Crystal Mtn - Moody Hill (Short version)

[Chris]

Okay, the original is pretty scattered especially since I merged 2 threads into one making it even harder to understand.

There are plenty of people interested, some comitted so it looks like fun with a potential large turnout.

Meeting somewhere in Fort Collins that I'm not familar with so think we should caravan from somewhere north of I70 along 125.

[Aaron]

How about I 25 and 119 and the Wendys?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=&ie=UTF8&ll=40.161723,-104.977123&spn=0.004559,0.009656&t=h&z=17

[Chris]

Sounds good, what time so we can meet in FC at the right time?

[Gecko Cycles]

It is closer to go in from the Masonville side. There is a gas station and convenience store at the turn off to Masonville that is a good secondary meet spot too. Hyw 34 and Glade Rd. Take N. Glade Rd to Buckhorn Rd/CR27 or continue on 34 to Buckhorn Rd/CR27 and head to Masonville. Turn left on Buckhorn Rd/CR27 at Masonville. There is really no need to go in from the Fort unless you are up north. Trail Damage directions from Denver takes you out of the way and you have to double back. It may be faster but I'm not too sure about that. Also the canyon outside of Masonville is really pretty.

[Gecko Cycles]

Looks like the Calender has the meet spot at Masonville.

[Aaron]

Looks like the Calender has the meet spot at Masonville.

Chris is suggesting a Denver Area meeting spot for a caravan.

[Gecko Cycles]

Chris is suggesting a Denver Area meeting spot for a caravan.
If that is the case you can take 25 to 34 through Loveland or 287 to 34 and then left on 34. I believe 34 is Eisenhower Blvd. through Loveland.

[WINKY]

remember to put these alternative meeting spots up on the calander. All meeting spots should be on there to eliminate confusion :)

[Chris]

That's the idea Randy and the alternatives are the confusion to those of us that are navigationally challenged. ;) Good idea if/when we come up with one or two.

[WINKY]

yeah ive seen in the past, the alternative spots arent on the calendar and people cant figure out where the meets are from the long threads. :)

[white collar redneck dad]

If enough people show up we may need to break into 2 groups so we'd need to leaders. We'll see how it goes but it's always nice to have a couple people familiar with the area.

On another note how about a meeting place north of I-70 somewhere along I-25 so we can caravan?

Chris --- what about meeting at 120th and I 25..Parking ride on west side of I 25 .. just west of Cracker Barrel? MR6dwg is in Fredrick..we can meet with him near longmont exit hwy 119 or exit 240.

[Chris]

Thanks Charlie, any of the above sound fine, does anyone who would like to meet have a preference?

[Trailrat99XJ]

I will be coming from Parker. Meeting at 120th sounds good to me but I'm game for whatever.

[Haku]

The hard part of getting to Crystal mountain is from Loveland to the trailhead. Since people are coming from all over the place south of there, might be easier to find a place in Loveland. Its really not hard to find the trailhead, it just feels like you drive forever up a windy road before you get there.

The way I went both times is like this....

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/8-G26bquvfCJ4afKZDc*aM

Essentially you take I-25 till Exit 257b, take a left onto US-34 (the main drag through Loveland) and drive almost all the way through town till you see CR-27. Its a small sign so have to watch out for it. Its just before it feels like it wants to go up to the mountains. Take a right there and 27 goes all the way to Masonville. To continue to the trailhead take a left at the t-junction. Its still CR-27 but is also called Buckhorn Road. This is the part that feels like you are going longer then you should. Keep an eye out for 44h, which exits on the left side of the road. Drive up this about 1.5 miles and you'll see an obvious trail that immediately climbs up the side of the mountain. This is the start of Moody Hill. If you continue another 7 or so miles up 44h, you'll land on Crystal Mountain Road, which is the easy way of getting to the Crystal Mountain Trailhead without doing Moody First.

Those directions probably sound worse then they are. The Wells book has good directions too, as does Traildamage. The trail itself has some weird turns that you have to make or risk straying onto private land. Crystal Mountain isn't in the wells book, but Moody is, and traildamage has some good info, especially if you use their google maps "tracks".

I'm hoping to go on this trip, but have a few things to do to my rig first. If they get done, I'll definitely be there. I'd be happy to be a trip leader too, or maybe assistant trip leader.

JH

[Aaron]

Thanks Charlie, any of the above sound fine, does anyone who would like to meet have a preference?

I live near 104th and 470 so taking 470 puts me out north of there. But I can take the free road over to 120th as well.

[Chris]

Chris --- what about meeting at 120th and I 25..Parking ride on west side of I 25 .. just west of Cracker Barrel? MR6dwg is in Fredrick..we can meet with him near longmont exit hwy 119 or exit 240.


