Eagle Rock
The day started off at the meetup location, and after some off-topic conversation we headed up to the trailhead. The weather was beautiful but cold and windy. We aired down where the pavement ends on Old Stage Road, and then we were off.
At the trailhead we stopped for a few minutes before making our way up the mountain. The first half of the trail was fun -- challenging at times but ultimately uneventful.
Things changed quickly as we neared the second half of the trail. Snow and ice made things a lot more interesting although not necessarily more challenging. We ran into another group of three Jeep TJs ahead of us. At this point, Matt decided to take an alternate route. He made it through the difficult portion of this route and got stuck trying to join the main trail. Quick work with the winch got him out of a jam and on we rolled. We met up with the TJ group at the meadow clearing and stopped there for lunch.
The way down, the trail was slick and sketchy in spots. Along the way, we ran into a rental Jeep JL heading up the trail that was half on the trail and half off in a pretty precarious position. After talking to the driver and his family we decided to winch them out and get them turned around. They were not going to be making it much farther up. We got them back on the trail and decided to use the winch to get them turned around. We followed them down to one of the campsites, made sure they were ok, and then continued on.
Back on the turnoff at the beginning of asphalt we stopped and aired back up. The rental JL passed us at this point and gave a honk to let us know they were ok.
All in all, it was a great day that was made interesting by the moments that didn't go as planned (for us or others). Good deeds done and good times had!
Reports from Other Days: 12
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