Red Cone / Webster Pass Info

[Andrew]

Currently Red Cone and Webster Pass are not recommended. Some snow in spots that will make for a lot of digging. We didn't go up to the top of Red Cone we heard there were a bunch of rigs from Mile High Jeep Club up there doing a recovery of some dumbass in a 2WD truck so we headed up Webster. A week or two of warmer weather may make it more passable but it was pretty cold up there.

Webster has a very dangerous section on it now - a portion of the side of the trail is washed out on the last switchback going to the top. There was a big 6x6 or something there - a couple of them but the ground is wet and loose there. We made it but we had to dig away some of the muddy section to bury the wood farther, and then pack dry dirt around it. It was stable enough to get us by, but it would not surprise me to find that it would be worse with the snow melting and running there. And you have to get tippy on the side of the hill there too so there was some seat grabbing going on.

So if you go up it use extreme caution.

Who knows when/if this will be fixed. And after the snow and melt next summer it could be a whole lot worse.

[Andrew]

I will say this - we got to the trailhead around 10:45 or so. I got home at 11:30 PM.

Fought a lot of snow.

[4Runninfun]

thanks for this update. yeah when i ran webster that section in mid august wasn't much fun i'd just perfer to go up and over red cone anyways.

[Andrew]

Yeah I don't know how they are going to shore up that section. It will take a lot of careful work due to the location. They either have to cut into the mountain more, or build back the trail and build some sort of support for the side of the hill. I just don't know about it.

[4Runninfun]

just makes me glad i ran it when i did!

[Brody]

Thanks for the update! I think that they are both trails maintained by MHJC, so they will probably fix the bad sections on Webster next year.

Then again, maybe the FS will just have to man up some tax dollars and shore this section of road up. Or, maybe closer to what they will do is to 1), either pave or grade it so that a 2WD can do the road ala Slaughterhouse, spending a fortune in tax dollars in the process, or 2), close the trail permanently to allow for restoration or some other BS...Either of these last two will, of course, wait until some unlucky person or persons have had a fatal off roading accident so that the FS can justify the above mentioned work or closures....and tax dollar expenditures...

[Funrover]

WOO HOO SKI SEASON.. Sorry you didn't get to run Red Cone

[edog]

I ended up running Coney Flats/MSV instead of this, I felt kind of lame at the time, but after reading this, I am stoked I decided against Red Cone. Thanks for the update, I think that is the end of me trying to do Red Cone for the year. Sorry you had such a long day, but I bet you got a good workout shoveling right?

[Andrew]

MSV/Coney Flats is still a fun loop.

I would have updated your other post if it wasn't so freaking late when I got home.

I wouldn't try Radical Hill now either snow up on that one from what I saw.

Here's some pics of the washout.

[Chris]

That is a little creepy, I'll pass on doing it again until it's repaired or at least a bit more stable. :eek:

[AboveNBeyond]

I think I was good till I saw the pic looking down... :eek:

[edog]

Wow! I'll pass!

[Funrover]

Looks like you bumperd the log and it went a rollin down... That is a very hairy section this year.... Wonder who mans that trail and if they are going to fix it?

[Andrew]

Yup the log started to slip and I hit the gas to get over before it went down the hill a ways. We brought it back up and did a good amount of work shoring up the spot, but you still gotta climb the hill, watch it carefully, and repack dirt and such in there if it looks too loose after someone goes by.

[WINKY]

i would barely fit on the trail with it being undamaged much less going around it....:eek:

[ShutUpHippie]

Yikes, nice pics!

[Ric]

oh come on, that hole it that bad,, :lol: ok YES, its very scary, I also do NOT recommend anyone, doing this unless your on a ATV..
Rumour has it, the snow is melting fast, very fast, so this weekend should be ok for Red Cone, again, Id stay away from Webster Pass.

[BlackRubi]

Even avoiding Webster and taking the left hand turn coming off of Red Cone gets a little hairy. The switchbacks got a little tippy and nerve racking coming down after the stockers run.

[Brody]

Even avoiding Webster and taking the left hand turn coming off of Red Cone gets a little hairy. The switchbacks got a little tippy and nerve racking coming down after the stockers run.