Let's go with this since it got 2 votes. :lol:

[Aaron]

Let's go with this since it got 2 votes. :lol:

Cool. What time and whose leading the charge.

[Chris]

Time Charlie?

[ShutUpHippie]

I don't wanna jinx it... but I wanna take my top off my Blazer for this one. Does anyone know what the weather is gonna be like??

[ShutUpHippie]

Well nevermind, checked it out.

Sat, June 6 - Isolated T-Storms
75° - 30% chance of precip.

The top's comin' off!

[Chris]

Saturday's looking good, not so much Sunday so give it a shot.

The worst that can happen is you'd get wet. :D

[ShutUpHippie]

True. I'll just bring some ponchos in case I have someone in the back seat. :thunb:

[Chris]

I see 6 of us going on the calendar, sure a lot of chat for 6 folks. Please update your RSVP. ;)

[Aaron]

Good idea. I left the front upper door halves of my jeep home last week for the T33 run. I had the side and back window with me but off. The weather was scheduled to be pristine.

I got very wet and snowy....

[Chris]

Typical Colorado weather. ;)

[Brody]

I don't wanna jinx it... but I wanna take my top off my Blazer for this one. Does anyone know what the weather is gonna be like??


Hey...it doesn't matter about the weather. It is just like roofing or cement work...or a holiday weekend...you take the top off, it is going to rain sometime during the day..

Bring something with a hood on it..with you back open behind the cab, if it rains, the rain will come in down your neck when you are back on pavement...Oh...and because of that, you will get a mist on the inside of your front windshield at highway speeds, so bring a little squeegee or some rags...

Hope to see you on this run. I am still up in the air..

[Velorider4]

OK, so if I am redaing this right people are organizing their own meeting spots to caravan and rally at the Masonville meeting spot? Or are we all just going to meet on the trail somewhere and everyone gets there on their own? Sorry for the confusion.

[Aaron]

OK, so if I am redaing this right people are organizing their own meeting spots to caravan and rally at the Masonville meeting spot? Or are we all just going to meet on the trail somewhere and everyone gets there on their own? Sorry for the confusion.

Let me see if I can help....

The primary meeting spot is in Masonville... LEAVING at 10:00 so be there earlier. MAP (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cnty+Rd+27+and+Buckhorn+Rd+masonville+mercantile&sll=40.487301,-105.207481&sspn=0.009074,0.019312&ie=UTF8&ll=40.489455,-105.208533&spn=0.009073,0.019312&z=16&iwloc=A)

If you live in the denver area and want to caravan up, meet here (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=RTD&sll=39.913621,-104.982176&sspn=0.018302,0.038624&ie=UTF8&ll=39.914773,-104.982176&spn=0.017478,0.038624&z=15) at 8:30 for an 8:45 departure.

Chris or Randy, want to throw this on the calendar entry?

Aaron

[Chris]

I have updated the calendar for meeting times for the caravan, please be aware of the corrected times so we can all meet at Masonville on time!

[ShutUpHippie]

Looks like I'm in for sure! Hope my truck can handle this without a locker.. :D

120th and I-25 @ 8:15am. I'll be there!

[Haku]

Looks like I'm in for sure! Hope my truck can handle this without a locker.. :D

You'll have no problem on anything except the Quarry, which is one of the scarriest obstacles I have seen as far as pucker factor goes. It rates at least with obstacles like Hells Gate and Escalator in Moab, but has more chance of going nose over with no protection.

Other then that you'll get up stuff without too much problem. Might take a few tries on the ledge on Moody Hill, but you'll make it. Heck, a stock Scout made it without help, and we got a pretty much stock Tahoe up it with a small tug. Its a great trail and I'm gonna do everything I can to get up there with ya'll. Don't think it will be an issue, since I know what I need to do with my Diff to get it back on the road again.

If anyone feels like towing a Samurai behind you, I'll split gas up to trailhead with ya. I live in Lakewood. If not I'll use my Subaru again. Highway driving doesn't really suit the Samurai to well.

JH

[Aaron]

You'll have no problem on anything except the Quarry, which is one of the scarriest obstacles I have seen as far as pucker factor goes. It rates at least with obstacles like Hells Gate and Escalator in Moab, but has more chance of going nose over with no protection.

Other then that you'll get up stuff without too much problem. Might take a few tries on the ledge on Moody Hill, but you'll make it. Heck, a stock Scout made it without help, and we got a pretty much stock Tahoe up it with a small tug. Its a great trail and I'm gonna do everything I can to get up there with ya'll. Don't think it will be an issue, since I know what I need to do with my Diff to get it back on the road again.

If anyone feels like towing a Samurai behind you, I'll split gas up to trailhead with ya. I live in Lakewood. If not I'll use my Subaru again. Highway driving doesn't really suit the Samurai to well.

JH

And it looks like the Quarry is optional...

