Six rigs on this trip;
2x FJ60
1x FZJ80
2x UZJ100
1x GX470
We met at the Alta, then drove US 24 to CO 67 north to the Manitou Exp Forest Station at the bottom of FR 346/Hotel Gulch. We stopped briefly at the station to read the historical background and admire the stone architecture. Then we headed up Hotel Gulch with a stop at the Beaver Ponds. Surprisingly, we observed a Tesla sedan come down the trail! We wondered if his navigation app misdirected him (or maybe he's just a capable driver!???) Below the ponds was pretty icy, so we hope he made it through.
Next we drove north on FR 300/Rampart Range Road to the junction of 351 and 327. Snow was more prominent as we traveled north. We drove 327/Fern Gulch and wondered how far we'd make it (road conditions were deep snow, wheel ruts evidence that others have been in there recently). About 2/3 up the trail we encountered a Polaris RZR that was high-centered on ice (see David's video above). A couple of strap pulls and he was free. Beyond the point where he was stuck, the ruts ended so whoever had been there previously decided to turn around at this same point. We turned around also and had some slip-slides;
@COS80 slipped the rearend downhill and Manitou Decline used the winch to right him. We returned to 300 for a lunch break.
After lunch, we went south to 323/Winding Stairs. It was mostly clear to the intersection with 324/Ice Cave Road. There was a big snow bank where 323 stem continues right and uphill; I drove into it, got stuck briefly, then powered over it and up the hill to scout conditions further up.
@Manitou Decline got on it and slipped the rearend further downhill than I did, and pulled the winch to get righted and then up the hill. We decided the juice is not worth the squeeze, so we drove out and went to 322/Balanced Rock Road, thinking we could likely make it to the hairpin curve easily, which we did. From the curve, we expected the last segment to be snowbound--to our surprise it was mostly dry with no snowbanks. We got to the bottom and visited Monument Lake #2 or hung out in the sunlight at the parking area.
We drove back out 322 to 300, and drove to the intersection of 320/Mount Herman Road. Two of us were going down 320 to Monument, the others going down 300 to Woodland Park. This was going to be the end of the day but we met a white sedan 100 yards down 320 who informed us about a stuck Jeep on 315. We radio'd the group going down 300 and they decided to assist by coming up 315 from the opposite side.
COS80 and I reached the 320/315 intersection and found that the Jeep owners (man, woman, teen daughter) had left the stuck Jeep and walked 1.5 miles to the 320 road! We loaded them in our rigs and drove down to the stuck Jeep. It was on the shelf portion and the rear had started to slip off downhill. He had attempted to winch, but due to the line angle he continued to slip the rear downhill and decided (wisely) to stop.
While COS80 and I assessed the situation, the other group arrived on the far side of the stuck Jeep. We used shovels to pitch dirt/gravel from the downhill side upon the snowy uphill side under and in front of the passenger side tires. The Jeep owner asked me to drive it out, which I did. The family was relieved and grateful for the rescue. Due to the owner's inexperience (he said he bought the Jeep six months ago) I suggested they join one of the local Jeep-centered clubs (specifically Colorado Springs Christian 4-Wheelers) to get paired with an experienced mentor. Everyone was safe and sound, and we finally departed the mountain.
