Leadville 4WD Adventure, CO: (6/23-26/06)
- Thread starter Scott Brady
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DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
upcruiser said:
The boss of a club member got to drive Red Cone this weekend, the USFS opened the gate for a patrol (I think it's adopted by the Mile High Jeep Club?). The trail is still officially closed and the gate is locked again. This jives mostly with what we found in early July in the somewhat worse snow year of 2005. BTW, when he says he got to go back up Red Cone, that is really unique. It's a one way trail and they climbed this:
The bulk of the post:
"Got this from my boss...
...the Forest Service opened up the gate on Red Cone for our patrol to do a first run Saturday. We got over the top and down about 1/3 of the way to Montezuma. We ran into snow in several places that was an absolute mess to get through - lots of winching, high-speed passes, etc. But it was all fun until we ran into a wall of snow 5 feet high. When we climbed up on the snow bank, we could see drifts 5-10 feet thick running down the trail for about 100 yards. We gave up. But that meant we had to go back UP Red Cone. That was an adventure! Not as bad as I feared, but not something I'd do every day. Webster Pass back down to 285 is snowed so much that it might be August before it melts out. Its a huge ridge of snow that extends probably 50 yards down the shelf road and its hard as a rock. We could walk on it without even beginning to sink an inch.
The truck was a mess. I had the top off, so I had mud inside and out - pretty much had one solid brown jeep. But it was worth it - a fun day all around."
Some photos from their trip.
This is the top of Red Cone, looking down roughly NW towards Radical Hill area.
The snow field between north side of Red Cone and Webster Pass & Radical Hill.
Red Cone is off to the right of the image, from the Michigan Creek (south, US285) side.
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upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
Wow, looks to be quite a bit more snowpack there still then there is in the Summit County area. The snow has been melting really fast. We've been working our asses of with snow cats and salt trying to save the snow on top of Copper so we can get our camp done.
Denver area people, watch Channel 6 News tonight.
We had some media up on the mountain with us today. One more day of skiing tomorrow then its time to act like the weather wants us to.:jumping:
Denver area people, watch Channel 6 News tonight.
We had some media up on the mountain with us today. One more day of skiing tomorrow then its time to act like the weather wants us to.:jumping:
BajaTaco
Swashbuckler
Great posts from you guys Those red cone pics and story are awesome.
Some recent hiking reports from Elbert indicate it is doable w/o snowshoes.
I am still ironing out my plan, but it looks like I may drive to Mesa Verde on Wed (get there very late), do MVNP on Thurs. morning, and then head to Ouray for the afternoon. Maybe camp in Yankee Boy basin Thurs. night. Get up at the buttcrack o' dawn on Friday and head towards Leadville. I may try to have lunch with my bro' before meeting up with the gang. Awaiting further details on meeting time/place. Durango_60, do you want to hook up on Thurs. evening for a camp near Ouray?
Those red cone pics and story are awesome.Some recent hiking reports from Elbert indicate it is doable w/o snowshoes.
I am still ironing out my plan, but it looks like I may drive to Mesa Verde on Wed (get there very late), do MVNP on Thurs. morning, and then head to Ouray for the afternoon. Maybe camp in Yankee Boy basin Thurs. night. Get up at the buttcrack o' dawn on Friday and head towards Leadville. I may try to have lunch with my bro' before meeting up with the gang. Awaiting further details on meeting time/place. Durango_60, do you want to hook up on Thurs. evening for a camp near Ouray?
BajaTaco
Swashbuckler
durango_60
Explorer
BajaTaco said:
Sure thing!! I'll skip out of work a little early on Thursday and head up there.
goodtimes
Expedition Poseur
Ok, I feel a *little* better, but still not very happy. While the output shaft is OK, the aluminum adaptor for my rear CV driveshaft was not machined correctly. The pilot for the adaptor (which is machined into the t'case companion flange), has .001" runout, while the pilot for the driveshaft (which is machined into the adaptor) has .008" runout....sort of. The adaptor appears to have .007" runout, and when it was mounted on the companion flange, the .001" there, combined with the .007 on the adaptor works out to .008, which is what I measured.
Via 3rd party e-mail with Tom Woods (while I was at work today), .008" runout on the adaptor is way outside of thier tolerances. Unfortunately.....they are closed until Monday, and I have no way to make a new adaptor, since the lathe and Mill are sitting in the shop with no power run to them yet.
So, my only hope was to index the adaptor in relation to the companion flange in such a manner that the .001 on the flange was in the opposite direction of the .007" in the adaptor....giving me a net .006" runout. I have managed to accomplish this, and verified I have .006" runout on the pilot. Now to road test...cross your fingers. If this doesn't work, it will be Monday before I can get the right part, which means a Tuesday delivery.
Via 3rd party e-mail with Tom Woods (while I was at work today), .008" runout on the adaptor is way outside of thier tolerances. Unfortunately.....they are closed until Monday, and I have no way to make a new adaptor, since the lathe and Mill are sitting in the shop with no power run to them yet.
So, my only hope was to index the adaptor in relation to the companion flange in such a manner that the .001 on the flange was in the opposite direction of the .007" in the adaptor....giving me a net .006" runout. I have managed to accomplish this, and verified I have .006" runout on the pilot. Now to road test...cross your fingers. If this doesn't work, it will be Monday before I can get the right part, which means a Tuesday delivery.
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