lumpskie
Independent Thinker
I posted about this trip in my build thread but I thought it was worth sharing over here too.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...89-Grand-Wagoneer-Build?p=1895004#post1895004
The story takes place on Argentine Pass this weekend. It turned out to be much more of an adventure than I expected. Here's the trip report.
My buddy Glen was the only other person who decided to head up the pass with me. He brought his 4 Runner and we headed up I-70 around 9:30 am. While filling up in Georgetown, we ran into another guy in a 4 Runner who decided to run the trail with us. I'd like to point out here that both 4Runners were lifted 4 or 5 inches and had 33" and 35" tires, respectively. At any rate, we made it to the trail head and hit the trail without issue.
We drove through the initial switchbacks and the Waggy did great. The extra clearance from my 2" lift came in handy and, according to my planned route, this was to be the hardest part of the trail. With the run off being high, there were some great creek views.
At some point, we headed off the trail to the left. I didn't recognize the turn off but Glen had run this trail so many times I didn't think anything of it. I remember thinking "Boy the trees have sure grown closer to the trail than I remember".
As we were driving up, we ended up having to make two deep water crossings. Again, I never remember that as being part of Argentine Pass. After the water crossings, we spied this stack of fertilizer on the side of the trail. We couldn't figure out what someone would be doing with it all the way up there.
This is where the trail really started getting rockier. The 4 Runner guys didn't notice it at all but I, on 30" tires was starting to get a little concerned. (pictures never do a trail justice... keep that in mind)
Then it started to get REALLY rocky. The poor waggy started dragging it's under carriage on rocks and I had to be really careful where I put my tires. The road consisted of bowling ball sized rocks and there were larger rocks in the trail that were easily 40" even bigger. (Again, pictures never do a trail justice)
At one point, my wife told me "You're not going to clear that rock. You'd better back down." I thought, she's over reacting... I was wrong. It turned out that I was on a rock similar to this:
The waggy came down with a huge crunch... Here are some pics of the damage I took after we got back:
It was then that I realized Glen had taken me up McClellan Mountain Trail... not Argentine Pass. Both trails parallel each other but McClellan is a much rockier trail. From that point, Glen, John (who we met earlier that day) and Paula (my wife) all had to spot me to get the poor waggy up the trail. But, it worked and when we intersected with Argentine Pass, we took that trail for the rest of the trip. The Waggy was back in its element.
We saw what was an old cabin out in the woods. Only the chimney was left:
Then we saw some people building a new cabin. They seemed like interesting kind of folks...
And the wild flowers were still in bloom.
Soon after that, we reached the old mine and ghost town area of Waldorf. There's not too much left of the town.
After that, we continued up toward the Santiago Mine. This would prove to be much more fun to see! As we climbed, there were some old mining relics along the trail.
Then we reached our destination at over 12,000 ft.
We parked and could see the mine shaft, the mill, and some other buildings.
As we approached, we could tell this was going to be a fun area to explore!
That's all for Part 1... stay tuned for part 2, where the adventure really begins!
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...89-Grand-Wagoneer-Build?p=1895004#post1895004
The story takes place on Argentine Pass this weekend. It turned out to be much more of an adventure than I expected. Here's the trip report.
My buddy Glen was the only other person who decided to head up the pass with me. He brought his 4 Runner and we headed up I-70 around 9:30 am. While filling up in Georgetown, we ran into another guy in a 4 Runner who decided to run the trail with us. I'd like to point out here that both 4Runners were lifted 4 or 5 inches and had 33" and 35" tires, respectively. At any rate, we made it to the trail head and hit the trail without issue.
We drove through the initial switchbacks and the Waggy did great. The extra clearance from my 2" lift came in handy and, according to my planned route, this was to be the hardest part of the trail. With the run off being high, there were some great creek views.
At some point, we headed off the trail to the left. I didn't recognize the turn off but Glen had run this trail so many times I didn't think anything of it. I remember thinking "Boy the trees have sure grown closer to the trail than I remember".
As we were driving up, we ended up having to make two deep water crossings. Again, I never remember that as being part of Argentine Pass. After the water crossings, we spied this stack of fertilizer on the side of the trail. We couldn't figure out what someone would be doing with it all the way up there.
This is where the trail really started getting rockier. The 4 Runner guys didn't notice it at all but I, on 30" tires was starting to get a little concerned. (pictures never do a trail justice... keep that in mind)
Then it started to get REALLY rocky. The poor waggy started dragging it's under carriage on rocks and I had to be really careful where I put my tires. The road consisted of bowling ball sized rocks and there were larger rocks in the trail that were easily 40" even bigger. (Again, pictures never do a trail justice)
At one point, my wife told me "You're not going to clear that rock. You'd better back down." I thought, she's over reacting... I was wrong. It turned out that I was on a rock similar to this:
The waggy came down with a huge crunch... Here are some pics of the damage I took after we got back:
It was then that I realized Glen had taken me up McClellan Mountain Trail... not Argentine Pass. Both trails parallel each other but McClellan is a much rockier trail. From that point, Glen, John (who we met earlier that day) and Paula (my wife) all had to spot me to get the poor waggy up the trail. But, it worked and when we intersected with Argentine Pass, we took that trail for the rest of the trip. The Waggy was back in its element.
We saw what was an old cabin out in the woods. Only the chimney was left:
Then we saw some people building a new cabin. They seemed like interesting kind of folks...
And the wild flowers were still in bloom.
Soon after that, we reached the old mine and ghost town area of Waldorf. There's not too much left of the town.
After that, we continued up toward the Santiago Mine. This would prove to be much more fun to see! As we climbed, there were some old mining relics along the trail.
Then we reached our destination at over 12,000 ft.
We parked and could see the mine shaft, the mill, and some other buildings.
As we approached, we could tell this was going to be a fun area to explore!
That's all for Part 1... stay tuned for part 2, where the adventure really begins!
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