Colorado Colors Run 2001 Serious Explorations
3rd Annual
Colorado Colors Run

September 1-3, 2001
By: Rick Horwitz
Photos by: Rick Horwitz
 unless otherwise noted

 


The climb to Red Cone

The “Serious Explorations” Colorado Colors Run may have been misnamed. This was the third annual running of the event and we have yet to schedule the run at the height of the fall colors. The first year we were too late and the majority of the leaves had already dropped, the second year we were too early and the leaves had yet to change, this year we were again to early for a spectacular display of color, but… with or without color the third annual Colorado Colors Run was a fantastic success!


Mt. Brosso


Jen and Wade descending Brosso

18 Explorers and 2 Rangers from 6 states showed up for this run. Dark Knight traveled the longest distance to join us at this event. His wife and 4 children accompanied him. They traveled all the way from Virginia to join us in the Central Colorado Mountains. We awarded Dark Knight a case of Amsoil synthetic motor oil and a tube of their synthetic grease to help maintain his rig after their long journey.

On Friday the day before the run officially began I rode with Chris Woodley to the top of a 14,500 ft. mountain, Mt. Brosso. We were pre-running this trail to test its difficulty for a stocker run planned for the following Monday. Chris’s sister Jen in her 2001 Sport and Wade in his new Ranger accompanied us on the trip.

The trail to Mt. Brosso starts in a tiny community by the name of Alma. Charles Wells who wrote the Guide to Colorado Back Roads and Trails stated that there was a gas station that we should be looking for as a landmark, but the gas station is no longer there. Only an air pump remains in front of an old wooden building.

The trail starts out in a thick pine forest, passes an old mine building and quickly climbs above tree line. Numerous narrow switchbacks wind their way up to the summit of Brosso. Once reaching the area which Charles Wells described as the end of the trail we noticed several more trails branching out in several directions. Chris headed us towards a trail that he thought would take us to the top of neighboring Mt. Lincoln. As we approached the base of the trail we talked to a few hikers about conditions farther up. The hikers told us that the trail narrowed down to a single track suitable only to hikers and bikes. We were both happy to have heard this advice before proceeding, as we would have had a long distance to back down a very narrow trail!

Since that trail was out of the question Chris pointed his 2002 Explorer Sport in the opposite direction and followed another trail that would allow us to gain even more altitude. After negotiating a few more sharp switchbacks we found ourselves at the summit of the mountain. The summit was totally flat except for a small 3 sided rock shelter that may have been used by hikers to shelter themselves from the high winds at the top. The 360-degree view from the top was very impressive; we didn’t stick around long though as a storm front was approaching and this was no place to be caught in a storm!

Saturday morning was the first official gathering of the Colorado Colors Run. We met at 8:00am in City Market’s parking lot. 15 Explorers and 2 Rangers showed up the first morning. After we had time to check out everyone’s rigs and introduce ourselves we gathered our group in a long line and headed out to the trails.

The first portion of the trails was run as one large group. We took a an easy trail to the top of Georgia Pass where we stopped for a group photo. After the photo we descended Georgia Pass and once again hit pavement. We traveled down the  paved road for about 5 miles until we reached the turn off for Red Cone and Webster Pass. Here we ate lunch at a clearing just before the two trails split off from each other.


Photo by: Chris Woodley

After we finished a quick lunch the stockers tackled Webster Pass and the modified rigs took on Red Cone. I can only recount the Red Cone trip, as that’s the trail I ran.


Red Cone Trail

The trail leading to Red Cone is rough, but not extreme in any way. Lots of rocks, holes, and narrow passages between the trees make for an exciting climb. On the way up we came to a stop and I saw someone helping a women get her dirtbike back on the trail. She had apparently ridden off the trail dumping the bike. It turned out that this women was Perry and Terri’s son Patrick’s teacher from last year. She told Patrick to tell his friends that his teacher really does ride a dirt bike!


Brian1

Along the trail we were constantly being passed and approached by dirtbikes. We also passed several Toyotas and Jeeps along the way up to the summit. The weather was picture perfect all day right until we reached the summit. By the time we got there freezing rain started to come down, luckily for us it was just a mild sprinkle. Sitting at the top of Red Cone’s summit and looking down can be very intimidating for the first timer! The decent is VERY long and VERY steep. Combine this with loose dirt and deep moguls and it makes for a heck of a ride! Several people asked for recommendations on how to get down safely. I said; low range, low gear, keep it straight, and use the brakes sparingly, but use them!


Group at Webster Pass Red Cone Junction

When our group reached the base of Red Cone the stocker group was just reaching the intersection of Webster Pass and Red Cone trail. The timing was absolutely perfect! We met up for another group photo and had a quick meeting. It was decided that several people would continue up Radical Hill and the rest would head back to town.


Saturday Nights Moab 2001 Video Preview

Saturday nights activities were awesome. Chris Woodley (MMPC), had reserved the meeting room in the Quality Inn to preview his video, Moab 2001. Chris played to a full house! The room was packed with drivers, wives, friends, and kids. I believe we had over 40 people in attendance. The Moab video was fantastic! It was obvious that a four wheeler had produced this video as it was fast paced and hard driving. After the video presentation we had a raffle, no one left empty handed, we had enough prizes for two rounds of raffles. Thanks go out to Perry & Terri, Joe Dietz and Chris for adding to the assortment of prizes.

