Chinaman Gulch
The day started off on the cool side with the temperature around 35 degrees. It warmed up to almost 70 degrees for most of the day. We all met in Johnson Village, and soon we were off to the trailhead of Chinaman Gulch.
At the parking area we all aired down and watched some big rock crawlers heading off to running Carnage Canyon. They all had at least 40-inch tires. After airing down, we were off in the other direction to start the Chinaman Gulch trail.
The Rock Garden was not very difficult this year. It was just slow going even though none of us ended up having any issues. One of the Jeeps that had come with the rock crawler group went with our group to the end of Carnage Canyon by running the start of Chinaman Gulch. He was going to help the rock crawlers with the trail's difficult exit out of Carnage Canyon. He did want to take his Jeep down that trail with the rest of his group. He was the only one with around 37-inch tires, and he said it would be too much work to get his Jeep down that trail.
Soon we were at the Rock Pile, and we all had fun playing in the optional obstacle. No one had any issues with it, and we all had a good time. Austin did have his pin and washer come off for his sway bar disconnect. We managed to find both the washer and the pin and we quickly put them back on his Jeep.
The next obstacle was the Whale's Tail. The trail up to Whale's Tail had a few rocks to drive over or around if you could, and we enjoyed the trip. The Whale's Tail was easy for all of us as we went up the center of it. Terry could not get his lockers to work, at first, but they cooperated eventually.
The wash after the Whale's Tail was fun. All of the rocks seemed bigger since the last time we saw them, so they must be getting dug out or the dirt is eroding around them. We all chose a fun line through the rocks and everyone really enjoyed themselves.
Then the Stairs, the next obstacle, was muddy and wet. Matt went up first and it took a few tries to get up the step. He slid in the mud a little bit and pushed his side mirror in, and that hit the road light he had installed and broke the light. After taking the light bulb out he was on his way through the rest of the Stairs. Matt got the first trail damage of the year. Congratulations!
Terry went up the Stairs next and almost did the same thing as Matt, sliding on the muddy rocks. After watching Matt and Terry, Austin did not want to try the Stairs. He ended up taking the bypass instead.
At the end of the Stairs is an open area and we stopped there for lunch. We walked around the Stairs for some time as we finished our lunch, and then we were off to the next obstacle, the Chutes.
When we got to the Chutes, we found out that it was filled in and the obstacle was now just a dirt hill. We did not have any issues with it at all. We secretly hoped that the patches wouldn't last because we've always enjoyed wrestling with that obstacle.
The end of the trail down the hill was fun. It was washed out in places and very tippy at times. We all had fun with it, and none of us had any issues with that fun section of the trail.
When we got back to the end of Carnage Canyon where it meets Chinaman Gulch we thought that we would take a look at the trail. As we were looking at the exit of Carnage Canyon, the rock crawlers were just getting to the bottom of the hill. So we got to see a show, with one of the rock crawlers making it up the hill. It took many tries for him to make it up, but he did it. He had 42-inch tires, and it was still a difficult obstacle. The next rock crawler had to use his winch to get out of the trail.
After watching the fun on Carnage Canyon we walked back to our Jeeps to start our way down the Rock Garden and back to the parking area. We all aired up and we were soon on our way back home after a fun day of wheeling and watching the rock crawlers.
Reports from Other Days: 22
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Chinaman Gulch. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
