Yansing Gulch
Yansing Gulch was the only trail we ran on for the day. We met up at the Gunsmoke Truck Stop, and the weather was a bit cool but nice. Julie was running late due to an alternator problem, so Matt and Alan went to the trailhead for Yansing to wait for her there. Matt and Alan started airing down, and Julie texted Matt that she would be at the trailhead soon after fueling up.
There was a second group at the trailhead also airing down at the same time. They had a full-sized Ram 2500 Diesel pickup with them. Matt and Alan thought that the truck was too big for Yansing, but he was airing down and getting ready to go.
Julie arrived and finished airing down, and then we were off to start the trail. The first hill climb is always fun. Matt went right up and stopped at the top of the obstacle. Julie was the next one to go up, but she did not make it too far with her 33-inch tires. She kept getting hung up on her Jeep's frame, so Matt turned around on the trail and went to winch her up and off the rock ledge. Alan didn’t have any issues with the rock ledge, because he was running 37-inch tires like Matt.
The next part of the trail is the Rock Garden and was also fun, as usual. None of us had any issues with the Rock Garden. It's simply a matter of picking the correct line and going nice and slow. We did get a few pictures of the Jeeps flexing out on the rocks.
The next major obstacle was the Rock Pile. Only Matt went up and over the right side this time. The others bypassed it.
Then we were off to Whale's Tail. Matt and Alan went up the center like usual. They did not have any issues going up. Julie drove up the right side, and she didn't have any issues going up, either. As we were leaving, a side-by-side was coming down the trail and went up Whale's Tail.
After the creek area, we stopped at the Stairs for lunch and a break. Matt was the only one to play on the Stairs. He went up the right side without any issues.
After lunch, the Chute was next. This time, Matt stayed more to the right side of the Chute and went up with very few issues. Julie and Alan took the same line and went up the Chute, also without any problems.
The rest of Yansing was downhill and slow going. Eventually, we arrived at the one-way section of the trail. We did the Rock Garden backwards. It's the only way to get back to the parking lot. We really expected to see parts of the white Ram 2500 pickup truck strewn all over the trail, but we didn't see any traces of it.
Back in the parking lot at the trailhead as we were airing up, we saw the other group again, the one that included the white Ram 2500. We talked to him and he said that he realized at the first part of the trail that it was too narrow and difficult a trail for a full-sized truck and that he did not end up running the trail.
After airing back up Alan and Matt went back home, and Julie stayed in the area for the night. We all had a great time on the trail.
Reports from Other Days: 28
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Yansing Gulch. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
