Red Cone Colorado
This is the only picture from the trip
We all met at the Fort Restaurant in Morrison Colorado and as usual not everyone arrived on time. But we decided to wait for our "fearless leader" anyway (I voted to leave him behind)! The group finally left for the trail head at about 9 am where we hooked up with the Western-slopers. The majority of the 14 vehicles were D-90's, with one Disco, 2 Range Rovers, our friend Jim Little’s awesome Safari Guard stage III lifted European Tdi-110 5 door, a Jeep Wrangler TJ with a terraflex luft and a Grand Cherokee. The trail was rated 7, I would say it was a 6 with the big steep Redcone hill being the big challenge. I did it with open diffs without any trouble thanks to Matt Peterson of Rock Ware’s custom rear suspension drop kit. The scenery was fantastic, although there where allot of tricky sections to get cross axle’d, but no one got stuck.
After a long climb thru the woods we stopped for lunch in a very beautiful alpine meadow just above tree line. you could see forever on a carpet of pastel colored flowers that covered the spectrum with jagged cliff's as far as the eye could see. Sorsha the dog got out and romped with the other furry co-pilots, while the humans milled about chatting, eating, and of course checking out the Rovers. The main curiosity seemed to be Matt and his wife Lisa's portable love seat. It was very touching.
After the lunch break we headed up for some real fun. First came a choice of ways to ascend "Rascal Hill", a difficult section to the left with possible vehicle damage or a bypass to the right. Some did choose the path of least resistance. Cherokee Wendy , who would likely damage her kick panels made a prudent choice, and surprisingly, Rover Bruce took the safe route as he was concerned with damaging his diffs. This was unusual for Bruce, he is known for no fear, but I guess his latest run of Vehicle damage made him a little more cautious. It turned out the left side was not so bad and everyone made it thru without incident. Those with lockers made it look like a walk along a "Boring street". Those of us with open diffs made it look like a lot more fun with all the bouncing, dust and energy.
After reaching the top of Redcone came the real excitement--- going down the long, loose, mogully, steep west side of the peak. It is very difficult to explain exactly how long and steep this trail is, but it is basically driving down the peak of the mountain top, and is the steepest hill I have ever been on that is this long. Looking from the bottom the rigs looked like match box trucks clinging to the mountain side. I am not exaggerating for effect either.
I tried to do it in my D-90 in low-one and not use brakes. Well I did and would not recommend this for the intelligent or faint of heart. I can actually hear some people saying that's not so bad, but remember I have 33 inch tires with the stock 3.55 gears. It would have been a bit more controlled with 4.11's, but less fun! Anyway, I pointed the D-90 towards open air and a beautiful view of the mountains and eased over the edge with Sorsha the dog looking at me like I just escaped from a mental institution. The scenery changed quickly to a long steep hill that seemed to go on for eternity with loose footing and moguls coming up at ever increasing speed. My engine started getting louder from the increased RPMs, my arms were holding me up from falling into the steering wheel while the dog looked around for a place to hide and I resisted the urge to use the brakes . Why? I am not normal and have an unusual need to find things out the hard way. (Ask those of us who were watching! editor.) The truck started to slip and then bounce, not bad at first but it increased in intensity with each mogul. My arms were starting to shake from the strain of holding my body up. I had gotten up quite a bit of momentum and when I hit the moguls which stretched for another 50 - some feet, it got real exciting in the old D-90. The bouncing finally reached the point where air and I were one. To say the truck was bouncing did not do it justice. I actually left the ground and got a little sideways requiring a little gas to straighten out which just added to the fun and the moguls where not over yet! When was this trail going to end?!?! More moguls! More bouncing! Beads of sweat forming on my forehead, arms tense, my mouth dry, and my heart pounding, boy is this fun! I finally made it down without incident except my racing heart and Sorsha and my cooler flying to the front floor. What a hoot! I felt the need for a nice rebel yell--- YeeeHAAA!!
After my descent, Matt Peterson's wife Lisa drove their white locked D-90 with 4.11 gears down Redcone and she made it look simple. Good work, and a nice husband! I am sure Matt pointed out that the way I did it was all wrong; at least I hope he did! Cherokee Wendy, driving in the Jeep Cherokee also did an excellent job on the hill with the guidance of Mike Naes. The slow poke award went to a yellow Ford Bronco from Oklahoma that joined us on the trail. The truck was set up really nice, but I do believe the driver was scared to death! The truck seemed to just hang on that hillside, I think he actually managed to stop the truck until it started to slide. He looked real happy to reach the bottom! Sorry Oklahoma there is one more! We all stood and watched everyone struggle with their fear with adrenaline pumping and tackle the hill, then we were off to descend the second smaller, but still steep, loose and mogully hill. This trail is lots of fun, no one is bored, and you all should try it, but not the way I did!
From the intersection of Redcone Trail and Webster Pass we followed a nice bumpy trail with allot more fantastic scenery and a water crossing. We had only one casualty on this trip and believe it or not it was Jim's D-110! The broken rear shock mount caused no worries for Jim. He quickly removed the shock and and the big red diesel rumbled off . No stopping us rebels!
Everyone made it thru the trails with different levels of difficulty, my D90 with open diff's amazed most drivers due to my suspension modifications, I litteraly walked thru all of the most difficult sections, while D90's with lockers had some difficulty. The Jeep Cherokee had the most trouble, being stock. The TJ was fun to watch, as I had never seen one offroad before, this being the summer of 98, the beautiful scantily clad women in the TJ didn't hurt any either! the D110 with the turbo diesle makes everything look boring, well not Redcone itself. hehe. What can I say, we all had a wonderful time, soaked in all that scenary, and got to 4 wheel at the same time!
the end of the route we took leads to the old mining town of Montezuma, where I saw a sign: Montezuma’s Revenge, which caused me to wonder what they were advertising. We split into 2 groups, those wishing to head back to Denver, of which I was included, and those going up to Glacier Ridge and on to Breckenridge. This area around Breakenridge is a web of trails with beautiful Rocky Mountain scenary, that everyone should take the time to explore.
Brian B. Bonner
The Irish Rover