Balanced Rock Road
After we were off of Mount Herman Road, we were quickly at Balanced Rock Road. The weather continued to be clear but cool. We turned down onto the trail and were having fun in 2-wheel drive in the snow. There was a burned-out trailer at the first clear area, so someone must have had a bad day!
As we went down the trail, we passed one truck with deer hunters in it. Most of the traffic that we would see for the rest of the weekend would be deer hunters with only a few exceptions. As the trail got steeper and more rutted, most of us went into 4-wheel drive for added control during our descent. On one of the steepest descents, Mike, in the lead, started to slide off the trail. Attempts to drive out of it resulted in his Jeep sliding further towards the edge until he put it in 4-low and locked his differentials to get back onto the trail in reverse. Lockers became a nice-to-have for several of us at various times for the rest of the weekend.
We made it through the slippery switchback and were soon down to the parking area at the gate for the Palmer Lakes Reservoirs. After we walked around for a bit, it was time to see if we could climb back out. We headed up the trail and were pleasantly surprised to see that it was actually easier to go up the trail than it was going down. Roger remarked that it was because gravity is in control on the way down and we were in control on the way up. Well, control was a relative term as we were still slipping and sliding but as long as we were making headway we didn't feel like we could end up off into the trees!
At the end of the trail we were back on Rampart Range Road, and we decided on the spur of the moment to add Ice Cave Creek Road to the day's run. No one objected to getting a bonus trail in so we were off to run that trail next.
Reports from Other Days: 7
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Balanced Rock Road. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
