CA4WDCI July 96 State Meeting
Battlement Mesa 4WD Trail, Colorado
Running with the BIG Dogs!
by Adam Mehlberg
Photos by Cindy Mehlberg
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I could not refuse the opportunity. I had been on Blanca Peak twice, three times
counting the time I rode with Chris Stacey of the Creepers Jeepers Gang from Durango. I
have conquered the rock shute of Iron Chest. Two of the three crown jewels of hardcore
four wheeling in Colorado are under my belt, all that was left was the Battlement
Reservoir 4WD road.
The Colorado Association State meeting was over by 10:00am, all of the business quickly
dispensed with. Now I was in the Battlement Mesa Visitor Center parking lot among some of
the most perfect rock and mud crawlers I had seen. What was I doing? My jeep looked small
and unworthy of wheeling with these rock monsters. Everyone was asking, "How much
mud? How deep?" Would Cindy and I even get half way?
Shortly we were on our way out of town on a dusty gravel road, the 69 Ranch road,
County 338. It becomes Forest Road 847 as it leaves private property somewhere in the tall
Aspen trees on the side of Battlement Mesa. We made a stop near the last cattle guard and
locked in our hubs. It looked as if the weather would be on our side this trip, no rain in
site.
The Battlement road starts casual enough, some dips, rocks, a squeeze between trees
here and there. I considered how difficult the road would be if it were wet, with the
steep climb and all, and thought the Level 9 rating was for the spring conditions. Up we
climbed, stopping a few times, wondering what was going on in front. We couldn't see very
far in the thick Aspen forest that blankets the side of Battlement Mesa, but we could hear
the roar of engines.
Cindy and I were somewhere in the middle of the line, with Eric Steenburn, Greg Beery,
Gail Straty and Hurshell Malone towards the front. Using the Ham Radio, I talked to Eric
to see what was going on. I found out that Dave LeMaster had broken his front axle on his
GMC. Dave and his brother Dan had left with the 8:30am group that was to run the road and
position themselves at the tough spots to render assistance. After our second short move
forward we met up with Dave as he was coming back around the bypass for the "Rock
Garden", which is where he had snapped the axle. The U-Joint was grenaded, but worse
was the fact that it took out the axle yokes. Dave and Dan had wired the useless shafts in
place so the truck could be driven in 2WD. They planned on getting down to Rifle and
checking on a salvage yard for parts.
The line moved forward again and put us in site of the first challenge, the "Rock
Garden". Jim Mills of the Go-4's was in front of me in his Chevy powered Toyota Land
Cruiser. We watched a very capable Jeeps crawl through, low gears and 35" tires made
it look possible. Jim was up next. He took a line on the boulders with the least size and
made it to the curve in the road. Past the curve the rocks get as big as your tires,
unmoving teeth of the mountain, waiting to chew the belly of your vehicle. As Jim made the
curve, I started into the lower part of the garden, watching Jim's progress more than my
own. I felt the scraping of steel and became aware of what I was negotiating.
The engine had quite, so I
got out to see what I was onto before I started up again. Its amazing, the boulders looked
small when I had walked up the road to watch the others. Now, there was this HUGE rock, so
big you could have made a dog house for a St. Bernard out of it and still had room for a
hot tub, poised two inches below my front driveshaft at the spline. It had run the length
of my front skid plate, the scrapping sound, and lined itself up to do the most damage. It
must have intelligence! I walked to the front of my Jeep and quickly looked around.
Everyone was busy helping Jim maneuver through the upper part of the garden. I grabbed
some movable rocks and tossed them under my front tires so they would keep me above this
devious rock as I pulled forward. I dashed back to the drivers seat hoping no one saw me
cheat. Besides, its better to cheat than to hold up the line while I drop a broke front
driveshaft, yea, that's it.
I started the Dragon up and pulled forward. I was almost over onto the shin deep
boulders when I heard a hollow tinny bang and scrapping sound in the rear of the vehicle.
Oh no! That wasn't the rear bumper that is welded into the frame, that was the gas tank!?
It was that smart rock again. It just couldn't let me by. Instantly, I could smell better
than the average dog, as I tried to pull the scent of gas out of the air. I had to stop to
wait on Jim ahead of me, but before I could get out and check I was being directed to
strap Jim's Toyota back over a rock that had him high centered. The onlookers didn't see
any thing dripping, so I got to the task of freeing Jim.
The spotters had Jim go
around the major boulders, still not an easy task. He lost a drivers side mirror on a
tree. Now I was up. I picked my line and made it over the first rank of stone soldiers.
The second rank would not yield. I used up my allotted three tries, then got the winch
cable out. The spotter took me past the last deep rut and I was through!
Because of our large group on this difficult 4WD road, I had to keep going, no time to
check out the scares. Jim Mills, Cindy and I seemed to be our own little group working our
way over the roads challenges on our way to the lunch spot. We climbed one last steep,
steep hill and found ourselves on level ground pulling up to the end of the line stopped
for lunch. That old rock did leave its mark. The front of the gas tank had a new dent
followed by a long scribbled gouge. Its on the bottom, no one will see it.
