Bald Mountain 5/27-28

**FirecrackerKTM** · May 28th, 2006, 10:16 PM

WOW what a weekend! First off I need to thank:
Matt, Dean and Jeff for help with my rig;
Matt, Dean, Bob, and lots of others for spotting (even when I still screwed it up)
Kristy for being my passenger Sunday;
Matt and Kristy for bringing Merlin to keep Rubi occupied, because lord knows I don't have the energy to do it;
Dean for finding and staking out an awesome campsite;
Ummm pretty much everybody on the run who tugged me out or over something at some point;
I know there's more but it's 10 p.m., I just got out of a nice hot bath after a 3-hour drive with 70 mph crosswinds keeping my left ear cold and that's about all I can think of right now.

Anyway I'm really glad we made it to the top of Bald Mountain Sunday because I wanted to see it again. The weather could have been a little better today but it could have been a hell of a lot worse too so I'm not going to complain. I thought the trails were pretty fun, I know to some of you they're probably way tame but that was about the limit if not well past the limit of my poor little Jeep. Hopefully I am learning better line selection even if it's the hard way: sccrreeeaaaapppppe, crunch! "hmmm, more to the left next time."

I doubt Shawna will be accompanying me on another run so that's probably a good thing; she really was pretty sick and I feel bad she had to suffer in a tent in the woods instead of at home in bed. But she was pretty chipper on the way home so she'll recover, I'm sure.

I've got a long list of "needs" for poor She-Ra so I'll be acquiring them as money allows, isn't that always the story? haha.

So anyway that was about all I have to say about that. I WANT TO SEE PICTURES!!!!

**Jeffro600** · May 29th, 2006, 12:55 AM

Had a bunch of fun this weekend...ran Kelly and bald mountain. Kelly was fun...everyone pretty much walked the chutes....still amazed at how easy the smaller guys got through it. Bald mountain, even though rated a very easy trail kicked my butt...broke a front d-shaft u joint rippin through the snow(caps on the strap fell off) and lost a starter bolt and it just about fell off....nothin too damaging thankfully!!

Ive got a bunch of video....only took a few pics, but ill work on gettin the video up and running sometime this week.

**Wild Hare** · May 29th, 2006, 09:14 AM

Sharla, We are glad you made it home ok. I didn't know you didn't bring your doors so I bet the return trip was miserable.
Anyway, the only pictures we took were of the huge snow drift at the top of bald mtn.
www.colorado4x4.org/gallery/files/3/3/2/0/bald5-28004.jpg
www.colorado4x4.org/gallery/files/3/3/2/0/bald5-28002.jpg
Sharla, you did a great job with a stocker. The smaller the rig the better driver you have to be so

, you did awesome.
James, your no fear of the skinny pedal is your valuable asset as it gets you thru everything.
Jeff, thanx for being the limo for your 3 guests. I'm sure Matt and Kristy would have hated to miss this trip with Matts jeep being broken.
Will and Mitch, thanx for bringing parts for Jeff to fix his rig saturday before running Kelly Flats
Bob and Mitch, thanx for coming up Sunday for our DOUBLE RUN of Bald.
HAD A BLAST!

Anyway I am sure Jeff and Matt will post some good pictures and I will have to learn how to take more pictures.

**RockYacht** · May 29th, 2006, 09:50 AM

Glad I got out of bed Sunday morning, for a minute there I debated about it... Sorry we were late, got a late start due to the debate and then we had a slow drive down with the rookie behind the wheel. Jason's first drive out of town, he did fine although the trip up the 2 lane from Livermore was a little interesting at times...

Didn't expect that much snow up there, glad we found it though always makes for a fun day to find some spring snow.

Sharla, one word for you. Hooks!

You did great, glad you came out.

Bob

**Mark** · May 29th, 2006, 09:57 AM

Did you guys make it through the drift?

