On Thursday, June 18th, a couple of families went up
ahead of the rest of the volunteers to set up camp. Friday was spent
in quiet solitude, with a little R and R. As evening rolled around,
they hung out on the sest side of West Lake to rendezvous with themembers
and guests, soon to arrive. First came the undistiguishable riff raff
over the CB. In a matter of minutes, the caravan of Weld County 4 Wheel
Drive Club 4x4's was a parade to make one proud. Once to camp these
smiley fanatics turned camp into a bustling commune of 24 happy campers
in 8 tents and 1 pickup camper.
The family circle included; Gregg, Sherry, and Mike
Danson, Chris Yellowboy, Jolene Korgan and crew, Rich and Darlene Nunn,
Jim, James and Sarah Nunn, Dave and Jeanyce Nalley, Mike Connell and
friend Jason, Shane Jordan, Mike and Sanya Zook with the boys, Aaron,
Kyle, and Devin.
The original project plan was changed on Saturday morning
when we met with Lenora Arevalos of the Canyon Lakes Ranger District.
Instead of opening North Bald Mountain at the lower trailhead, she had
us go up and open Deadman gate at the Pearl Beaver junction. From there,
it was no mans land except for the guy passing thru as we opened the
gate. We proceeded up to FDR 319 and headed south. At FDR 517 (North
Bald Mtn.) Jim, Rich and Jolene scurried on down to lock the Greenridge
gate. Several trees had to be cleared on the way, then after maneuvering
down thru the narrow trees to where the big washout is before the first
meadow, it became obvious they were going to hoof it to the gate. Well,
actually it was a choice of either body damage, followed by an inevitable
submarine trip to china, or a hike (the second choice seemed the wiser).
It was quite a trick trying to get around the lake that had taken over
the trail, but mud on the tread is typical, even if its of the shoe
kind.
The next task was trying to turn Jim's CJ5, the MudSub,
and Rich's Commando around in the narrow shoot of trees with the washout
being a major obstacle of the tweaky/tippy sort. When the term tree
hugger is used by 4WD groups, it is usually referring to those radical
environmentalists. But driving a full size, any size for that matter,
tree hugger could be used as terminology for even 4-wheeling, if you
know what I mean.
We three got back to the rest of the group on FDR 517.
In all the years we've done projects since adopting North Bald Mountain,
no one can remember so much water and snow on the 4WD road. Downed trees
across the road needed to be cleared, more signing in the large meadows,
but fortunately minimal trash to clean up. But then as we started into
denser trees, those of us to the back of the pack, had to wonder why
and where those strange sounds were coming from.
As it turned out, the Nalley's Chevota encountered
not just a whate hole, but one so deep that they couldn't get through
until they took enough water on board to weigh them down to the bottom.
Well, that explains the strange (but familiar) sounds heard from the
lead. Of course not al the vehicles were as adventurous to go scuba
diving, so it was up to the second in line to bust out the by-pass which
was drifted in with at least 4 feet of spring compacted snow through
the trees, with a curve to the passengers side. Go for it Gregg! If
anyone could break through the snow it would be heavy metal, Chvy Blazer
4x4, fit for the job.
Now that the Danson's "Blazed" the road open, Shane
made the battle with his stock suspension Chevy pickup, followed by
Mike in his F-150 extended cab with a lift. Then came guests Mike and
Sanya in their well equipped Wrangler, and Jim in his CJ. It only took
the cheer of the crowd for me to see just how many holes have rusted
thru the suburban body. Slow and easy in, but they all forgot to mention
the steep bank to get out the other side. It took a couple of tries
to bump it up far enough to catch some traction with the front wheels
in the slick mud. For some time I've joked about renaming the Mudsub
to the Rustub, and until all the water drained out, there was more truth
to my joke than I realized. The water mark on the tailgate measured
to the lettering, which is up to my shoulders. With Rich as tail gunner,
he decided to stay high and dry and go for snowy ground.
The rest of the day's maintenance was of the trench
digging nature, repairing signs, and logging in not one user do to the
area just opening. Lenora was going to wait until later in the afternoon
to open up the lower end in order for us to have time to get through.
What was unusual, especially since most of the road was still so wet,
was that the one mud / water hole closest to the Killpecker side, was
nearly dry. However, the depth of the hole has worsened since last year,
and we'll have to go back with the necessary materials and equipment
to correct it. It was a very photogenic spot as each of us conqured
the hole, or had to get strapped.
We rolled on out to the Killpecker Road, unlocked that
gate, and split into two groups. One heading for camp, the other bound
for some serious snow bashing to open up the Deadman Tower Road, at
Lenora's request. They needed to transport some hugw batteries to the
tower, and the snow melt would be enhanced if the drifts were knocked
out. Up to the challenge were the Nalley's, Danson's, Zook's and Shane
who went for the ride. It took 3 hours to cut out downed trees and open
up the road, and that only being possible due to Mike winching portions
of the roller coaster nighmare. Photos taken detail evidence of vehicles
with the grills nose dived into the drifts higher than the hood, and
the rear of the vehicle setting on top of the 5 to 6 foot drift. It
was just getting dark when that group got back to camp. Chow time for
all.
Sunday morning came, with a "Happy Father's Day" to
all the Dad's. We went to the work center, however Lenora had been delayed.
Once to the North Bald Mountain trailhead, we removed the frame of the
bulletin board so the plexiglass could be replaced. The trail signing
was untampered with, and minimal trash was cleaned up. Again, the chain
saw was in use several times. We got everyone through the boulder patch
and just beyond the second rocky spot, where the snow patches began.
The higher we climbed, the more frequent, and deeper, the drifts became.
We stopped at our usual lunch spot for a bite. With the conditions,
we knew the drift at the very top, before the descent, would be worse
than in years past, so it was time to press on. Dave conquered the drift,
and all followed suit. Camp bound, we packed up and headed for home
knowing we had taken care of the North Bald Mountain 4WD roads once
again.
