We had a great turn out of jeepers for a trip over to Slaughterhouse and Crow Gulches near Conifer on October 24th, 1999! We all met at the Bugling Bull for breakfast and promptly at 9am, paraded out Hwy 285 to the last light before heading down Crow Hill and Bailey. In the parade, were Hobos Chris and Debi Vieth, Paul Weisz (and his son Bret), and myself (with my sidekick Molly). Guests included Dennis Ervin, Steve & Tracy Schuster and TJ Shelly, Joe Wrona, Pete Ramirez, Al & Carol Stine, Donett Kagarise (and son Braden), Lynn Story, Jon Brule, and Scooter Geram.
We all aired down at the trailhead and were ready for a great day of jeepin. As this trip was my 1st time to Slaughterhouse, Dennis Ervin provided great directions so we didn't get lost. We started up the trail marked Forest Service road 101, which didn't prove to warrant using 4WD just yet. After reaching the saddle, we stopped for a quick 10-100, and we were off down the steep grade into Slaughterhouse Gulch. This stretch dry wasn't too much of a challenge, but some snow and ice would definitely test your sledding skills a bit! Past a few rocky sections, we encountered the "mud hole", which was not as full as some had seen in the past. I opted to go around it being in the lead, but soon found out it wasn't as deep as 1st suspected. So, everyone got their tires muddy, and ended up flushing out most of the mud water at the same time.
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| Jon's TJ gets the 33 muds a tad "muddy".... |
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| Typical trail after the "mud hole" down Slaughterhouse Gulch... |
The trail tightens up a little down the gulch as we reached the turnoff to the left to head up a steep hill climb. Along this hill climb, one encounters a real "mud hole", no one who attempted it, could climb out of uphill. I was the 1st to try, but just couldn't get past the last ledge and kept wallowing in the mud until I gave someone else a try. Paul Weisz gave it a shot, and found himself in the same predicament as me, just short of the last ledge to get up and out of the mud pit. Lynn Story in his open TJ gave it a shot, and tried a line straight up the bank and ended up "stuck" trying to get out and his back stuck in the mud and no way to back up. After finally wiggling down off the bank, he was able to back out, and we on our way uphill to the next obstacle.
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| Hobo Bill's 82 CJ7 wallows and plays in the real mud hole.... |
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| Hobo Paul's 86 CJ7 almost makes it out! |
Up the hill about 100yards is a great set of moguls for serious articulation and air photo shots! We all set up for either maximum articulation or maximum air depending if your sway bar was disconnected or not. Some TJs without disconnects got some 2 feet in the air, as cameras and camcorders recorded the action!
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| Hobo Chris Vieth's 94 YJ |
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| Hobo Bill gets maximum articulation with 4" skyjackers and 33's.... |
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| Dennis Ervin grabs some air coming of the last mogul! |
Just past the photo shots we found a great lunch spot with views of the North Fork of the South Platte River valley below. After lunch we headed back down to the road to Crow Gulch, and turned right (east) to check it out.
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| A great day with great jeepers, what more is there!! |
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| The end of Crow Gulch provides a group shot of all the rigs.... |
We 1st tried a two-track side road that I thought it might head up to the top of 10465' Crooked Top Mountain, but it ended all of a sudden so we all turned around and met up with Dennis Ervin down at the end of Crow Gulch. Crow Gulch used to run down to Hwy 285, but that section has been closed by the Forest Service, so it's a dead end now (humm........when did that happen?). As it was getting late, we all headed back to the original air down trailhead for some free air provided by Hobo Paul (thanks Paul!). This trail would be fun with some fresh snow, and would change the whole trail rating to "moderate/difficult" as snow runs go.
Bill Hallinan HOBO1JEEPERS
Here are some other Slaughterhouse Gulch Trip Reports:
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail Map and Report 00'-www.4x4trails.net
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail 3-00'- MHJC Patrol 14
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail 4-00'- MHJC Patrol 14
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail 99'- HoboJeepers
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 98'-Sleeoff-Road.com
Slaughterhouse Gulch Trail-98' Bighorn Jeep Club