**snafu** · May 29th, 2006, 10:21 AM

ahh... so that is where everyone was. i was at 7mile t.h. sunday, and ended up running with another member. maybe next time.

**Wild Hare** · May 29th, 2006, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by OlBlueCJ7

Did you guys make it through the drift?

we made it over that drift. wheeled most the day thru and over drifts like that and thought we were on our way out and came to a locked gate. had to turn around and do the whole thing backwards.

sorry snafu, i totally forgot you were meeting us for 7mile. we had ran bald saturday and had to turn around to make kelly at 5 and had such a blast we voted to run it again and get to the top.

**FirecrackerKTM** · May 29th, 2006, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by Wild Hare

Sharla, We are glad you made it home ok. I didn't know you didn't bring your doors so I bet the return trip was miserable.

I usually leave my doors off all summer so i'm used to a little wind and rain but really what made it miserable was that crosswind! The wind out on hwy 14 usually runs east-west so it's usually just pushing me but last night having it in my ear the WHOLE WAY HOME was not fun. Shawna was actually warmer than me bundled up in her sleeping bag in the passenger seat.

Originally Posted by Wild Hare

Sharla, you did a great job with a stocker. The smaller the rig the better driver you have to be so

, you did awesome.

Originally Posted by RockYacht

Sharla, one word for you. Hooks!

You did great, glad you came out.

Serious?? Thanks for the kind word ... I cringed every time I heard a scrape or thump. I don't know how much of that I could have avoided! I'm sure Kris or one of you guys wouldn't have drug the diff/hitch/frame/whatever else over so many things

It was kind of fun rallying over that log and stuff though ...

Will have hooks and other stuff next time I go, I promise!!!

**FirecrackerKTM** · May 29th, 2006, 05:03 PM

The few photos I took:

**RockYacht** · May 29th, 2006, 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by FirecrackerKTM

Serious?? Thanks for the kind word ... I cringed every time I heard a scrape or thump. I don't know how much of that I could have avoided! I'm sure Kris or one of you guys wouldn't have drug the diff/hitch/frame/whatever else over so many things

It was kind of fun rallying over that log and stuff though ...

Will have hooks and other stuff next time I go, I promise!!!

Yes you did fine all day. Dragging a bolt on aftermarket 2" reciever hitch on a bone stock YJ is to be expected, it's kinda in the weeds... (personally I'd pull that off first chance I got, really what good is a hitch on a 4 cyl model???) Also don't be hard on yourself cuz' you're a girlie. Plenty of guys out there that drive worse.

Originally Posted by OlBlueCJ7

Did you guys make it through the drift?

Over. Gotta love spring snow. In the last pic above I'm standing on about 7' of snow...
If ya pack it a little it's like wet concrete. Trick is to ease the first vehicle over then it's like driving on the interstate (just don't fall through...).

Bob

**FirecrackerKTM** · May 29th, 2006, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by RockYacht

Yes you did fine all day. Dragging a bolt on aftermarket 2" reciever hitch on a bone stock YJ is to be expected, it's kinda in the weeds... (personally I'd pull that off first chance I got, really what good is a hitch on a 4 cyl model???) Also don't be hard on yourself cuz' you're a girlie. Plenty of guys out there that drive worse.

Bob

Thanks

haha i just say the thing about being a girl mostly as a joke ...

As for the hitch, until I get a second rig it's gotta stay. I don't tow, but I have a hitch carrier rack for my dirt bike and it's the only way I have to haul it to the track or trails.

**TJ_Shunk** · May 29th, 2006, 07:06 PM

Well I guess I should get going and get some pictures posted..

Thanks again to Jeff for letting me and Kristy tag along for the camping trip. I was totally bummed out that I couldn't go due to the TJ being down for repairs, but Jeff offered to carpool us there so it was all good.

James, thanks for being my taxi service so I didn't have to walk the whole trail as I took pictures and spotted folks. I will say I enjoy the front seat of the TJ better then the back seat

I was doing my "bobble-Head" impression most of the day.

