Red Cone
We started out expecting 22 vehicles so it was nice to see only 11 as we started our day. The weather was beautiful as we turned off the highway. We met Mike V. at the trailhead and we all aired down there and started making our way to the top of Red Cone.
The trail was dry as we climbed the small rocky sections. The sun was out and there were only a few clouds. When we got to the rocky hill with the optional set of big rocks, almost everyone decided to try it.
The rocks are easy to avoid, but it's fun to try them. They are big and stick out enough to make them ledges, with soft dirt below them making it difficult to get traction.
Monica tried it first but couldn't get her front tires over the ledge. She ended up going over it a bit sideways instead. Gary gave it a good try but the dirt was too soft. Some rocks were stacked but it still wasn't enough so he had to go around.
Perry really looked like he was going to make it with his longer wheelbase but there wasn't enough for his tires to grab so he couldn't get up it either.
Rob stacked a few more rocks and though they slid away pretty easily he managed to fight his way up and over the rocks -- the first one of the group to make it through. Cheryl and Bob tried to follow Rob's line, stacking the same rocks, but it didn't happen for them.
Mike V. tackled it with his Cherokee and with spinning tires he made it up and through the obstacle without too much trouble. Nice job! Kendall had his big truck with him on this trip so he got a tire up on one of the smaller rocks and called it good.
We were all wondering how Kendall's truck would do in the tight switchbacks with whoopdeedoos but he showed us we had nothing to worry about. It's a big truck but it made it through just fine.
We finally came out of the trees and enjoyed our first view of Red Cone and our trail to the top of it. At this point, a Jeep full of people ran off the trail to get around us, going very fast and being very rude. We tried to get them to stop and get back on the trail but they were going too fast.
Another few Jeeps passed us whenever they could, so we ended up with a few strangers in the middle of our group on the way up. The trail seemed to be full of impatient people wanting to run the trail as fast as possible. On a good note, all of the ATV and motorcycle riders we saw were all very friendly and stayed on the trail (and we saw quite a few).
We watched the trail wrecking Jeep bounce its passengers all over the place and picked up the trash that fell out of it on the way up. Their karma finally caught up with them and they overheated right before getting to the top, blocking the trail for everyone.
We finally got to the top and headed down the first big hill. We were surprised to find it smoothed out all the way down, now with very few rocks on it. It made the trail much easier and safer, but unfortunately it took away the characteristic that made the trail such a memorable one. It was still beautiful, though, so we enjoyed it.
The next two hills were fun as always, and the last one still had its loose rocks, which made it now the scariest one of the three (though it still isn't too bad). When we got to Webster Pass we let the other Jeeps go ahead of us.
We worked our way over to Radical Hill, taking that brief part of Webster Pass that connects it to Red Cone. A few of us went down it fast enough to enjoy the bumps in the trail. It's always a good part! We saw quite a bit of traffic -- mostly ATVs and motorcycles.
We had a very late lunch at our usual spot, though by this point it was pretty chilly and the sun had left us for the day. It was still gorgeous, though. Then after a quick break we headed up to Radical Hill.
Red Cone is always one of our favorites, and even though it's much easier it's probably better now that it's also more safe.
Reports from Other Days: 7
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