Slaughterhouse Gulch Trip Report 2008
Group II was greeted with a beautiful day. We all met at the Loaf and Jug off of Hwy 285, 10 vehicles in all. Everyone had a wonderful trip from the Springs led by Dave Chladek. After bathroom breaks and fuel fills, Pete Johns led the group to the trail head with Dave at the rear. We arrived at the trail head at 11:45am and aired down. At the trail head we met a group of fellow wheelers that were involved in a hands on trail fix/ how to, two day course. We would play leap frog with them on the trail.
We hit the trail at noon and stopped at the intersection of the Slaughter house trail and Crow gulch for lunch. The trail to this point possessed dried mud puddle holes and some small rocks. Lunch was enjoyed by all and after lounging in the sun for and hour or so we hit the trail. At this point we locked our hubs and shifted into four wheel drive. We made steady progress up the hill to a small treed saddle. There were some small patches of snow hiding in the trees but the trail remained dry. We crawled our way down to the bottom of the steep hill into an Aspen grove that had just started to sprout their leaves. As we wound our way down the trail occasionally crossing the small stream and negotiating the sometimes off camber and rocky terrain, there were comments regarding how much easier the trail was compared to the year before. When we reached the bottom of the trail loop, we took time to stretch and the kids ran down to the stream to play in the shallow water.
The second half of the loop greeted us with fairly deep moguls and good sized washouts. Everyone negotiated these obstacles with no problems. We climbed steadily up the trail and reached the best obstacle on the trail, a rock outcropping that would allow you to get some really good air on the driver's side. Some of the rigs would get 3+ feet of air. A few needed a different line to get through and only one took the by pass but everyone enjoyed the challenge. We soon reached the “T” in the trail that led out to the left and right to the mud pits. We chose the right to the mud pits to check them out and to see if they had been closed. They were open and very dry. A few played in the remaining mud and enjoyed the dirt ledges. I had mentioned that this area was being looked at being closed and our decision to traverse in this area DID NOT cause any added harm or detriment to the area. We would have not driven on this area if any harm would have been done.
With the day growing shorter we decided to head back down the trail toward home. We had spent about 4 hours on the trail enjoying God's creation and the fellowship of one another. Tires were filled and soft tops were fastened down and another fine day had come to a close. We had no breakdowns, few other rigs on the trail and perfect weather, it was an enjoyable day. Thank you for all who came and fellowshipped together. Hope to see you at the Clean Up on June 7 th .
God bless,
Pete
