Solihull Society - Denver, Colorado

All photos are of Rattle Snake and the Colorado National Monument

On the weekend of June 23-24 several club members met to pre run some trails in the Grand Junction area. Jim (66 Series IIa) and Pete (70 Series IIa) linked up on I70 outside of Denver and drove over the ‘hill’ to Grand Junction. After dinner they met up with Neil (96 Disco) near the Bangs Canyon trail head. The three discovered that overnight camping was not allowed at the trail head so followed the Billings Canyon trail about a mile and a have until they found a good spot to set up for the night.
In the morning the three went to Starbucks to meet up with anyone else that wanted to run some trails. Gem (2002 D-II) arrived and after waiting for a while to ensure that no one else was coming the four trucks made their way towards the Colorado National Monument and the mornings first trail.

After crossing the bridge over the CO River there are plenty of signs marking the way to the Monument. At the first turn there is a gas station that had the lowest priced gas/diesel in town. They also have a quarter operated air pump. This is also on the way to the Bangs Canyon OHV area.
The entrance to the CO National Monument is just a few miles further down the road. At the Ranger Station you need to pay $10 per vehicle if you are going to be stopping in the park, but it’s free if you are passing straight through. We just went straight through but for the Rally we will be stopping at all of the scenic overlooks. On the far side of the park is West Glade road, two lane gravel. A short distance down this is the entrance to the trail with a sign Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Area. Turn right here.

There is a large parking area with a map board explaining about the area, this is a good spot to air down a little, 20-25psi should be fine. There are a few areas on the trail that have some small rocks and a couple loose gravel climbs. Airing down isn’t really needed for these areas, but it does help to smooth out the bumps. The signs posted here explain how the canyon is two different trails. One that follows the rim prior to August 15th and the second follows the canyon after August 15th. So we had to take the upper trail, while for the Rally we will be using the lower. The lower is going to be the more difficult of the two, but still only rates a 4 and is passable by any stock Rover.
When the upper and lower trails meet back together you are now at the beginning of Rattle Snake Canyon trail itself. The trail follows on a finger point of land sticking out into the canyon. About half way down the trail there is a pull off on the right. As long as everyone parks tight there will be enough room to get a dozen trucks off the main trail. This pull off is on the canyon rim and has some great views. (more…)

On June 3rd, 18 trucks made the trek north to run Kelly Flats. The vehicle make-up varied from stock to heavily modified trucks consisting of 9 Discovery Is and Discovery IIs, 3 Defenders, 3 Range Rover Classics, 2 LR3s and 1 Jeep. The weather was great and the scenery superb. Multiple lines were tried as the truck proceeded up Heart Attack hill without real incident. The real entertainment of the day started when everyone rolled up to the Chutes. Anthony in his D90 ST made quick work of the obstacle with only minor body damage. Next up was Kyle in his ‘customized’ RRC. Kyle quickly showed his energetic and enthusiastic driving style. The line chosen, ‘careful’ spotting by Ali, along with ample skinny pedal resulted in Kyle landing on his side. The truck was put back on it’s wheel with a strap and manual labor. A little winch action was required to properly orient the RRC Special, but after that Kyle proceeded through the rest of the obstacle with spirits non-the-less dampened. [Considering Kyle’s recent propensity to do acrobatics with his truck and the nice job he did fabricating the roll cage of this soft top RRC, one has to wonder how long it will take for him to make a complete external skeleton for the truck and stop typing up wanted ads each week on the forum for body panels.] Next up was Ali and his RRC. He chose a more delicate style of driving to negotiate his way through the obstacle. With just a little rock-to-metal contact he was through. Garbs was next and made it look easy with the short wheel-base of his D90 SW with 37” MTRs and rugged sliders. Scott in his DiscoII climbed up the first part of the obstacle with a nice wheel-stand and subsequent soft positioning of the truck’s front wheels back on the ground. He made it through with just a little rubbing (“Rubbin’s racing”- Days of Thunder) to the driver’s rear quarter panel. Last up was Jimmy in his highly modified DI. With the right line and ample use of his sliders he too was through with just a little ‘rubbin’. The rest of the contingent having taken the by-pass with their vehicles took a seat in the rocks to enjoy the show. Everyone had a great time, and served as a reminder that anyone interested in running trails with the club should come on out and enjoy themselves, regardless of their type of Rover, modifications, and driving experience.

Running Kelly Flats today was popular (16 trucks) and interesting!! Trip Report to follow….

Chinaman Gulch – Trip Report

I knew it was a bad sign when I drove past the bent up gate that signaled the left turn up to the Chinaman Gulch trailhead. Ordinarily not a big deal but I was the trail leader and I was leading 7 trucks including 2 defenders, 4 discos and 1 P38 RR and if Jim Hall had shown with his Series we would’ve had the spectrum of the Rover line. Jimmy had gone ahead of us and radioed for us to go back to the gate to get back on track. Chinaman’s reputation was that of a difficult trail with some challenging and notorious obstacles such as the waterfall, whale’s tail and rock pile. Fortunately, all the Rovers were driven by experienced members and had the necessary modifications. (more…)

April 27th 2007
The spring Moab trip took place on April 27/28. April 27 was a beautiful day and we met at City Market at 8:30 AM. The 5 of us that met were Mark and Terri, Paul and Phil, Dr. Dee and Charlotte, Rob and Mike, and Brian Gueck. An RR, Defender, and 3 Discos. We decided to do Poison Spider and headed out. At the trailhead amidst numerous ATV’s and some jeeps we aired down and took off on the gorgeous morning. Little did we know that EXCITEMENT was on our way shortly. (more…)

On 7 April having felt the need to get out of the house, Mike & Jenny Burris, Beth & Mark Muskopf, along with Marshall, decided to see how far we could make it up the trail to Bill Moore Lake. After a fine breakfast at the Pancake House, we drove out of Denver under cold and rainy weather conditions. As we ascended up I-70 the rain turned to snow, but at the trail head the weather broke. Several inches of snow was on the ground, but at this point we didn’t think it was necessary to chain-up just yet… (more…)

Trail Leader Course
Future Solihull Society trial leaders gathered in Fruita Colorado the weekend of March 30th through April 1st. Bill Burke of 4-Wheeling America provided a trail leading course to all of our volunteers.

Bill Burke is an internationally recognized trainer who teaches back country driving techniques, winching/extrication methods, vehicle preparation and maintenance, land navigation and woods’ skills through classes, private training, trainer and trail leader courses. Environmental awareness and trail etiquette are taught on every outing.

The Solihull Society would like to thank Bill for all of his help.

Photographs and Comments can be found on our forum.
Training

Bill Burke’s Homepage
bb4wa.com