Spent the weekend camping outside Red River and hit a couple of trails while we were there. All of the trails are within the Carson National Forest and are subject to USFS rules (which, more often than not these days means NO FUN ALLOWED), but we still had some good rides. The scenery was fantastic and the trails were in some spots actually more challenging than I thought they would be. Lots of mining ruins and old cabins tucked back in the trees. All in all, a fun weekend and we wrapped it up by buying an '89 XJ in Angel Fire for my daughter to wrench on. She wants to build it into a trail runner like we used to have before I bought the LJ. Something for everyone.
Columbine campground had all we needed to set up for the weekend. We are pretty basic campers, just the Jeep, the tent, some minimal camp amenities, my wife and Poco The Four Wheelin' Chiweenee.
The first day we tried out FR 485 along Pioneer Creek. It is an easy, out-and-back trail with a few sections that are rather steep and rocky, and several easy stream crossings. It is about 8 miles long, starting at the Red River Ski Area and heading up a canyon. It rained off and on all day, and the trail soon began to turn into a shallow stream. I didn't even use 4WD for most of the trail, except for one spot right at the top where there was an exposed drainage pipe that had a washed out spot below it. I did use 4 low on the way down, using 2nd gear and just riding the compression down the hill. Good first day.
Obligatory poser shot.
On the second day we hit the Goose Lake trail, another out-and-back run, 13 miles each direction. This trail was steeper and rockier, with several miles of shelf road and few turnouts until you reached the upper part of the trail. It was also much drier than the day before, with one notable exception, and had even more in the way of old cabins and mines. The lake at the end of the trail was spectacular. On to the photos...
The Red River itself is the gatekeeper for this trail, and was running fairly deep for this time of the year. The big challenge is not to lose your nerve and just keep going at a steady rate, pushing a small bow wave in front of you. Oh, and for those who are interested, I lengthened all my breather tubes years ago and have them running to the top of the firewall, so I won't be drowning anything important. Actually, I didn't even ship any water inside the tub on either crossing. Ducks gonna hafta move...
After that, everything else was a piece of cake.
Goose Lake
Why in the world do people drive 13 miles straight up a mountain just so they can throw their trash into the lake? Burn them with Fire!... um, I mean ban them, yeah, that's what I meant...
Final poser shot.
Columbine campground had all we needed to set up for the weekend. We are pretty basic campers, just the Jeep, the tent, some minimal camp amenities, my wife and Poco The Four Wheelin' Chiweenee.
The first day we tried out FR 485 along Pioneer Creek. It is an easy, out-and-back trail with a few sections that are rather steep and rocky, and several easy stream crossings. It is about 8 miles long, starting at the Red River Ski Area and heading up a canyon. It rained off and on all day, and the trail soon began to turn into a shallow stream. I didn't even use 4WD for most of the trail, except for one spot right at the top where there was an exposed drainage pipe that had a washed out spot below it. I did use 4 low on the way down, using 2nd gear and just riding the compression down the hill. Good first day.
Obligatory poser shot.
On the second day we hit the Goose Lake trail, another out-and-back run, 13 miles each direction. This trail was steeper and rockier, with several miles of shelf road and few turnouts until you reached the upper part of the trail. It was also much drier than the day before, with one notable exception, and had even more in the way of old cabins and mines. The lake at the end of the trail was spectacular. On to the photos...
The Red River itself is the gatekeeper for this trail, and was running fairly deep for this time of the year. The big challenge is not to lose your nerve and just keep going at a steady rate, pushing a small bow wave in front of you. Oh, and for those who are interested, I lengthened all my breather tubes years ago and have them running to the top of the firewall, so I won't be drowning anything important. Actually, I didn't even ship any water inside the tub on either crossing. Ducks gonna hafta move...
After that, everything else was a piece of cake.
Goose Lake
Why in the world do people drive 13 miles straight up a mountain just so they can throw their trash into the lake? Burn them with Fire!... um, I mean ban them, yeah, that's what I meant...
Final poser shot.