Another Beautiful Snow Run

Posted: May 17, 2025 | Author: Rubicon Ronin | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: snow, water, winter |Leave a comment

May 17, 2025. 43 degrees. Overcast. 9am start. Seven rigs. Awesome day!

The climb out of staging is clear.

There is still a ton of water on the trail. If you go, please Tread Lightly! and stay on the trail.

As you climb, you will find lots of snow. It will be around for probably two or three weeks. Memorial weekend will probably be chaos with too many people trying to get out. We were out at 9am and half the group turned around at 1pm. The first rig we saw was at 1:30 on our way out.

The snow drifts and the way they melt shifted us to the side of the trail a number of times. Many off camber sections.

We did cut a few trees from the trail. We drove over a few that we didn’t have time to deal with.

I failed to take a picture of the largest tree we cut and winched off the trail. Carry a saw as there will be more trees to deal with as the snow melts and there was at least one widow maker that could come down at any time.

We got to the Arizona (concrete) crossing just west of the Ellis Peak Trail at the pond. The group split here and three rig continued on for another hour of so; the other four of us turned back.

Here is as far as most of the group got. If you’re wondering, that’s “Space Junk”. It’s got a front wheel drive engine mounted sideways, no transfer case, no low range and works really well. He did make it up the ledge, as did many of us, but most turned around as we were done.

Here is the pond on the way out. Really slushy snow driving out in the afternoon.

No real issues on the trip. Yes, a few people needed a strap. At the end of the day, I realized I had forgotten to reload my air hoses. Oops. Thankfully, I was with friends who shared theirs with me.

And the bathrooms at staging had been opened, cleaned and stocked.

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Rubicon Ronin

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