Saturday, April 28, 2001
The Hex Trail
By Jim gone but not forgotten Guld
Photos by Jim Guld & Bob Blair
By Jim gone but not forgotten Guld
Photos by Jim Guld & Bob Blair
Mark's YJ
At the top of the short hill you have a hard left to make. There are a few different lines you can take depending on which side your front pumpkins on, and there is a go around to the right if you’re not locked or just don’t feel like dealing with the rocks. What makes this spot tough is that in between the rocks is soft soil in which a lot of rigs seem to loose traction very quickly if they don’t pick just the right line.
Evan on the right side
Following this area is a double climb area with two short stair steps to deal with. The climbs get your attention and the second one is the tougher of the two. If you don’t pick just the right line you tend to get your rear diff caught on a rock that impedes your forward progress. This section also has a go around. That is one of the nice things about this trail. It allows us to have both highly modified and close-to-stock rigs on the same trail ride. After this section you have a short flat section and then another rock climb. This one is a wide face that has about 3 different ways up it. To the far left is the easiest and as you go right it only gets more difficult. This is the rock climb on which Willie broke the axle. This is also a climb on which we have had rollovers in the past. If you start hopping to one side or another you had better get off the go pedal or you risk flopping it on its side.
Howie's YJ crests the first hill
Now comes the twisting rock garden section with some trees to navigate between. Once you’re past this you’re at about the halfway point and the trail widens a bit. Here you have a series of short flat rocky fields to play in. Right after that you have the first of two down hill sections. You make a hard right and pass through a small rocky section followed by a hard turn to the left and then down a drop off and into a watery crossing that has some boulders to deal with. Once you’re past that its uphill again and into a quick S turn and down hill slightly and either through two trees or to a downhill off camber rock that you get some airtime on.
Howler on 3
Glenn climbing
The problem this afternoon was that it was late and the sun was blinding you as you made your way up it. Even with sunglasses on it was tough to see the right line. Everyone skipped the hard rock on the right. It was tough enough to see the trail without trying to deal with a major rock. We then ran the rest of the obstacles in reverse order and didn’t have any major problems, just a few minor hang-ups.
When we got back to Monster Rock at the beginning of the trail we pulled everyone off the trail and asked who’s gonna try it. This rock face is very unforgiving. If you try the left or centerlines and start hopping, it usually leads to a rollover. Every trail ride that I’ve done here has had someone roll on this trail and usually on Monster Rock. The line to the right isn’t as dangerous for rollovers but is probably a bit more technical due to the shape of the rock and the loose soil around the base of the main rock. Most of the people that tried it went to the right. We only had one brave (crazy) soul try the center line, Evan in the Dirtbomb CJ, and he started hopping and did an end over roll. No one was hurt except for his or her pride.