Nick Yeager of the High Country Four Wheelers, our leader, headed out not too long
after we arrived, having been stopped for lunch for over an hour. The going got easier as
we wound our way past marshes and across talus slopes, climbing more gradually. As we
dropped down a steep ridge with some formidable rocks to negotiate we caught up to the
line again. At the bottom was a large mud hole with water over the hubs, but this wasn't
the cause of the delay. After going through the mud, the drivers were presented with a
rocky incline that topped out onto a ledge road. The drop was not dizzying , but with mud
caked on your tires it became more of a concern. All of this was a prelude to the really
BIG mud hole that was slowing everyone down.
If the average person stood
in this thing, the mud would be up near your knees and you would be looking at all of the
spectators feet. The technique was to brake/slide into the mud hole, accelerate out the
shallow end, and slide/bounce through the fifty feet of mud moguls until you reached dry
ground. There was a bypass, but it put you in the mud anyway, at a very precarious side
angle. I was up. Down into the mud hole I went, took off out the other side, slid through
the moguls keeping my momentum forward, correcting left, then right. Halfway through, the
ride was over. I was spinning tires. I backed a little, tried again and slid back into the
same hole. Another attempt proved futile. Time for the strap. Jim pulled me forward past
the hole and I was moving again.
Cindy was behind me,
literally. With her little CJ5 and trac-loc she went through that muddy obstacle course
with out a hitch. My son was yelling, "Hey dad, mom made it through on the first
try!" Being the understanding four wheeler that I am, I told him to "Shut up.
Besides who does all the work on her Jeep anyway?" I was grabbing for my dignity
where I could find it.
Off we went to keep the line from backing up. It was getting close to 3:00pm. and we
still had not gotten to the reservoir. The road settled down again and we listened to talk
on the CB about transfer case trouble, caved in front differential covers, etc. Finally I
saw the leaders vehicle pointed back our way with the blue reservoir behind him. We had
made it!
We relaxed a bit, took pictures, and enjoyed the scenery knowing that we still had to
drive back out the way we had come in. Over the radio Nick coordinated the group and got
most headed back down due to the time. Dan and Michelle Venrick and a few others made it
to the reservoir before the call to return. Nick said it would take a couple of hours to
get back. I hoped he was right, because it was close to 5:00pm.
We retraced our steps
quickly, catching up to the others that had turned around mid trail, at the BIG mud hole.
You had two choices; climb the 4 foot wall of the deep mud hole, or try to do a 90 degree
turn up a muddy hill that skirts the edge of a marsh. Decisions, decisions. We watched
vehicles try both ways. It seemed that most had to be winched, in fact I didn't see anyone
climb out of the deep hole without the winch. Our club members were in a group now and
Hurshell Malone was the first to decide. He chose the marsh and was doing great, but he
turned up hill too soon and tipped sideways just about burying his rear license plate
under the muddy water. Gail Straty was next. Gail hates to drive on slippery stuff like
snow, so the mud was not helping her any. I think this caution lead to her making it
through without assistance as she followed Hurshell's line, only waiting longer before
turning up hill. Eric Steenburn saw what worked, as did Greg Beery. I followed suit and
Cindy was next. We all kept moving forward knowing the spotters were there to help pull
anyone out that needed assistance.
The 'Rock Garden' has a
bypass, so with the mud behind us, it was an uneventful ride back down, almost. After
stopping for Hurshell to check out what was causing his CJ5 to handle funny, which we
didn't find anything wrong. I was behind Greg, getting ready to follow the group, when
Greg gets on the CB and says, "Adam, I think I need some help." He sounded calm,
and before I could question him about what kind of help he repeated his request,
"Adam, I REALLY need some help!" He was around the bend behind some thick
foliage, so I couldn't see what had happened. I got out, walked around the bend, and was
face to face with his tranny skid plate. The CJ7 was resting on its drivers side tire
sidewalls! Greg's hand was out the window against the bank of the road and seemed to be
all that was holding the Jeep from tipping onto it's side. He had made a bend in the road
and got the passenger side tire of his CJ7 up on a large downed tree beside the road. With
the drivers side in a rut, this was all it took to slowly tip his Jeep up on two wheels.
By now the rest of the group
had walked back up. Time to act fast. If the beads on the tires go, the Jeep would roll
onto it's side. I got the strap, clevis, and snatch block from my Jeep as Eric started
pulling out the winch cable. We got everything set up and the cable secured in no time and
I took out the slack. Now was the tough part, I couldn't see Greg from where I was parked
so I had to reel in the cable without knowing what was happening. I told Greg to get
ready, and reeled in a few feet. The onlookers waved that he was back on all fours. Greg
only had to put more power steering fluid in. Oh yea, he also had to recover from his case
of rubber legs.
We were on our way again after that little winching exercise. As our group neared the
entrance we found Dave and Dan pulled off the side of the road with the still broke GMC,
counting four wheel drives headed back to camp. We were number 53. Dave had had no luck in
Rifle and none of the other places they called had anything.
It was time go get back to the campground where the end of day events were kicking off,
we had raffle prizes to win!
Dave and Barbara Osborn did an excellent job of setting up the Association summer
meeting. The Creepers Jeepers Gang from Durango and the High Country Four Wheelers ran a
well controlled, challenging, and fun trip.
4X4NOW Editor's note: Battlemen Mesa is in The
[Colorado] 4X4 Trail Book Number 3
Colorado
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