[Haku]

And it looks like the Quarry is optional...

Oh, yeah, its very optional. You actually have to drive out of your way to get to it. Its the opposite direction from the trail to Crystal Mountain. Its a cool obstacle, because it has multiple escapes. You can do the still steep but not as bad lower section and still not have to do the really steep and scary top part. There is a road down to the bottom that is really easy to get back up.

JH

[ShutUpHippie]

Can't wait, sounds like a great set of trails. FR4x4 has a good crew, no matter the trail anyway :fr4x4:

[Dirt Claude]

I'm in guys, didn't want to commit until I knew what my weekend plans were. I plan on meeting up with the caravan at 8:30. I've never run a trail in that area before, looking forward to it!

[Aaron]

Looks like 13 confirmed rigs (with a few in reserve) going to Crystal Mountain and Moody Hill. I'm no expert but that seems like a lot. Should we split into two or will we be ok with that many?

[white collar redneck dad]

[QUOTE=aphillips76;43299]Looks like 13 confirmed rigs (with a few in reserve) going to Crystal Mountain and Moody Hill.

**Heads up -- The caravan will meet @ i25 and 120th the parking ride next to Cracker Barrel. Meeting time is 815am--Leaving time is 830 sharp. We will stop off @ shell station @ hwy 119 and i25 exit 240 for Longmont for 15 min then back to I25. Please rsvp on Trail runs if you plan on meeting for caravan. WE will be on cb ch 4.

If you need to reach me direct, please feel to call or text me @ 720-253-8556

Thanks,
Charlie

[Mr6dwg]

Breaking up into two groups, I believe this is a question that should be answered by Chris. I am fine with the decision either way. That does sound like quite the group! I think power in numbers comes into play at this point. There are a few areas where it might be a concern, but if you want to "keep it" together, it can be done with a little finesse. It is going to be such a fun day. I am excited for the people who have not done this road. Because of the curves on the final paved road, I am choosing to wait until I get to the 4WD road before airing down and unhooking my disconnects. Prior to turning off onto the actual trail, the public road is fairly flat for that sort of stuff. There is also an open area for us to park, and make final adjustments, before we go white knuckled and bug eyed!!. Just joking, sort of.

[Aaron]

Breaking up into two groups, I believe this is a question that should be answered by Chris. I am fine with the decision either way. That does sound like quite the group! I think power in numbers comes into play at this point. There are a few areas where it might be a concern, but if you want to "keep it" together, it can be done with a little finesse. It is going to be such a fun day. I am excited for the people who have not done this road. Because of the curves on the final paved road, I am choosing to wait until I get to the 4WD road before airing down and unhooking my disconnects. Prior to turning off onto the actual trail, the public road is fairly flat for that sort of stuff. There is also an open area for us to park, and make final adjustments, before we go white knuckled and bug eyed!!. Just joking, sort of.

I have nowhere to be that day so it doesn't matter to me.

[Chris]

Let's play it as we gather and these kind of decisions are made by the group, not me.

I'm just another truck on the run. ;)

[ShutUpHippie]

Well as long as the trails can be run before dark, one big group most likely will be no problem. For the anniversary run that worked out, but I guess that was a short trail. We sure had a lot of people though. My :2c:

[Velorider4]

Breaking up into two groups, I believe this is a question that should be answered by Chris. I am fine with the decision either way. That does sound like quite the group! I think power in numbers comes into play at this point. There are a few areas where it might be a concern, but if you want to "keep it" together, it can be done with a little finesse. It is going to be such a fun day. I am excited for the people who have not done this road. Because of the curves on the final paved road, I am choosing to wait until I get to the 4WD road before airing down and unhooking my disconnects. Prior to turning off onto the actual trail, the public road is fairly flat for that sort of stuff. There is also an open area for us to park, and make final adjustments, before we go white knuckled and bug eyed!!. Just joking, sort of.

I agree we may need two leaders but not sure who the second would be? I say we pay it by ear. I guess that I should add that there will be one other person with a vehicle showing up that I know of.

[Chris]

See you in the morning! Looks like there's at least 12 trucks showing up! :thunb:

[Chris]

I'm in guys, didn't want to commit until I knew what my weekend plans were. I plan on meeting up with the caravan at 8:30. I've never run a trail in that area before, looking forward to it!

Great that you'll be there but I'll miss seeing the 60.

[Trailrat99XJ]

Had a blast with all of you today. I will put up pics tomorrow! Thanks, Tim

[Chris]

It was a very good time, long but good. I have to say your truck and driving is very impressive. I'll be posting some pics soon. Great meeting you yesterday.

http://frontrange4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5435

[Trailrat99XJ]

Thanks for the compliment! I just like to have fun! It was a very long day but who could of asked for a more beautiful day! Thanks for a great day!!