May 1998 Campfire Tales

by Larry Heck of

PASS PATROL

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Saxon Mountain

For maps, directions, and other info about Saxon Mountain, get volume Four of The Adventures of Pass Patrol. Available in book or video

Some times I amaze myself. Now here I was just sitting in my office, minding my own business, and working on revisions for the Volume Five book, when my wife came in. She announced that I had been working too much and it was time for me to take her to Central City. She had a $20 bill that was just itching to be converted into nickels.

If there is one thing I’ve figured out after thirty years of marriage, it’s when to just go with the flow. Besides, I had a new set of BFG tires on ole Flash that weren’t even dirty yet. The next thing I knew, I was letting her out at Bullwackers in Black Hawk.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I gotta find a place to park ole Flash.”

“Uh-huh. Well, I’m going to be casino surfing for a while. You be sure to meet me at Colorado Station no later than 4:30.”

Parking has always been a problem in Black Hawk and in Central City. Most of those places use the valet method and I have a policy I rarely break. “Nobody gets my keys … nobody!”

The next thing I knew, I had traveled all the way through Central City and was on the “Oh-my-God Road” headed for Idaho Springs. I didn’t see any good places to turn around and the scenery off that road is just spectacular.

It seemed like only a few minutes had gone by and I was in Idaho Springs. There were lots of places to park there but it was too far of a walk back to Central City so I decided to keep looking. I took I-70 to the Georgetown exit and continued through the stop sign to Main Street. I turned left and followed that to the sign for the Saxon Mountain Road. I began the long climb along the narrow switchbacks while really enjoying the clean mountain air and fabulous view.

About half way up, I found a snow drift across the road that no one had been through this year. Since I was on a narrow ledge, I figured it would be a good test for the BFGs. Sure enough, they waltzed right on through. I looked at my watch and I’ll be darned if it wasn’t 4:30. OOPS!

I rushed off the mountain and got back to Colorado Station at 5:15 just as my wife was coming out. “Sorry I’m late,” she said. “I didn’t notice the time.”

“That’s okay,” I said. Some times I amaze myself.

Lamartine

For maps, directions, and other info about Saxon Mountain, get volume Four of The Adventures of Pass Patrol. Available in book or video

We’ve had a lot of gloomy weather in Denver lately. Seems like most days, I can’t even see the mountains from Aurora. They’re always socked in with clouds. Then came Wednesday morning. Wow, it was nice. It was not gonna be easy to stay in the office today.

Then Ford dropped off a Mercury, Navigator completely equipped with a full tank of gas. It sure ain’t gonna be easy to stay in the office.

Then my printer ran out of ink. Okay! That’s it! I’ve had all I can take! I’m outta here!

I headed up to Idaho Springs and got off at exit 239. I followed the fence until the road turned and connected to Colorado Blvd. I turned left and followed the road under I-70 to the stop sign. From that stop sign, I went exactly one mile and turned left onto Trail Creek Road. There is also a sign at that point for the Phoenix Mine tour. I followed the road 5.5 miles and came to a major intersection. To my left were two Forest Road signs. One said 727.1B and the other said 712.2A. A two track road went between them. That’s the entrance for the ghost town of Lamartine.

Someone had plowed the snow off the road to that intersection which is unusual. Whatever their reasons, they did us a big favor. The snow on both sides was several feet deep in places and would have been a long time melting. The main road was plowed beyond Lamartine, but I did not see how far it went. Lamartine was far enough.

Lamartine dates back to 1887. It was a one mine town. If you follow the directions above, you will pass the mine site just before you reach the intersection. It will be on your right and very evident.

The town was built on the hillside. The building pictured at the right is the last one standing and its not doing a really good job of it. You can find sidewalks, streets, block walls and lots of foundations by following the foot trail downhill from the standing building. Keep in mind that if you go down, you have to walk back up and the air is mighty thin at Lamartine.

Happy Trails!

Mercury goes to the top of Spinning Wheel

Spinning Wheel Gulch is now open all the way to the top. The snow is gone and the sun is shining. A few years ago, if I would have told you I was going there in a Lincoln, Mercury, you might have called a TV station and told them a terrible wreck was about to happen near Idaho Springs.

