Bill Andrews

There is a huge mud hole just west of Waypoint 7. It looked innocent enough at first but absolutely swallow my nefew's lifted XJ on 32s. We spent most of the day trying different combinations of winches, snatch blocks and angle before we finally we able to extract him. There is a very narrow space around the left side going up (right side coming down where a TJ/XJ width vehicle can squeeze by if you are extremely careful but full-width rigs are probable going to have problems. You can still get up to Jumbo Mountain and the nice campsite at Waypoint 5 and you can access the upper part of the trail from the Apex side or from one of the connecting trails from Dakota HIll.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Round Knoll as part of our annual Spring Break trip to Utah. Along for the ride were me and my wife, Missy, in our stock TJ, our daughter, Leona, and her boyfriend, Steve, in our stock WJ, Karen in her stock JK, Mike and Jessica in their nicely built LJ, my nephew, Jon and his dad (my brother), Richard, in Jon’s lifted XJ, and my niece, Kiyanna, and her mom (my sister-in-law), Kirsten in Kiyanna’s lifted TJ. After completing Round Knoll to Oil Well Flat, we made our way across the Cane Wash cutoff and began the bottom half of Cane Wash from Waypoint 6. There had been some rain the night before and I was expecting wet and muddy conditions but the wash had mostly dried out already and the going was smooth. We made our way down the wash keeping a steady pace and enjoying the scenery. We stopped at the “hut” and some of us got out to explore but the weather was turning colder and the wind was picking up so we didn’t stay very long. Some of us wonder if there may be a mine tunnel behind the plywood of the back wall. It seems like a lot of structure for such a tiny hut. We made the turn off to the Calf Mesa Mine but it was continuing to get colder and windier so nobody wanted to get out and explore. We did enjoy the abandoned vehicles, especially the truck. My dad had an old International when I was growing up. I don’t think it was quite that old, probably early 50s and it was red but it did bring back memories. After we completed the trail, as we headed down Buckhorn Draw back to I-70, the weather turned and we got rain, hail, sleet and snow, fairly heavy at times, enough to cover the ground but not enough to effect driving, other than visibility. It was a spotty storm, like a summer thunder shower only colder. It would let up and almost stop and then start dumping again and continued off and on all the way down the highway to the San Rafael Reef.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Round Knoll as part of our annual Spring Break trip to Utah. Along for the ride were me and my wife, Missy, in our stock TJ, our daughter, Leona, and her boyfriend, Steve, in our stock WJ, Karen in her stock JK, Mike and Jessica in their nicely built LJ, my nephew, Jon and his dad (my brother), Richard, in Jon’s lifted XJ, and my niece, Kiyanna, and her mom (my sister-in-law), Kirsten in Kiyanna’s lifted TJ. We started from Buckhorn Draw off of I-70 and ran from south to north ending up on Oil Well Flat. The weather was cool and cloudy but decent. The scenery was, of course, spectacular. I was somewhat surprised at how easy the trail was. I think it may be rated a little high. I traversed the entire trail in the stock TJ without ever putting it in 4wd and did not struggle. I think a 2 or maybe a 2-3 rating would be more appropriate. After reaching Oil Well Flat, we made our way over to the bottom half of Cane Wash to finish the day.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Soldier Mountain as part of a snow-wheeling run in the Rampart Range area on Saturday, February 20. 2021. Along for the run were me in my mostly stock TJ and Jon in his lifted XJ. After completing the trails we had planned to run by noon, we looked at the MVUM to see where else to go. I was cinsidering Balanced Rock Road when I noticed a little loop on the west side of Rampart Range Road that I was unfamiliar with. We decided to go explore this "new" territory. It turned out to be a great choice. The first side of this loop is Soldier Mountain. There were a couple of sets of tracks in the snow but it obviously had not had as much traffic as the trails we ran in the morning. It also was considerably steeper and rougher than those other trails providing us with a little challege to enjoy. We carefully made our way down to the interection with Rupp Gulch using extreme caution on the steep, rough decent. It was probably good that there had been less traffic here as the softer snow was not as slick as a hard snow pack would have been. From there we proceeded up the other side, with a little challege to climb the hill, and out to the end of the trail. we then returned to Rupp Gulch and headed down to explore it.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Ensign Gulch as part of a snow-wheeling run in the Rampart Range area on Saturday, February 20. 2021. Along for the run were me in my mostly stock TJ and Jon in his lifted XJ. We had completed the trails we had planned to run by noon so, looking on the MVUM we found the little loop made by Soldier Mountain and Rupp Gulch. After completing Soldier Mountain, we returned to the intersection with Rupp Gulch and headed down toward the end. The south facing slope had very little snow left and the trail was mostly just wet with a little snow here and there so straddling the bigs ruts was not very difficult. When we reached the meadow at the end of the trail we stopped in the camping area and had some lunch. After luch we headed back up to the intersection and on up Rupp Gulch. That's when the fun began. The snow was much deeper in the heavily wooded area making the steep, rough climb back to Rampart Range Road very challenging. We struggled our way through it making multiple attempts in places and sometimes wondering if the stock TJ would make it but we finally did make it to the top without having to use a strap or winch.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Mount Hermon Road as part of a snow-wheeling run in the Rampart Range area on Saturday, February 20. 2021. Along for the run were me in my mostly stock TJ and Jon in his lifted XJ. We used this trail as access into the Rampart Range area from Monument. There were about 1-2 inches of snow on the lower end gradually increasing to 4-6 inches at the top with a few deeper driftes here and there. The road was well-tracked and mostly snowpacked with a few icy patches and a few slushy/muddy areas. I used high 4x4 for a little more traction and stability but it could be run in 2wd. On the way out at the end of the day the slushy/muddy areas had increased significantly, especially on the lower end.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Beaver Creek Road as part of a snow-wheeling run in the Rampart Range area on Saturday, February 20. 2021. Along for the run were me in my mostly stock TJ and Jon in his lifted XJ. After accessing the area via Mount Hermon Road, we turned down FSR 315 heading toward Rampart Range Road. The trail was well-tracked and snow packed. There we a few deeper drifts on some of the north-facing slopes but they had all be tracked though as well. After passing easily through the gulch and up onto the ridge, we were treated to some very nice views of Pikes Peak as well as the surrounding Rampart Range. We reached Rampart Range Road well ahead of schedule and decided to extend our trip on some of the other trails in the area.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Ensign Gulch as part of a snow-wheeling run in the Rampart Range area on Saturday, February 20. 2021. Along for the run were me in my mostly stock TJ and Jon in his lifted XJ. After asccessing the area via Mount Hermon Road and completing Beaver Creek Road much more quickly than anticipated we headed to Ensign Gulch to extend our trip. The trail was tracked through but not as extensively as Beaver Creek Road and so it was not completely snow packed. A couple of the steeper climbs required some concentration and skill to ascend and we got to pratice our sideways driving on on or two of the steeper decents but nothing too difficult. Skid Road (one of the dead end spurs off of this trail) had not been tracked through and offered us a chance to break trail for a fun little side trip. We made it back to Beaver Creek Road without incident and continued back to Mount Hermon Road to decide where to go next.

