My dad and I are down for meeting at North Portal.
Father's day camping at the Jemez
- Thread starter alia176
- Start date
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My dad and I are down for meeting at North Portal.
Thanks Jon and Ali, I should be able to find the camp location.
I am planning to leave sometime Friday afternoon. It could be 2pm or it could be after 5pm depending on meetings and other work things. Does scotch work instead of tequila in margaritas?
For those coming on Saturday, my plan is to return to Albuquerque on Saturday afternoon and pick up Ross after he is off work at 4pm and head back up to the camp area.
If anyone wants to caravan and those times work then call me on my cell. Four-5-three then 111 and then six. Otherwise I will be monitoring ML and simplex when we get in the canyon.
-Mike-
Just spoke with Ali on the Mega Link. He just arrived at the Williams camp. The route down from highway 4 is a little sketchy. The route up from Ponderosa might be better.
Rick
Rick
Thanks all; though we didn't make it to "the site", we had a great site, and enjoyed a relaxing weekend. Were the bugs up there as bad as they were at our site? Only the dog suffered four or five bites, but man were they swarmin.
Edited by Becca to say: That was Frobuster, not Becca. The problem with sharing computers.
Edited by Becca to say: That was Frobuster, not Becca. The problem with sharing computers.
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alia176
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #65
Hmm, what happened to you guys?
We just got back home from the Jemez. We had a great time and the weather was nice. The nights were cool (cold Friday night) and the days were not too hot. Saturday night dinner had a good turnout with everyone contributing to the "pork" fest
Unfortunately Mike and Ross showed up around 8 pm and by that time we were all digesting and nodding off. Margaritas came out at noon and went off and on 'till dinner time. 
This was a great father's day outing if I do say so myself. We managed to go from our house to the camping site with very little hwy travel. Our route took us from Tijeras to Cochiti Lake then straight to the Jemez, hwy 4. The trail from the lake to hwy 4 had some rough spots, washouts but quite doable with a high clearance 4x4. Lots of the drain pipes were unburied and some of those were challenging to climb with a trailer. We need to do that trail as a club run I'm thinking.
As always, the kids had a great time. We need to do this again soon. Thanks everyone for coming out to camp.
Hmm, what happened to you guys?
The cruiser was packed and ready to go, but had almost no brakes! We didn't want to risk it with a 1/4 of it's normal braking. So saturday was spent replacing the MC and while we were in there we replaced all the soft brake lines. Looks like you guys had a nice time and great weather.
Excellent weekend.
I am really sorry Ron and Becca. I didn't imagine the road at the south end would be that bad. I am glad you both still had some good camping. I was looking forward to seeing you both.
for the rest, pics are forthcoming.
for the rest, pics are forthcoming.
PICS!
the big trench in the trail from the north end. the pics really make it look smaller than reality. and the tracks next to it are from atv's(very narrow). the last one is my lovely wife next to the monster.
the big trench in the trail from the north end. the pics really make it look smaller than reality. and the tracks next to it are from atv's(very narrow). the last one is my lovely wife next to the monster.
It was a great weekend for parents, pets, and kids alike (single men, too, I think); we really need to do that more often.
Shawn, Jon and Mike, my route worked out--the switchbacks up to the ridge weren't on the old road, ATVs made their own and it was steeper than the old road and rough/rutted in spots. I even locked the rear diff once because I was spinning tires and filling the truck with dust. But it was short, then it hit a really good road and bombed down it--until we found ourselves inside a FS road closure. ATVs had routes around on both sides, but I know I couldn't have made one of them and the other was sketchy too. So then I checked the gate and the lock wasn't actually locking the gate. We opened/closed it and hit the pavement at 3:05, so turned out to be much faster than the route I came in. I hope your exit was uneventful.
