McClellan Mountain
We ran this trail in the opposite direction of what we usually run it after attempting to run Argentine Pass. That meant we started at the Waldorf Mine and went up the big hill. It was as fun running the rocks at the end in the uphill direction, and it was a fantastic time. We all had a great time climbing the loose hill to start the trail, and we took the northernmost switchbacks first. We planned on doing the Santiago Mine on the way back down.
The way up to the top was very busy with traffic but quite scenic. We kept working our way up, attempting to stay out of the way of some ATVs but it was difficult in the traffic jam. At a turnoff, we took a right thinking we could cut some time off the trip to the top. However, up the trail about a quarter of a mile we ran into some snow.
This was particularly troublesome for Roger as he was in the lead and he soon found himself sideways in the snow on a shelf road. Matt was immediately behind Roger, and we tied the rear of Roger's Jeep off with a tow strap. Upon backing out of the snow, Roger slid off the trail on the snow and became very, very tippy. After discussing ur best course of action at some length, we called to the rest of the group for some help at our location. When they got there we put a tow strap on the upper roll bar of Roger's Jeep. Bill, Jeffrey, Cody and Dorit were all hanging on to the tow strap to provide some stability as Roger inched his way back ever so slowly. First, we simply had Matt pull Roger back a couple of feet. Then, with everyone still hanging on to the strap, Roger applied some power and inched himself back onto solid ground. Safe at last!
Once Roger was back on the road, all that remained was to back down the hill one quarter of a mile to the main road. Everyone required spotting all the way down to make sure no one else slipped off the road.
Once we were all back on the main trail we discussed our next move, and everyone decided we had had enough for the day. We started down and the main trail to Waldorf and on down to the Guanella Pass Road. The trip down was long and uneventful. We decided it would be best to hold off airing up until we got to the Georgetown Visitor Center. Once at the Visitor Center we completed airing up and headed home. Even with the heart-racing adventure in the snow it was a great day of four wheeling. We were all somewhat surprised at the amount of snow this early in the season, and it promised to be an early winter this year.
Reports from Other Days: 4
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for McClellan Mountain. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