Dean did find an awsome Camping spot and that can't be beat. Thanks Dean for doing that for us and scouting a day ahead to make sure we got a killer place to chill when off the trail.

Sharla, Bob's absolutly right, you do have some good skills as a driver, banging and clanking is just the norm for trails. I still do my fair share of hitting rocks underneath the TJ. That is where underbody protection comes in handy. That is what you should also consider getting after the Disconnects and Tow Hooks. Just make a big list

on to the pics.....

And this is what it looks like in the back seat of a TJ going down a rocky trail... (No photochop on this. This is just how the picture came out.)

I didn't get any good video with my camera so we will have to see what Jeff gets.

**Wild Hare** · May 29th, 2006, 07:11 PM

Cool Pix Matt, thanx. Now we have real evidence that Julia was driving on the trail.

**TJ_Shunk** · May 29th, 2006, 07:15 PM

I still get a kick out of Julia thinking I was going to roll the YJ coming off the drift.

She didn't like the idea of a wet/cold landing in the big snow drift I guess.

**Wild Hare** · May 29th, 2006, 07:17 PM

She said she wasn't afraid to flop, we have done that before. She just didn't want to flop in the snow.

**FirecrackerKTM** · May 29th, 2006, 07:31 PM

YAY FOR PICTURES!!!

i love pictures!

**TJ_Shunk** · May 29th, 2006, 07:35 PM

Yeah I got you plenty of pictures!!!!! You can't really tell but the last picture of you, the rear wheel is off the ground too

**Jeffro600** · May 29th, 2006, 07:40 PM

The videos being a pain in the butt....i recorded it in 16:9 widescreen but whenever i upload it somewhere, it puts in in 4:3 standard and makes everything look like its 10 feet tall. Ill play around with the format and software this week and see if i cant get it working....otherwise, ill just compile all the pics and videos onto a VCD and make a copy for everyone....that way, you cant watch everything on your DVD players(or computer) the way it actually looks

**willyb** · May 29th, 2006, 10:36 PM

Had a great time wheelin' with da crew on Saturday evening... Kelly Flats was deffinitly a good time, especially with street pressure's, and the disco's still attached

Still stoked I made the chutes...

I'll try to get some pics up soon!

-Will

**goatboy** · June 1st, 2006, 11:55 AM

great pics, a little rough for my av maybe i better lift it?

**Jeffro600** · June 1st, 2006, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by goatboy

great pics, a little rough for my av maybe i better lift it?

You could do bald in a stock avalanche and probably kelly too(except for the chutes)....theres a couple spots where you might have to give 'er the go, but its plenty do-able. I drove the entire trail, minus the drift in 2WD.

**goatboy** · June 1st, 2006, 12:25 PM

cool might try it next trip out, wont make it this year, wish i could live there.
i made it up mt antero, and tin cup(both sides) and jennys mine? i think thats the right name , great country

**Gary Goodrum** · June 1st, 2006, 08:59 PM

We ended up doing Kelly the wrong way and actually I think we saw you guys (and gals) as we were airing back up after we ran the trail from the west side. we were the two rubis (white and green.) we never did end up meeting anyone but oh well maybe next time was definatly a fun weekend up there and I love the way the new rubi goes makes getting rid of my other jeep less painful

only problem we had was some guys coming up the go around for heart attack while we were going down it they powered up in total beaters we had pulled off the trail to let them by and they came up holding their beers out the window (to not spill) just gunning it no finess at all and one of them slipped turned 90 degrees and came within 4 feet of knocking my buddy and his wife over the side in their jeep :/ not a big fan of that type of wheeling... but other then that was fun just need to run it the other way next time so we dont have to keep turning around to do an obstacle...

**willyb** · June 4th, 2006, 03:27 PM

Finally dumped the pic's to the computer... Not the best shots I've ever taken, but none the less:

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