Metal Masher
This trail is a blast and it had a little something for everyone. Mirror Gulch is a great challenge for all vehicles, and Rock Chucker and Widowmaker are both crazy rock obstacles made for the biggest vehicles and the bravest drivers. The weather was perfect and we got to see a lot of other people doing each obstacle.
We were all covered in dirt and dust by the time we got to the trailhead, of course. The area by Gooney Bird Rock is always dusty. The trail started out pretty mellow, but the views were really nice. We got to a large slab of slickrock with a big rock hill in the middle, so we had to try it.
Monica got on it and managed to get stuck on it, unable to back off of it. She had to get towed up it, but not without bending her back bumper back down to where it was actually supposed to be (trail damage in a good way!).
Wayne got on it and couldn't make it up, so he tried to back down. He managed the first trail damage of the trip as he bent his tail pipe in half. He backed down and started working on getting it bent back a bit and chained to his bumper.
Bob S. and Monica made a tiny little rock garden and wheeled some tiny trucks through it, not helping in the trail repairs in the slightest.
Once Wayne got his Jeep back together we were on our way. We came around a corner on the slickrock to find Rock Chucker. It was massive! Bob S. was the only one to get on it, trying a few times but having no luck.
We saw another group coming up the trail so we got out chairs and lunches to watch as they tried it. They gave it a bit more gas and even though most of them still had to work at it they all made it. Bob S. tried again while they were there, giving it some more gas and making it up.
Ladd was going around the other side to pull Bob S. up if he needed it -- but the hill on that end was really steep and big too. He got up on it but that was as far as it was going to go. He got turned around and watched as Bob S. came down it. It's pretty steep!
We finished lunch and got going again, coming to Mirror Gulch pretty quickly. That was a blast, giving everyone a bit of a challenge here and there. The top of it was especially challenging, a big ledge with a curve in it. Everyone made it through without any damage.
When we got to the cliff edge we all took a bunch of pictures and enjoyed the scenery, then we were off again. At the bypass we all decided to keep going to Widowmaker, at least to check it out.
The hill before Widowmaker is pretty crazy and tippy at the top, but everyone made it. When we got up there the group before us was still trying to get everyone up the obstacle. It was huge and slick with sand. The last of their group finally got towed up and Bob S. got on it.
He was nearly vertical, laying flat in his seat. He gave it a bit of a try but it was just too steep. The other group offered to tow him up and he took it.
Bob S. towed up another in our group, who then towed up another until almost all of us had gone up it with a tow strap (a couple went back down and took the bypass). Even getting towed up was a blast! It's extremely steep and slick and we all had a good time on it even though no one actually did it under their own power.
We were about ready to leave when someone in a Jeep all alone showed up at the base of Widowmaker. Eric towed him up. Luckily he didn't get stuck out there.
We continued on and enjoyed the rest of the trail. It was confusing after you leave the cliff edges and start back down into the flat area, as there are a few ways you can go. We managed to find our way across it.
This trail was a blast and one to continue to challenge us.
Reports from Other Days: 4
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Metal Masher. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
