opdsgt

Friendly forward: this is going to be a long post. If you want to jump ahead and not read my review of this Colorado classic, feel free. Photos follow.

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I drove out from Omaha on Wednesday and met up with LeftHandRubi (minus his awesome Unlimited which is down for repairs), RubiBldr, Ramfublio, Michael H, KM2JK, Brian, Martin and a few others from the greater Denver area. Superb bunch of guys and gals, I couldn't have asked for a better group of Jeeprs than this one. The agenda called for Holy Cross Thursday and, for a couple of us, Blanca Peak Friday before I returned home for the weekend.

What can I say about Holy Cross? Its' the hardest and most entertaining trail I've ever been on. It's rated a 9 on the high end by Trail Damage; IMO, it deserves the rating as you can only bypass a couple of the obstacles. To make things even more challenging, it rained on us virtually the whole day.

(didn't kill our spirits, but made an already radical trail that much tougher!)

The foreboding warning sign at the trail head is not to be ignored. I believe a guy in a stock Rubicon with factory 32s could accomplish this trail, but probably not without taking the strap a few times and perhaps not without some body damage; ground clearance is a premium commodity here and my 3.5" lift/35" tire combination got a real workout.

I'm happy to report, however, my little black X conquered the whole trail and didn't require the strap or winch (though the final obstacle, Cleveland Rock, turned away all comers - more on that later). My new RCVs and Aussie Locker performed flawlessly and provided fantastic traction and real peace of mind when I had to power up a boulder while on the steering stops (the place where a traditional u-joint equipped outer shaft is most vulnerable of course).

The entire trail is punishing and rock-strewn. An unnamed boulder field, Notch and Slab are the first few serious obstacles encountered. Then comes Steep Rock where you straddle a crack and get off camber. All these are tough sledding but none of the nine rigs we had on the trail Thursday failed to negotiate the obstacles. Onward to French Creek.

There are a few different lines through French Creek, none of them are easy, but I ran to the right and had success on my first attempt. The water level was relatively low this day, but still high enough tires were full wet. Some of the boulders move under you , changing the line and making progress difficult. This is a gorgeous spot, great for photographs.

Tippy Tree comes next and is the most griped about obstacle on Holy Cross, at least based on what utterances I heard from the group I was with. It's a rocky ledge that runs diagonally across the trail on a steep uphill segment. It's made worse by the fact it's off camber and loose on the low side, plus exposed and highly slippery tree roots run across the line. It's a little spooky.

Finally you get to the ghost town of Holy Cross City. The trail up near here is partially boarded, that is to say, the gold miners embedded wooden planks in the "road" to make it more easily passable by horse and buggy; some of the old planking remains in spots, it's incredible to think about how enterprising and durable these people were; no 4WD in those days (1880s according to Wiki).

We had lunch at the ghost town. Only two buildings remain, but there are a few empty foundations too. Pretty good photo op here. Heavy rain started in again, just in time for us to head the short distance to Cleveland Rock... the final (and mercifully 100% optional) obstacle on the trail.

For those of you have have run Metal Masher in Moab, Cleveland Rock is like the Widowmaker obstacle only bigger and wet. There were two rigs that put a tire on the rock, me and RubiBldr in his seriously built white 2-door Rubicon with Dynatrac 60s and 39" Iroks. I did it just to say I tried; RubiBldr was one of only a couple Jeeps on this run that had a legitimate chance of getting up the rock.

RubiBldr came oh so close to the summit via the right line before a seal in his rear ARB failed, pressurizing the inside of the housing and spewing jet-hot gear oil onto the underside of his Rubicon and the trail. And with that, our hopes of traveling south to Alamosa to tackle Blanca Peak today were dashed. Another time, eh RubiBldr? You too Ramfublio and LeftHandRubi!

Now for the fun stuff...

Preciousmetal

Nice pics. I remember doing that in my CJ5 lots of fun, looks like the town hasn't change to much.

matt852

I love that ARB bumper on the Black JK

o09jkny

Very niiice... I LIKE!!

LeftHandRubi

UD, Thanks for posting. Soon I shall be ready to go again! (for those wondering, my Terraflex rear upper control arms tore from the frame---the welds held, the frame didn't. They broke off on an easy trail-Wheeler Lake the day before HC).

Come out again soon. RubiBldr is fired up for Blanca. Me too. we need to avoid snow though.

opdsgt

I'll head out again for Moab on Monday, Oct. 17th. I typically drive straight through, but could be compelled to stop for day in the Avon area to meet up with you guys and do another trail. My Moab mates take two full days to drive out there anyway, so I'd land in UT about the same time they were getting in. What's your schedule look like then? Obviously, that's late for Blanca and I'd be well north of where we would need to be for that trail, but.... alternatively?

LeftHandRubi

Not sure of my schedule yet. We should try and do it though. The high passes will have snow by then. I'll see what cool trails Bob knows about over in the western part of CO, particularly around Montrose.

LeftHandRubi

Not sure of my schedule yet. We should try and do it though. The high passes will have snow by then. I'll see what cool trails Bob knows about over in the western part of CO, particularly around Montrose. Some are

opdsgt

Some of it will depend on travel itinerary for my small group of three as well. They're not the iron asses I am, they'll likely stop in Dillon. I prefer driving through or stopping in Red Cliff for a night at Green Bridge and Mango's fish tacos.

RckyMtnGoat

Looks like an awesome trail, I am actually thinking about doing it but was wondering how the guys in the 2 doors faired, anyone running 35's in a 2 Door, any major damage to speak of??