|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
| 4x4wire.com Does Helldorado | Short Cuts | ||||
|
|
|
||||
By: Jefe Reynolds
Edited by Randy Wheeler- 5/2000
GOING ALL TO HELLDORADO
|
|
Few places in Moab conjure up such a frame twisting mental picture as Helldorado. As jeep trails go, it was the darling of the truly hard core for the last couple of years, but has now been surpassed by a new trail called "The Rock Garden"?
On Friday of Jeep Week, a name the local merchants have for Easter Week, a small group of 4x4 wire-connected friends set out early for Helldorado, knowing we would need some extra time, and knowing we didn't want to get behind any group. Normally, the going is slow, excruciatingly slow up this rocky canyon. There are actually two parts to this 4-x-ordeal, lower Helldorado, which is about 1/3 of a mile long, up a side canyon, and upper Helldorado, where the obstacles are few but extreme. Lower Helldorado is hell on any rig wider than a Land Cruiser. Giant slabs of sandstone block the path to all but the hearty and one must make extreme turns just to stay with the trail.
|
After driving south out of town on Hwy 191, we turned left onto a graded dirt road and dropped down into Upper Cane Springs Canyon. After a mile and a half, we descended into the main canyon, turning abruptly left off the graded road and paused to lock in the hubs, and lower the pressure on some of the rigs. Several in our party had been driving around Moab all week with lowered pressure and did not need to deflate. For the rest, there was the customary 5 minutes of hissing as sidewalls slowly sank, and became more flexible. Our party motored on, playing on some big rocks in the stream bed. Shortly, the telltale 2 roads on the left came into view. The high road goes up a rocky arroyo, but we followed the low road to lower Helldorado. Right away your sheet metal is in peril of being abraded. Randy Wheeler, driving "RKDGJZP", slithered through in his well prepped YJ.
|
This is a good trail for full lockers and high clearance, although a very talented operator can manage this route with lesser equipment. Last time I was here, a stock YJ offered mute testimony to the rigors of the trail. It had been abandoned with a snapped rear axle partially out of the housing. A couple of times we needed "rock surfers" to lend some weight to the opposite side of the jeeps to avoid scrapage, and some of us with longer rigs had to see-saw to get around corners that CJ5 types took in one pop. Spotters were engaged at a few critical obstacles. Some of the really tight squeezes now have go-rounds, making it more do-able for wider rigs. All in all, it's a very technically demanding route, with high satisfaction upon completion. Pausing at the terminus to regroup, we had only to follow the old road to the right, up and over a hill, and down again to Cane Springs Canyon. The real test was now to commence. The drivers of a couple pristine rigs decided not to undo some of the beauty on Upper Helldorado. Each and every continuing Jeeper knew that sheet metal and other hard parts would be exposed to a relentless bashing. Even then, there are requirements for navigation of Upper Helldorado: No top; no doors; windshield down.
 |
Arriving with high anticipation at the dogleg turn of the canyon trail, we spied a Toyota long bed pickup about 30 feet into the first obstacle. The driver had mistaken this trail for lower Helldorado and quickly found the error of his ways. His front drive shaft had pulled out of the splines. We watched and helped as it took two hours to extract the rig from the premises. Meanwhile a larger crowd of onlookers were gathering on the rocks around the first obstacle to check out the action. Joe Sand arrived about this time in his mostly stock CJ7 and volunteered his winch (it took several winches to get the Toyota dude out) and eventually the blockage was removed.
|
At long last it was my turn as trail leader to grind over the first obstacle. It's only about 60 feet long, but starts out with a high and mighty rock straddle and some quick and dirty S-turns over rocks and grooves. Long wheel base rigs (like mine) must cut the corners and hope to keep some of the wheels on terra firma. This is where the need for extreme suspension articulation comes into focus. We all had this big articulation. Unfortunately I slid off a big rock and got trapped in one of the Suzuki width slots, with my rear tire stuffed under an overhanging rock with steel rocker panels and rear quarter panels noisily earning their keep. Not what I had in mind. [Last year I did this obstacle in one piece without touching the clutch.] With some judicious winching and rock stacking I was able to continue. Each of us had a slightly different line through the obstacle. Josh Lowenstein and Mark Colby had spectacular runs over the rocks here, each following his own line. Mark made it look too easy with his 274-to-one crawl ratio! Ah, hard core at it's finest. Following John Nutter, Mark, Josh, and myself, was Joe Sand, who had only a Trak-Lok rear axle, and 33's, and a mostly stock rig. I thought he was nuts to continue, but he proved, once again, that a fine operator can overcome obstacles with lesser equipment than thought possible. It did take him a while, but he just kept beating away at it and made it without breaking.
|
The next obstacle is what I call the "2 loaves", a pair of parallel 4 foot high rocks (with a hole between them) resembling loaves of bread. Last year, I had to winch over the top of the second loaf, just dragging my sorry 104" wheel base over the top. This year I switched to 36" tires, which proved to add just enough altitude to get over the "loaves" on my own power, without winching or getting high centered. Oh, yeah, it didn't hurt having "Rock Dog" building a rock ramp on one side. But joy was fleeting, as a front leaf spring soon bent into an 'S' at the rear, collapsing the shackle to the frame. A large screwdriver popped the spring back. Josh then showed us how it is done in his cool springs-over-axle flattie with a 225 c.i. odd-fire V6, and super low gears. To him, it was like NO obstacle. Several others had to take the winch to get over the 'loaves'.
 |
A short time and a few minor obstacles later we came to the piece-du-resistance of Upper Helldorado, an 8 foot high wall; a falls in wetter times . I winched up easily and took a position to be dead man and designated wincher for the rest of the party. This entailed a tree saver around a well hugged Juniper tree, some 'D' clevis', a 30 foot strap, hooked to the rear of my Jeep. Our style was to use both winches as a fail safe, as the steepness of the falls is approaching the vertical. It does add to the palpitation when all you can see out the front of your Jeep is SKY...nothing but SKY ! Mark Colby still runs his BBD carbed Jeep 4.2L (grrrr!) and promptly stalled going up the falls. We both had 8K pound pull winches pulling together, which slowed to an absolute crawl as he quickly engaged his starter motor for the duration. Both winches were pulling AGAINST his starter motor, which easily won the 'slow warz'. Getting our group up the falls, (plus a couple hanger's -on) it was almost over. Near the end of the route you can take a left up a final bypass, or continue up canyon to the bitter end. I chose the bitter end to get in some final action.
For more photos of this extreme trail, please visit our Moab
EJS 2000 Photo Gallery.
| Please support 4x4Wire by visiting our featured sponsors | ||||||
|
||||||
|
| 4X4Wire Portal | About 4x4Wire | Search 4x4Wire | TrailTalk Forums | Advertiser's Guide | |