After we finished running Rock Creek Hills in the snow, we decided to see how far up Lost Creek Road we could go. The lower part of the road was well-tracked and snow packed, slick but passible. The seasonal gate was open. once we got above the seasonal gate the tracks became fewer and the travel became harder. Just before Waypoint 9, someone had left a truck in the middle of the road. The necessitated driving into the ditch on the uphill side of the road for a few hundred feet to get around it. getting back up onto the road was a little challenging. The tracks continued to diminish but we followed them all the way to the end. The road is drivable to the seasonal gate. The upper part of the road is definitely challenging snow wheeling.

Calvary 4-Wheelers took our first trip of 2021 on Saturday, January 2. It was a snow wheeling to Rock Creek Hills. Along for the trip were me, in my wife’s stock TJ, my brother, Rich, in his stock Ford Ranger and my nephew, Jon in his lifted Cherokee. The weather was a little windy in the morning, sunny and pleasant through the middle of the day and cloudy and windy later in the afternoon. We took a meandering route which took us over almost all of the main road and most of the side trails. There were about 4-6 inches of snow with some wind-swept bare spots and occasional drifts up to about a foot and half on some of the side trails. The main road was snowy but well tracked except for a few places in the open where the wind was drifting over the tracks. Some of the side trails were tracked and some we were breaking freshies. We did not bother to chain up but did have to strap out of a couple of drifts and the Ranger needed the winch up one steep, slick hill.