Well, that’s just not the case any longer. Mercury calls their full size 4X4 a Navigator and the smaller one is a Mountaineer. The Navigator is built from the Expedition and the Mountaineer is built from the Explorer.

We recently had the opportunity to test both vehicles just as we test all vehicles provided to us for that purpose. The test consists of driving up I-70 to Idaho Springs, then taking Spinning Wheel Gulch as far as the vehicle is capable at idle speeds. If the vehicle fails to climb an obstacle at idle speed, it turns around at that point and goes back down. Although we realize the vehicle could be forced over the obstacle with more speed, that’s just not part of the test. Damage could result.

The Navigator

When we left Aurora in the Navigator, we had no doubt about its highway capability. Lincoln has figured out how to put a luxury car into a truck body. The 5.4 V-8 engine performed flawlessly. The cruise control maintained our speed up the steep incline to Buffalo Herd Overlook and the automatic climate control maintained a constant and comfortable inside temperature.

As we pulled off I-70 at exit 239, we were concerned about taking the Navigator up the trail. Those running boards were sure pretty. They even had built-in lights so folks could see the steps clearly at night. It sure would be a shame to damage them. We turned left on Colorado Blvd, then started up the entrance ramp for I-70. Before getting onto the interstate, we turned right again and followed the road on the opposite side of the guard rail. At the bottom of the trail, we shifted into 4-Lo. The air compressor came on and we knew the Navigator was filling the suspension with air to raise it another inch for clearance. The test began. There were several places where we had to carefully pick the path to clear the running boards, however, they did clear. The Navigator conquered every obstacle with finesse, and before we knew it, we were parked at the top of the mountain.

The Mercury, Navigator has lots of great features and a few we didn‘t care for. We like the idea that it raises an inch when in 4-wheel drive but not that it lowers an inch when the key is off. Just have to remember not to turn off the key when in big rocks. On the other hand, I’m sure Mercury doesn’t expect the owners of Navigators to get them into rocks that big anyway.

The only other thing we considered a nuisance is of course a safely feature. Every time you shift into gear, all the doors lock. It seemed our passengers were continually locked out of the truck.

The Navigator also has a terrific feature should the vehicle ever overheat. It’s computer changes the firing order of the cylinders using only half of them at a time which enables the vehicle to run moderate distances without anything in the cooling system. That could be a lifesaver in the desert.

Overall, we really liked the Navigator. Sure, it is huge and takes up more than its share of a parking space, but it is also a sturdy built vehicle capable of getting an entire family and all their camping gear to some moderately isolated locations.

The Mountaineer

The Mountaineer Lincoln, Mercury has taken the Ford Explorer and made a luxury vehicle that is appealing to a huge number of buyers. Sales have been great. The Mountaineer has that Lincoln-look and the kinds of features Continental drivers expect.

The ride and drive of the Mountaineer on the highway is very pleasant. The model we tested was a V-6, however, a V-8 is available in an all-wheel-drive model. Power from the V-6 was enough to maintain the speed limit up the steep grades on I-70.

The Mountaineer did not do so well off the highway. It was unable to climb the third obstacle of the test. Keep in mind that we do not exceed idle speed during our test. No doubt, it could have made the obstacle by going faster.

No matter which way we approached the obstacle, it just did not have the wheel travel to keep the tires on the ground. The right front and the left rear were the only two tires pulling at that time and neither one was on the ground. The limited slip differential did not kick in.

Also keep in mind that the test we put these vehicles through is far more difficult than anything the average camper is ever going to see.

Happy Trails!

Members only Are you on-line?

If you are a member of the Pass Patrol 4X4 Travel Club and you have an email address, be sure we have it on file. The best way to do that is to send a message to PassPatrol@aol.com If we have your email address, we’ll let you know when spur-of-moment treks come up. Such notices will be posted on Wednesdays or Thursdays. For example, if we decide on Wednesday to go somewhere on Saturday, we can send a notice to members on file to see if anyone wants to tagalong. We expect to do several of those this year. Membership is required to attend any Pass Patrol trip.

Members only Would you like to be in the official Pass Patrol member directory?

