Carnage Canyon LHC
Dane had a rare weekend off and decided to run a trail that was close to town. He picked Carnage Canyon and talked Cheryl into going with him. The day started out cloudy with a few sprinkles as we aired down and hit the trail. It looked like it might have rained earlier, making the trail wet and muddy.
We came to the first obstacle, the Guardian Rock. Dane tried to drive over them, but the mud made the rocks too slick. He backed down and went around. Cheryl tried to drive over the rocks next, and her longer wheel base allowed her to get her front wheels over the rocks, but she could not get enough traction to get the rear wheels over. She had to back down and go around as well.
Dane led the way along trail. There were many different tracks along the trail, some legal and some illegal. Dane took his time and picked the route that looked less damaging to the trail.
We came to a rocky section that led through some trees. The far right side was off camber and leaned you into a tree. Since it was still slick and muddy, Dane decided to go around and not damage his soft top. Cheryl decided to risk her top and take the line through the trees. As she was going past the tree, her rear tires slid down the bank and put her top against the tree. We were able to push the top of her Jeep enough to get it off the tree. She was able to drive through without damaging the tree or her soft top.
We made our way to the next obstacle, the Squeeze. Everyone drove through it without any difficulty, running their passenger tires over the shorter rock on the right.
Next up was the Slab, with a big mud puddle at the base of it. Cheryl decided to try it, knowing she would be sliding. She got a running start at it, but all four wheels ended up spinning before she reached the top. She ended up going around it, but it was fun to watch her try and get over.
We made it to the Waterfall next, and it was really muddy around the obstacle. The middle line looked too hard for our Jeeps and it was too slippery to try the right side. We both went left around it.
Shortly after the Waterfall, there was a set of big rocks in the center of the trail. Cheryl decided to drive over them by straddling the crack between the rocks. She had a good line, but still got a little tippy at times. She went slow and managed to drive right over the rocks. She hit her bumper and Hi-lift jack handle hard coming off the obstacle, though.
We came to the five points area and decided to take Forest Service road 286E also known as Upper Carnage Canyon. The trail was rocky, but pretty mild. We found a small clearing, just before the switchbacks, where we parked and ate lunch. After lunch, we drove through the switchbacks and came to the intersection where 286E joins the Left Hand Canyon trail, Forest Service road 286. Then we took Left Hand Canyon from there.
Reports from Other Days: 8
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Carnage Canyon LHC. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
