Writen by Lloyd Swartz - Edited by Ray Sala
We all decided that the Cement Creek pay campground was nothing special so we would pack up and find better camping, and since I was unable to do the Italian Road earlier, we decided to do Pearl, Taylor, and then camp on the Italian Road. Two Montero Sport's were supposed to join us between 8-9am but were not at camp by 9:20am so we left. It turns out they barely missed us. This is the kind of unfortunate thing that comes with mid-trip Morning meet ups.
After Taylor, Mitch left us since he had origianlly re-scheduled work for others that did not come. This left only open diffed stock trucks besides myself, I decided it would be better to find slightly harder trails but avoid the really difficult Holy Cross trail we originally scheduled.
Pearl was very cold and windy, and has become a VERY easy trail. The difficult sections including the big ledge are all filled in. What a bummer!
Taylor pass on the other hand has eroded and gotten more fun, but mostly if climbing from the Crested Butte side, which unfortunately we were not.
The Italian Road passes a nice ghost town and had an interesting scenic view from the top of American Flag Mountain. At this point we decided to look for the "Hard Core Rout" in our little guide book. When we arrived at the fork, an Exploder (AKA Ford Explorer) was blocking passage, so we pulled out of the way.
He still would not move so I asked him to move. He said, "No, that's the hard core route. I drove up and looked at it. You don't want to go that way."
After a brief conversation about the Montero's capabilities, where we'd already been, etc. he said, "Good Luck. I hope you don't get too much body damage."
Although I know better, the encounter did make me a little nervous about what might lay ahead. Those nerves were soon gone as the "Hardcore" ledge section came up.
Though scenic, it was full of loose talus that made a hollow "clonking" sound as you drove over it. Even the worst spot was easily negotiated by all.
Well, no challenge. How about the bottomless mud pit near the end that swalloed locked trucks? Never saw it.
Sorry guys, the trail is Definately no longer hardcore if open diffed stock trucks don't even spin a tire.
"Geez, give me a break!!!"
Camping was left up to the very last spot available due to the holiday.
Olga, Alex's wife ate poison berries at camp. (At least we think they were.) You see, Alex and Olga are from Russia, and I guess over there they just graze on plants by the road!! We had to push them along just like horses!! They enjoyed grazing every time we stopped. <GRIN>
Another strange event was a young fawn joined us at camp and we pondered how, in the middle of no where, it could be so used to humans.
Greg and Alex mentioned that they were running low on gas. I told them that it was no problem since gas was available just over the pass at Taylor Resevoir.
