Calico MONDAY 10/8 (Columbus Day))

[Kodiak Spirit]

I'm sorry I bowed out at the last minute... I did end up showing up for the run. A few of people bowed out at the last minute (they had a long ride to AZ) and one guy turned around early (fan shroud) but we had 7 rigs in all and it was a good day. the weather was perfect, nobody broke, and because of the turnout we ended up going up Odessa and down Doran, less the gatekeeper or course... two guys had fairly stock rigs and made it through by great driving alone. I am allways inpressed to see these open diff, low slung rigs on 30's or 31's just drive it.

[OffRoadFreak]

Had a great time with you guys. here are some photos from the trip...

[OffRoadFreak]

[OffRoadFreak]

[Russ Chung]

We had a total of seven rigs show up at the airdown point. We decided to run Odessa and Doran Canyons together instead of splitting up into two runs. The drivers included Jesse (Kodiak Spirit), Gene (Double G), Paul (pdw), Brandon (OffRoadFreak), George Zalman (from Arizona) , Jim Galbraith (from Arizona) and myself. The weather was perfect; it was about 60 degrees when we started and about 80 degrees when we finished with light winds.

Jim Galbraith’s dark green TJ:



Gene’s (Double G) lime green TJ:



George Zalman’s silver TJ:



George, Jim and Brandon:



This picture was taken moments before Jim got high centered on the rock under his front passenger tire and had to be strapped off. After the recovery, he discovered that his cooling fan was rubbing against his fan shroud, so he decided to turn around rather than risk further damage (he needed to be able to drive his rig back to Arizona).



Paul got high centered. Paul and Jesse (Kodiak Spirit) discuss Paul's predicament. We decided to pull Paul back off the rock instead of pulling him forward:





George:



Paul:



Brandon (listen for the comment about lockers at the end of the video):



Gene:



more….

[Russ Chung]

This shelf is badly eroded and one section is barely wide enough for a Jeep YJ or TJ. I don’t know if a JK (or a Hummer) would be able to make it through. This is George’s TJ:



Paul’s YJ:



Brandon’s TJ:



We took a break for lunch at Bismarck mine, then returned via Doran Canyon. Paul’s YJ on the Waterfall in Doran Canyon:



Gene’s TJ:



We finished the run without further mishap and we were off the trail by 1:30 pm. Jesse did a great job leading, spotting and letting the group know what to expect. I followed Brandon throughout the day since we both had open diffs on 31s and two inch lifts, but even with the advantage of seeing the lines that he took, I still got stuck much more often than he did.

[dirtman13]

Nice pictures and report guys. Wish I could have went. Although, I could defiantly see myself getting high centered on some of those rock.

[pdw]

Great videos, thanks! You had to get color pics of me being stuck on that rock, didn't you?

[dirtman13]

Great videos, thanks! You had to get color pics of me being stuck on that rock, didn't you?

Russ is pretty good about catching those shots. Got me in BB

[RAT]

Great videos, thanks! You had to get color pics of me being stuck on that rock, didn't you?

That rock likes Jeeps. It's gets lots of folks just like that

[pdw]

Russ is pretty good about catching those shots. Got me in BB

Yah, that one is ugly.....

[paul_arc]

i can understand getting high centered... but on a rock with nothing else around! how does that one happen? lol. looks like you guys had a good time, nice pics and good videos.
the videos of you guys going up that rocky road where its eroaded away, last time i was there my jeep was to wide for that part and had to go up that bypass hill, now that was fun.

[Kodiak Spirit]

Yeah, alot of rigs have hit that spot from the side, calling it bypass hill or whatever, but now all the dirt and rock that made that possible is gone and there is a 5' rock ledge that looks really bad. it is straight verticle and rough, and I don't know if it is good to leave alone... we might need to get a group together to build a rock wall and fill it in if we want the trail to stay open.

I dunno if we can even do that by law or what, but if a couple of rigs roll there it's gonna suck.

[pdw]

Yeah, alot of rigs have hit that spot from the side, calling it bypass hill or whatever, but now all the dirt and rock that made that possible is gone and there is a 5' rock ledge that looks really bad. it is straight verticle and rough, and I don't know if it is good to leave alone... we might need to get a group together to build a rock wall and fill it in if we want the trail to stay open.

I dunno if we can even do that by law or what, but if a couple of rigs roll there it's gonna suck.

So, who is in charge of that area? Forest service? BLM?

I would be willing to spend a Saturday helping to rebuild that area. IMO - It's if somebody is going to roll, it's when.

[paul_arc]

Yeah, alot of rigs have hit that spot from the side, calling it bypass hill or whatever, but now all the dirt and rock that made that possible is gone and there is a 5' rock ledge that looks really bad. it is straight verticle and rough, and I don't know if it is good to leave alone... we might need to get a group together to build a rock wall and fill it in if we want the trail to stay open.

I dunno if we can even do that by law or what, but if a couple of rigs roll there it's gonna suck.

yeah i would definatly be up for going and building that wall, anything to help a trail stay open and calico is one of the top places i like to go.
that rock ledge must of gotten worse since i have been there last. i think i was there in may or june and it was about a 3 foot vertical ledge. couldnt make it up the first time, just would spin the tires. so i had to back down and air down more. heres a pic of me goin up!