boulder for beer and lunch at Murphy’s.  We had a great day on the trail and good time at Murphy’s.  The Left Hand Canyon trail was very well maintained.  We didn’t see any trash along the trail.  There is a lot of post and cable to keep people from going off trail, so it should remain in good condition.  There are some rocky sections to make things interesting.  Big Momma Hill is definitely the most difficult section.

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