After the raffle we all headed out for a group dinner at the Dillon Dam Inn. Their staff did a great job of accommodating our large group. It did take a while for our main course to come out, but they made sure everyone was served at the same time. Thanks to Heath for making the arrangements.

Sunday morning…8am. Back at the City Market, we met a few more folks who had just arrived and we were soon ready for another day of wheelin’. The itinerary said Wheeler Lake for the modified rigs and Mosquito Pass for the stockers.


Rumney on Wheeler Lake Trail

Fourteen Explorers headed out to Wheeler Lake Sunday morning. We broke up into two groups of seven to help things run smoothly. The first group, which I was in was led by Matt, the second was led by Heath. The trail starts off with a set of obstacles which gives the driver several choices for his lines. In our group only a few took the most radical line to the right. This line either put you at a severe off camber angle or caused the truck to get some serious air depending on the exact placement of tires. We would find out later that Dark Knight rolled his Explorer on it's side at this obstacle. Luckily his wife and kids weren't in the truck with him, that could have made the situation much more serious.


Gerald on Wheeler Lake Trail

The next obstacle also had several lines. To top it off there was water at the bottom of the hill so traction was marginal until the water was “burned off” the tires. For the next few miles there were no serious obstacles just loads of bone jarring rocks, holes and ledges.

About 2 miles in we came across a Toyota T100 pickup and a Jeep Cherokee. The Toyota had ripped it’s spring perches away from the axle housing causing the housing to twist and also causing a loss of fluid. The owner asked if anyone had a welder, one of our group members told them that I had a Ready Welder onboard and would be glad to let them use it once we were on our way back out.


Climb Naked Left...Rick Gettin' a Little Air

Everyone ran the trail without a hitch until we got to the “Bowling Ball Alley”. That stretch was appropriately named for it’s large rounded rocks which were set on a very steep incline. Along the route to make things more interesting were a couple of ledges which caused those without lockers or limited slip diffs to have problems with forward progress. We opted to leave a couple rigs behind and take their passengers up to the top in the vehicles equipped with lockers.

Just past “Bowling Ball Alley” was the last obstacle, a waterfall complete with flowing water (something we don't see in too much in Arizona)! There were two possible lines here. One was right up the waterfall and the other was to the right which was smoother, but had a steep drop off which no one would want to fall into. All the Explorers that I saw conquered the waterfall with little difficulty. It was really a blast to watch. While I was climbing the waterfall I heard my rear tire let out a rush of air. Many of the bystanders thought it was just the ARB engaging, but in reality it was an internal problem with one of my beadlock rims. I continued to the lake which was a short but rough ride from the waterfall. There I changed the tire at 12,500 ft. which literally took my breath away. Working at that altitude is VERY difficult for someone not accustomed to the altitude.

While I was changing the tire the rest of the group had lunch and took photos. After a while a Bronco II and a Cherokee joined us at the top and we had a nice conversation with their drivers. I handed the Bronco II owner a card from “Serious Explorations”, hopefully we’ll have a new member soon.


Lunch at Wheeler Lake

The ride back down seemed to go by much more quickly than the ascent, most likely do to the fact that gravity was now on our side helping us descend the trail. When we got back to the folks with the broken Toyota we were surprised to see that they had removed the rear axle entirely and had it ready for us to work on. I unpacked my Ready Welder and Tom Davis proceeded to weld both spring perches back in place and fill a large gap in the housing which had been ripped open. I gave the Toyota owner a quart of gear oil and a tube of silicone sealer to apply around the welds to make sure that their axle wouldn’t leak. They were tremendously pleased that we were able to offer them so much assistance. They kept offering me money, but I flatly refused. I told them that the only compensation needed was to be sure to help the next guy that they find in trouble on the trail. I really hope that the trail repair held up long enough for them to get home safely. By the looks of the welds I’m sure they did.

By now we were just over a mile from the trails end. We went down the last few obstacles without a hitch and soon were back out to the parking area. We broke out at about 3:30pm. What a terrific day of wheelin’!


Waterfall at Wheeler Lake

Participants
Matt Adams Colorado 1994 XLT
Joe Dietz Colorado 1993 Eddie Bauer
Jared Finkenbinder Colorado 2000 Ranger
Wade Gidney Utah 2001 Ranger
Marshall Graves Colorado 1991 XLT
Rick Horwitz Arizona 1993 XL
Gerald Jarrett Texas 1999 Eddie Bauer
Heath Johnson Colorado 1996 XLT
Trint Ladd Colorado 1994 XLT
Rand Martinez Colorado 1998 Sport
Derek ONeil Colorado 1993 XLT
Ryan Penner Colorado 1992 Sport
Joe Readmond Virginia 1994 XLT
Andrew Robinson Colorado 2000 XLT
Perry Schwab Colorado 1994 XLT
Mickey Spiers Colorado 1991 XLT
Brian Sumner New Mexico 1991 XLT
Joe Weaver Colorado 1993 Sport
Chris Woodley Colorado 2001 Sport
Jennifer Woodley Colorado 2001 Sport
James Young Utah 1991 XLT
 




Copyright 2001 Rick Horwitz Photography 
All Rights Reserved