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From Pathrat :
The Metberry Gulch Trail was just opened back up this summer, after a five year closure because of the Hayman Fire. Whoever went in and cleaned it up, THANK YOU!
The trail is below 8500 feet, I was looking for a place to wheel below timberline, and I have not been to this area before. Lots of burned trees. We found directions online, consulted Charles's book, grabbed the atlas and headed out (Of course we got lost). The Gazetteer has issues with posting county roads. We found the trail head by accident at around 2:30pm.
Our trail report said the road was relatively smooth to the trail. Actually, from the turn-off from County Road 68 to the trailhead, it is sixteen miles of run-off ruts and sharp pointy trees. The good people had cut back the branches and so there were sticks ranging in height from Sidewall Pokers to Roof Rack Tangles, and Side Panel Scratchers in between.
More photos in the Gallery
The trail is 8.6 miles round trip. It is essentially a chute with
moguls. At 1.9 miles in is the first obstacle where spotting is quite
useful. One side is a ditch, on the other is a water rut with a log.
Where you drive are off center rocks that look like someone spilled
cement out of the back of their truck. On all sides of said rock piles
are depressions filled with mud, water, and gravel. Ideal for traction
issues and undercarriage damage. Being lazy, I had not aired down
either. I scraped the skid on the down hill, and made loud ugly noises
and dragged a mounting bracket on the way back up. I had it locked and
had a hell of a time getting my front passenger and rear driver tires
in the correct position to just scrape what I considered auxiliary
parts- the skid. I didn't even get to bash the skids, just the
mount.
That the sun had set didn't really add to the spotting attempts. After four or five tries and much cursing, we succeeded.
Another fun spot is three miles in, where the trail makes a 90 degree
turn. My Gatemonkey didn't like that part because the FJ leaned 20
degrees towards a large granite face, on his side. I did it on the way
back to test the lean and I saw his point.
The best is what is called the Rock Slab or Chicken Scratch Hill. I
chose the route to the right for the downhill, opting to climb the left
fork, which is a sandy rock slab leading into a nice four foot dirt
berm. Lose traction and you will not turn. Instead you would be
seeking a new bumper and hoping your headlights worked. My downhill
trail was uneven and led to the same berm, but with a bit more turning
room. If you look at my corresponding Metberry picture album here, you
will see I made my turn too soon. I corrected and Gatemonkey watched
me make the next 40 foot descent. I heard from outside, "Jesus
Christ!". What??? "Your front tires never rotated, you just slid
down!" I thought it was a mostly controlled slide. The climb up the
Rock Slab on the way out was anticlimactic- no problems. My FJ is a
mountain goat.
I have never driven off a trail in the dark. My headlights work pretty
well as long as I don't get complacent and miss a nice, deep rut
parallel to my tires. Making contact with such an inverted obstacle
causes unintentional side leaps. Amazing what a five inch trench can
do to 3500 pounds of steel and cheap plastic.
It’s a fun trail and I highly recommend it.
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By: lll (Guest) on 21-08-2010 18:43