We often get calls from members trying to contact other members so we decided to see if there is any interest in a directory. It would be free to anyone who chooses to be in it and it would be confidential meaning it is available only to members who choose to be in it. By now members have received a questionnaire in a separate mailing. All you have to do to be in the directory is fill out the information you wish to share. If you choose not to be in it, just don’t fill out the form. We’ll let you know when it’s finished and available upon request. Membership is required to be in the directory.

Chevy C/K Pickup

The first Chevy truck hit the road in 1918. The first Chevy truck with a pickup body was introduced in 1924. The first 4-wheel drive Chevy truck debuted in 1958. The next time your friends are bragging about how much they know, see if they know that. “Why shucks fire. I thought everybody knew that. My daddy knew it and his daddy knew it. Fact is, I ain’t never met nobody in my entire life didn’t know it … cept you guys!”

Chevy sold more than a half million pickups in 1996 and all you have to do is drive one to see why. These babies zip up I-70 mountains like they are not even there. They have all the features of a car with the ride and feel of a sturdy truck. Once you shift them into low range and head into the outback, they perform well there too.

Yes, this one made it over all the obstacles our test track had to offer and did so with ease. It was the three door model so it was a huge vehicle. A tight switchback road would not be a good place to go with it because of turning radius, however, it handles rough and rocky terrain with ease. It has lots of ground clearance and sufficient wheel travel to get it through most situations. Due to the long wheel base and some overhang in the rear, care must be taken when those characteristics could cause it to drag. If your primary intent is to use the truck for 4-wheeling, we recommend the regular cab with short bed model. In any case, the Chevy Truck is a tough contender.

Chevy Suburban

How do you describe the largest sport utility on the face of the planet. Chevy calls it big ... no biggest ... in a class all its own. A friend of mine took one look at it and called it a “Cowboy Cadallac”. Whatever, you call this vehicle, no matter what else you say about it, it is “big!”

Once you get out of traffic and onto the open highway, you completely forget about its size and lose yourself in the luxury. The Suburban is designed with people in mind. Lots of people. It is capable of taking a family of eight on a weekend camping trip and still have room for the dog. Passengers in the back have separate climate controls conveniently located on the ceiling.

The vehicle we tested came with the Vortec 7400 V8 SFI engine. If you are like us, you wonder what that is. Chevy calls it “brutishly powerful”. Exactly what that means on the highway is that it will climb all the way from Denver to Idaho Springs with the cruise control set on 65 and never even shift out of overdrive. If you turn around and head back to Denver, it will climb Floyd Hill and never shift out of overdrive while maintaining 65. I suppose you could call that brutishly powerful.

The base price on a Suburban is $29,249. With all the options, the one we tested retailed for $41,416. Not something you are probably going to buy with the intentions of 4wheeling Colorado’s toughest trails. This is the kind of vehicle you buy to tow something for 4-wheeling Colorado’s toughest trails. No doubt, it is capable of towing just about anything that is towable.

B.F. GOODRICH ALL TERRAIN RADIAL TA TIRES LT245/75 R16

The 1998 Rodeo comes from the factory with 245/70 R16 tires. By going to the BFG LT245/75 R16, I picked up some extra ground clearance. They just barely fit under the front fenders and rub slightly against the mud flaps on a tight turn.

I have found the BFG All Terrain to be the perfect tire for the Rockies. Our trails are primarily rock and sand. The All Terrain works great in both. These tires come with extra heavy sidewalls to resist punctures from being pinched and poked by pointed rocks. The tread is aggressive enough to dig through snow and plow across rivers, yet they can be aired down to float across deep sand.

The Roads are open in the San Juans

For maps, directions, and stories about San Juan 4-wheeling, get the Volume 3 book and video of The Adventures of Pass Patrol

Road crews have been busy in the San Juans. Cinnamon Pass and Engineer Pass have been plowed. Ophir Pass is open to the top from the Silverton side. Engineer Pass opened June 3. The path is cut through 40 to 50 foot drifts. We plan to be there June 7 to get some pictures.  Cinnamon Pass is open and Ophir Pass is open to the top from Silverton. We'll see about the Telluride side on Jun 8.  For more info on trails in the Lake City area, check out www.hinsdale-county.com

Karlita Ellis, Manager/Director Lake City/Hinsdale County Chamber of Commerce chamber@youngminds.com

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