Click on some Santana, Top Gun, Bob Marley, Rocky, AC/DC, Mission Impossible,
Beach Boys, Axle's Theme, James Bond, Van Halen, or the Eagles while you browse this Slaughterhouse report.
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Click on link above for directions with a nice topo and map profile of the Slaughterhouse Trail provided by 4x4trails.net... |
"Slaughterhouse Gulch, the name sounds worse then it's bite..."
We all met at the "Bulging Bulls" Restaurant in Conifer for a 9:00 am departure on Saturday April 21, 2001. Heading west on Hwy 285 for the trailhead with 4 Jeeps were: Hobos Steve Gilbert and his friend Andy in "Da Moose" (97'TJ), Bill Hallinan and his side-kick Molly in a 82' CJ7, Bobbette Mathews with her family, Thomas, Catherine, and Michael in her "Smiley" 00'TJ, and leading this trip was myself Chris "Colonel" Potter with my sons Michael & Scott in my 86' CJ7.
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| Airing down and "doin' da disco"... |
The weather was going to be dry, but it became obvious that a change was coming from the north. The morning drive up was nice and sunny. Once we lost our sunshine though, the temps dropped a few degrees, the front came by, and the coats came back on. Just another Colorado day. We aired down and disconnected for some soon-to-be trail articulation.
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Sturdy steel signs put up by the Colorado Go-4-er's, the trail's caretakers... |
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Hoboette Bobbette coming up the hill, seems photos never show true steepness... |
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Steve and "Da Moose" with full contact and traction... |
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Some rocky sections provide a bumpy change... |
We started up the well marked trail thanks to the Colorado 4x4 Club Go-4-er's of Aurora, who have adopted this trail. We ran up the easy portion of the trail, and reached the bottom of Slaughterhouse Hill. The trail snakes up a steep incline to a series of moguls near the top. Each took their turn up the climb and thru the deep ruts with no problem and disconnects providing the tires constant traction. We moved on to the saddle and back down another decline into a nice valley lined with aspens.
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Steve's TJ gets warmed up with some flexing... |
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This icy stream crossing had an ice rut a good foot deep on the right side... |
We had expected to find some mud bogs along the way down to the large meadow, and the larger bog just above that. To our surprise though, there was not much in the form of mud or water anywhere (like we saw in 99'), even though we found some icy areas that remained. We stopped at the turn to head uphill and had lunch. The Go-4-er's were there too having lunch.
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Lunch break in the lower meadow with good friends... |
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"Smiley" conquers up the mogals with a smile... |
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Bill's 82 CJ7 Softride lift provides plenty of movement... |
We loaded up after lunch, and headed uphill past the 1st steep set of moguls. Then right over to the the large big mud bog hole which was dry as a bone so it was just a simple drive in and out of it. The real fun was just ahead, as we proceeded up the hill where the moguls seemed to be a little bigger than last fall's trip. This is a great area for some "flex-checking" as Bill had plenty air between his left front tire and the ground coming out of one of the mogul runs. This area was well worth a lot of pictures.
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Steve catches a little air as he crawls up with ARBS... |
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Nice and level, though the mogals are deep... |
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"Air Willy", note: Molly checkin' out the hang time... |
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Steve keepin all 4's on the ground... |
Further down the trail as we were looping back to the beginning of Slaughterhouse, we found some more bumps and cuts that allowed for more pics of Jeeps getting airborne and articulation. Bill was looking for some more air, as he waved to the camera. Steve had a interesting look on his face as the Moose was leaning to the left, but he steered his TJ out of the potential roll-over. Bobbette got some nice wheel drop on her TJ with disconnects, and negotiated all of the rocks in style.
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Trip Leader "Colonel" Potter's 86 CJ7 lovin' these mogals (note: seems trip leaders never have many pics as they always lead)... |
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Bobbette's 00'TJ runs great with discos and a spacer lift... |
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"Da Moose" hoofin' out some tight air... |
This trail does deserve some respect due to some of the off-camber areas along the trail. You can still have fun in the "Flex-Checking" moguls, but slow and easy is the name of the game if you want to avoid breaking anything. A fun trail, with good friends beats a "honey do" anyday!!
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The best air seems to be the far right line...yeee hawwww!! |
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This is why we do what we do...you can't do this on I-25!! |
Comments from the Hobo Cafe:
*Bill Hallinan-"Molly and I had a great time on Slaughterhouse Sat! I'm anxious to get my pics back tonight and I will work on the trip report and put it up by Tuesday. Those who didn't go missed a fun trip with a great trip leader...the "Colonel"!! My jeep still sits fairly level after all that articulation we did all day. Molly slept all the way home, and I took a nap when I got there too!"
*Bobbette Mathews-"Thanks for a good trip Chris. I had a good time, hope everyone else did. Can't wait to see your pictures."
*Steve Gilbert-"That was a great trail for a half day trip...Chris did a great job leading and taking pictures too. Bill got a little carried away and let molly drive...I guess that was Molly driving---cause Bill would never get any air if he were behind the wheel!! Great trip Chris, nice air Bill, it was great jeepin' with you again Bobbette..."
*Chris Potter-"Yeah! The boys and I enjoyed the trip as well. It was nice to be home by 3:00 and get things cleaned up and put away, sit back and have a cool one before I started the "honey-do's"...."
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Another fine day, a fun trail with great company... |
The unfortunate part of the day though, was being intercepted by a man on a motorcycle who was related to a girl who had just hit a tree with her motorcycle and was badly hurt. The Go-4-er's who had gone in the opposite direction of us were taking care of her. Unfortunately, our cell phone didn't reach 911 as we were in the valley to call for help. Soon, a helicopter was flown in to get her to an ambulance in Conifer. We were not sure of her injuries, but we hope all is well for her and her family. Lucky enough, there were some other 4-wheelers that came upon the accident, and took care of her until volunteer firefighters from Park County arrived. Please stay safe...
Chris "Colonel" Potter HoboJeepers
Here are some other Slaughterhouse Gulch Trip Reports:
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail 3-01'- MHJC Patrol 14
Slaughterhouse Gulch 00'-HoboJeepers
Slaughterhouse Gulch 99'-HoboJeepers
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail Map and Report 00'-www.4x4trails.net- a nice reference
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail Directions-Bronco Registry
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail-Jeff Zepp
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail-Colorado Land Cruisers
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail 3-00'- MHJC Patrol 14
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail 4-00'- MHJC Patrol 14
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail 99'- Rocky Mountain Pinzgauers
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail-www.muddytires.com
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail- by Dave's 4x4 Page
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail Photos-unknown source
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail Photos-unknown source
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail 98'-Sleeoff-Road.com
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail-98' Bighorn Jeep Club
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail REPORT- unknown source
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail-Darren Leafblad
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