Patrol 14 Wheels in April

Patrol 14 had April 29th locked in for a run up Miller Rock.  Little did we know when we set that date, there would be a spring snow storm blow through the Denver Metro area and complicate our day.  Through much discussion between Gary Boudreau and I, we thought "what the heck let’s try it."  So, four of us met in Nederland about 10:00 am on Saturday and headed for Miller Rock.  By the time we all met in Nederland, we all pretty much suspected our ability to get up the trail was going to be slim to none.  But we had all come this far, why not go explore and see what was there.

  

 

Miller Rock Attempt

A lot of snow with ice underneath, that’s what was there.  We headed up the trail but within about 200 yards we were stopped.  Gary was in the lead when he hit the first little bit of an obstacle, which proved much more challenging than the ARB locker could overcome.  Gary got out and started to explore on foot what was ahead.  Was winching further going to yield anything more than a day of winching?  Sadly the trail was steeper and more slick the further up he walked.  We decided to back down and go someplace else.  In the process of backing down in the slippery conditions, Harold nearly slid off the trail into the small creek that runs along the trail at that location.  



We hooked Harold to the back of my Red YJ and even with both axles locked up the YJ was having no part of going forward.  That meant Harold would need to winch to get square on the trail.  Once we had Harold square on the trail, Gary and Sam did a little digging in the snow tracks in an effort to straighten up Harold’s backing approach.  That proved to be effective and Harold was able to carefully back down to the trail entrance.  Gary and I followed suit backing down successfully. After we were all safely off the trail, we kicked around a few other places in the area we might be able to explore.

Onward to Rollins Pass

Coney flats was the first and closest place we could think of. We all headed over to the that trail head, sadly the gates were still closed and will be till later in the year.  So off to Rollins Pass we went.  When we hit the Rollins Pass Trailhead, Harold took a look up the trail and thought the snow looked "pretty deep".  He jokingly suggested that Sam make an attempt and see how far up the trail he could go.  Sam has always said, "if I can see a tree or a rock I can winch to; I am going for it," and that he did.  



We watched as Sam’s tail lights disappeared around the corner.  In a short period Sam was on the radio asking why we weren’t coming?  Of course the rest of us got in line and headed up the trail to catch up with Sam.  





We traveled slowly up the trail till about the 2 mile mark and decided to break for lunch.  

Gary whipped out the Grill, fired it up and we got the hot dogs roasting.  Not sure why Hot Dogs are so good on the trail but they just seem to be the best lunch.  

After lunch we headed up the trail a bit further made a turn around and then headed back down.  It was a great day, we all had a good time and encountered no real difficulties.