Red Cone Opening June 2021

 

June 26, 2021 Some of the patrol 14 members (and guest) line up and air down headed to the opening of Red Cone. Seen in the photo: Bill David in the Red YJ, Harold in the Blue JK and our guest Charlie in the back.   We would later be joined by other members from the patrol, Gary (patrol lead), David and Kim and our Land Use Coordinator Daryl.  Red Cone is one of Patrol 14's adopt a trail with the USFS.

 

            Finally everyone is gathered at the HandCart parking lot.  We had about 12 jeeps, some YJ's, some TJ's and some JK's and even a Toyota Taco.

Ryan Boudreau organized and coordinated with the various attendees for organization.  Above is Minion (Ryan's BUILT LJ).  In the above photo he is at the Red Cone/Webster intersection.  Ryan stopped to check the snow cornice at the top of Webster..  Still a lot of snow on the top of Webster.

Above are a number of the various volunteers as they descend Red Cone.  A big thanks to all who worked on the opening and a big thanks to Ryan for organizing the crews.

Switzerland Trail - April 24th

On April 24th, Patrol 14 ran Switzerland Trail and Switzerland Trail North. The weather was really quite nice, and it was great to see everyone that was able to come out. On the trail, we had Bill & Cheryl, Gary & Trudy, Daryl & RoxeAn and Ryan. The main Switzerland Trail was mostly snow packed for the first portion, but there were no issues driving it.

The original plan was to drive this to Pennsylvania Gulch and go up the gulch, but there was too much snow on the gulch. So, we decided to continue on Switzerland, instead. The trail became quite busy as we neared 52, so we decided to stop for lunch just below the picnic area. It was a nice lunch time, and Bill provided some entertainment by catching a leaf spring on a stump when departing our picnic spot.

The fun really started when we crossed 52 and headed up Switzerland Trail North. Once passed the plowed portion, the trail was far less tracked. Harold soon found a slick spot and it pulled his right front tire off the trail. A quick tug from Daryl and he was back on track.

It wasn't far, and we found a small water crossing/puddle.

Overall, it was relatively quiet and peaceful as we continued up the trail. No one had any issues until the snow started to get deeper.

After a climb up a hill, we stopped to consider the trail ahead before continuing on.

Shortly after this point, things started to get interesting and the snow started to get deeper.

Eventually, the trail simply became impassable, so we decided to head back out to 52. It was a good idea, because the trail was starting to get pretty slick from the sun melting it into a slick slush in a couple of places by then. We still enjoyed the journey out, though.

We found a spot near a parking area off of 52, aired up and headed home. It was a great day out on the trail. Thanks to Gary for leading the trip and Ryan taking up the lead when the snow got much deeper.