Bull Park, July 5

[Goslow]

COS80 and I will be running the Bull Park trail this Friday, July 5. All are invited. We plan to take tree limb trimming tools and trim off a lot of the branches sticking out into the trail in the interest of trail maintenance.
Meet up is at the Phillips 66 station in Divide at 8:00 on Friday morning. Please post up if you plan to go.
This is an in and out trail that ends up at some interesting rock formations with a spectacular view. When we were there last year, LCPilot winched out a Ford Raptor that was buried to the frame in the upper meadow that had a spring running down the trail. We will tread lightly at the same place and may need to park in the meadow and hike the short distance to the end of the trail if the conditions are the same.
Hoping everyone has a great Fourth of July holiday. I figure many of the trails will be crowded this weekend and this might be one with less traffic on it.

 

[TK470]

Great idea to do some trail maintenance!

I plan on being there.

I have some branch shears and a foldable saw that I can bring.

 

[COS80]

It's going to be an incredible day. NWS says it'll be a high of 55*F and sunny, with a 30% chance of storms after 3pm.

 

[Goslow]

Tim, we will be eating breakfast at grandmothers Café in Woodland Park at 7 o’clock tomorrow morning. Hope you can join us!

 

[TK470]

Tim, we will be eating breakfast at grandmothers Café in Woodland Park at 7 o’clock tomorrow morning. Hope you can join us!

I’d love to join you guys. Thank you for the invite! I’ll meet you there at 7.

 

[COS80]

If anyone wants/needs to bring a charger, I have a 120V inverter.

 

[COS80]

This was another spectacular day out, first and foremost due to Goslow's perfect trail selection, in terms of avoiding crowds on this long July 4 weekend. We went into Gold Camp Rd. from the Victor end to avoid any traffic on the COS end. We were a little worried, when we passed a half-dozen or so cars on GCR, and then saw another half-dozen campers at the bottom of the trail, but after that, we saw exactly two other vehicles for the rest of the day, and both while we were stopped for lunch. TK470 joined us in his GX470, and Goslow and I each had a passenger, for a crew of 5 in 3 trucks.

When we did this trail last year, we only got to the mud bog, just a few hundred yards short of the rock garden at the top, where we had to winch at a Raptor that was sunk into the mud up to the rockers. This year, we made it through clear to the top, and got to enjoy the amazing views of the mines in Victor, as well as get this incredible shot. Videos of the mud bog to follow.

Heading back down after lunch, somewhat inspired by outrunning the impending rain, I was surprised by how easily we all three shot right through the bog. We started peeling off on all the invisible side trails Vic somehow always manages to spot, before we got there, and encountered a hiker, who we, embarrassingly, were actually holding up. She actually passed us through the bog.

Alongside the great trail ride, we also moved a lot of rock, to assist getting through the more severe sections, and trimmed a lot of branches. We figured out how to make yardwork fun!

On a personal note, I love my 80 more every time I drive it. I've started picking my own lines, instead of following Vic or someone else experienced, and getting more and more comfortable with just bashing into bigger and bigger rocks, and being amazed that it always just rolls right through. I love this thing so much!

A couple more pics:

 

[COS80]

 

[Goslow]

We stopped by the Victor open pit mine overlook made from the bed of an ore hauler.

 

[Goslow]

We were airing down at the Victor end of Gold Camp Road and a Forest Ranger drove by. I discussed our plan of opening the original Bull Park Trail segment where a tree had grown in and that we wanted to cut it so that people would use the original trail and not the adjacent cutter trail. We also wanted to trim misbehaving branches along the trail and he gave us his blessing. When we got to the trail, we saw that someone had done a lot of trimming before us and that made our job easier. Here is an example of a drive-by trimming.

 

[COS80]

Watching the drive-by trimming from behind is funnier than you would think.

 

[Goslow]

The trail is quite rocky and we had to stack rocks a couple of times, especially for those of us who drive lesser vehicles than the mighty FJ80. But we all made it without any damage whatsoever. Here are some various images along the trail including a large mushroom thingy that something had been chewing on.

 

[Goslow]

Here are some images from the mostly dried out mud bog. The spring is not draining into the bog and it was no problem for us to get through after some careful strategizing to determine the best lines.

 

[Goslow]

One more…

 

[Goslow]

Here are a couple of nature shots.

 

[Goslow]

I’ve driven Bull Park many times over the last 25 years in my FJ40. I am looking forward to getting a high clearance off-road rear bumper for my LX 470 so I don’t have to worry about tearing off the rear fascia.
A couple of the side roads are starting to get crowded in with branches so we did some trimming on those roads. Here are some images from those roads.
It was a fantastic day of four wheeling with friends and seeing great scenery. Looking forward to many more days like this with the club this summer.

 

[TK470]

First and foremost, thank you to COS80 and Goslow for putting on an awesome event yesterday. It truly was a fun time to spend with each of you and your passengers. I really enjoyed the time wheeling, and thank you for the countless spots, and placement of rocks you all provided to me with a stock vehicle. I personally had a few pinstripes added, and chose a poor line and a rock scuffed some paint off my passenger door.

Also, thank you for the fantastic write ups from both of you. COS80 orchestrated the headliner photo of us at the top, and it turned out perfectly! Goslow also encouraged some photos as well, as I normally don't snap many.

All in all, a fantastic day of tree trimming and camaraderie.

I look forward to more runs in the future (next earliest CLC run I can make is September), and hopefully will add a lift in the near future.

Here's a few pics of Goslow and COS80.

 

[TK470]

Great action shots! Thank you David!

 

[COS80]

Great action shots! Thank you David!

Did you know your wheel was off the ground like that?

 

[COS80]

I look forward to more runs in the future (next earliest CLC run I can make is September), and hopefully will add a lift in the near future.

I was curious, so looked this morning... you couldn't have more suspension lift options for your GX. Your problem will be deciding which one to get!