It was the wrong run for a 'stockers' run, especially considering we had quite a few 'newbies' to Colorado wheeling for just this reason. This isn't what I would call a 'newbie' trail. That kind of trail 'newbie' or stockers should have optional bypasses for hard sections that people can avoid if they are uncomfortable with them.

We don't like tippy, nerve wracking, off camber stuff on shelf roads where a mistake is not an option and we are experienced. I have wheeled for 40 years and LaDawn for 3 and we didn't like some of the sections on Red Cone.

Let's not make the same mistake next year..

[Andrew]

Red Cone isn't bad at all. There were no spots at all that I was uncomfortable with when we ran it. And if you take the right to go down Webster into Montezuma, there's nothing even close to tippy on a shelf road. Heck even Webster up to the intersection with Red Cone is fine - it's just that washed out area that gets you tippy.

[Andrew]

Even avoiding Webster and taking the left hand turn coming off of Red Cone gets a little hairy. The switchbacks got a little tippy and nerve racking coming down after the stockers run.

That is Webster.

[4Runninfun]

F O R G E T that!

[Funrover]

http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=156516

Here is a more up to date look

[Andrew]

I can't view that link here at work for whatever reason.

[AboveNBeyond]

I can't view that link here at work for whatever reason.

You have to click on it... :thunb:

j/k, it works for me though... looks passable :D

[Mporter]

Yeah it didn't look that bad....but that ice crossing looked sketch.

[AboveNBeyond]

Yeah it didn't look that bad....but that ice crossing looked sketch.

But that crossing has a very nice gravel base, so the depth is the only concern. Well that and stabbing an ice sheet into your radiator. :eek:

[Haku]

That gulley was there on the "Stockers no Lockers" trip, but it looks to have gotten worse. I know it was totally sketchy coming down it then, and its more off camber then it looks in those pics. I know I was more sketched out by that then anything on Red Cone or Radical hill.

I kind of doubt that it will get fixed very soon, since that section was covered with a large snow drift all the way through July (which I'm sure contributed to it). Looks to me like it would be a great candidate for a small bridge and a culvert though, rather then trying to shore it up. Get some sturdy wood planks, some large stakes, and 1 or 2 foot corragated steel culvert tube. Make it go 6 foot either side of the gap, and you're good to go. Even so, I'll definitely be going down into Montezuma next time rather then down to 285. I like the drive on that one better anyways, off road and on.

JH

[Andrew]

Yeah we didn't get pics of the most off camber situation. I went over it pretty quick.

I would be concerned that snow may hide it if it looks better now since I doubt anything has been fixed but anyway. That whole area of trails will soon be inaccessible anyway.

That washout could be really bad after the snow melts next year.

[Funrover]

That washout could be really bad after the snow melts next year.

If it does the same amount of damage as this years there won't be a Webster Pass next year.

[Andrew]

If it does the same amount of damage as this years there won't be a Webster Pass next year.

I know and my fear is that unless it is fixed some yahoo will be dumb enough to attempt it and go tumbling down the mountain. It will pretty much be ATV only next season unless some work is done.

[Funrover]

Time to get on the club that adopted it!

[Andrew]

I think it's Mile High Jeep Club isn't it?

[Andrew]

Yup:

Mile Hi Jeep Club, Patrol 14 Webster Pass FR285

[Funrover]

So I am guessing nothing will be done about it. Darnit all

[Chris]

I don't know anything about MHJC, is there a reason you don't think they'll do anything about this spot on Webster?

[Funrover]

I don't know anything about MHJC, is there a reason you don't think they'll do anything about this spot on Webster?

Season. With snow, cold, frozen ground I bet it will be next summer.

[Chris]

That's probably reasonable, it would be nice to see them post signs warning people of it when it's snow covered.

[Andrew]

http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=156516

Here is a more up to date look

Checked it out. Yeah it's getting close to being closed. They didn't go by that washout though.

[Whitey Jr]

dang that section got bad in less than a week. I did that last sunday and there was still enough room for a Grand Cherokee to pass with a foot or so on either side