Shawn, Jon and Mike, my route worked out--the switchbacks up to the ridge weren't on the old road, ATVs made their own and it was steeper than the old road and rough/rutted in spots. I even locked the rear diff once because I was spinning tires and filling the truck with dust. But it was short, then it hit a really good road and bombed down it--until we found ourselves inside a FS road closure. ATVs had routes around on both sides, but I know I couldn't have made one of them and the other was sketchy too. So then I checked the gate and the lock wasn't actually locking the gate. We opened/closed it and hit the pavement at 3:05, so turned out to be much faster than the route I came in. I hope your exit was uneventful.
kids playing, Kian and Isabella sharing some fruit, and Mike at the trench with Jon spotting.
last one is my improvised hitch. I forgot in our haste to leave, to switch my receiver hitch to the pintle. chain though the lunette and receiver, and 2 safety back ups of ratchet straps. upon getting back to my tow rig, I found a broken link on the chain. it held just long enough to get back.
Looks like a great time. Was the trench the same one we hauled the tree into? The one the FJ Cruiser fell in the night Rory broke down?
Looks like it was a fun trip, thanks for the pics...
Daisy
Daisy
look close and you can see it in the background.
The trench was just down from where we installed the log. Like Shawn said, you can see our log in his pic.
alia176
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #79
Nice pics Shawn!
For the new members, this is the spot where a FJC fell into a giant hole during a xmas tree run of '07. It has been filled in since then but the trail down hill from that location still has a giant wash out. We rolled two logs into it and then drove over it. You can see the stuck FJC in the back ground.
More pics and a video of this area and the stuck FJC are at:
Paliza Tree run rescue Dec 2007 pictures by alia176 - Photobucket
We entered the trail from the north entrance off of Hwy 4 and then exited it via the southern exit, through the town of Ponderosa. After running the entire loop with the offroad camper trailer, I'm glad that no one tried to run the trail with a low clearance popup trailer. Even if you had done a spring over, you'd still be dragging it. In some spots, the width would have been a detriment as well. On one particular creek crossing I dragged my hitch, which is an unusual occurrence for my 80, but the departure was very steep.
On the first pic that Shawn posted where he is standing in the ditch, we stayed on the trail to the left as we headed uphill and with careful spotting by Michele, we were able to go up the trail. Most of the folks took a bypass around this section using an ATV trail that paralleled this trail. Unfortunately, this bypass had its own danger that Mike and the guys can explain fully.
I think a club day at this location to rebuild this section is in order.
While this trail is not particularly super difficult, it does require a fair amount of careful driving to avoid running into logs and axle/diff eater rocks (for lower rigs). You're constantly running over small rocks and some rocks the size of bowling balls. The ATV folks cut the downed trees barely wide enough for their vehicles, not for a full size 4x4. So, you have to extra careful spotting your 4x4 around these trees (think sidewall gash). The tank traps which are basically huge berms made of dirt to control water erosion can be rather steep. In other words, imagine climbing a pipe with a diam of four feet and then go down the other side.
Before leaving the camp site on Sunday, we moved our Thule box from the top of the 80 to the top of the camper based on the feedback that we rec'd from Mike and Jon. This was in fact an excellent move on our part and the 80 cleared the downed tree by merely two inches. Our two Thule cross bars scraped this tree but a cargo box wouldn't have made it. We would have either had to cut the tree with a bow saw or remove the box on the trail. I think this tree will be gone by the time we return to Paliza via the Southern entrance.
The down hill trip from the camp site to Ponderosa took 1.5 hours on Sunday and I was in 4Low, 1st or 2nd gear the entire time.
Let's do it again soon!
For the new members, this is the spot where a FJC fell into a giant hole during a xmas tree run of '07. It has been filled in since then but the trail down hill from that location still has a giant wash out. We rolled two logs into it and then drove over it. You can see the stuck FJC in the back ground.
More pics and a video of this area and the stuck FJC are at:
Paliza Tree run rescue Dec 2007 pictures by alia176 - Photobucket
We entered the trail from the north entrance off of Hwy 4 and then exited it via the southern exit, through the town of Ponderosa. After running the entire loop with the offroad camper trailer, I'm glad that no one tried to run the trail with a low clearance popup trailer. Even if you had done a spring over, you'd still be dragging it. In some spots, the width would have been a detriment as well. On one particular creek crossing I dragged my hitch, which is an unusual occurrence for my 80, but the departure was very steep.
On the first pic that Shawn posted where he is standing in the ditch, we stayed on the trail to the left as we headed uphill and with careful spotting by Michele, we were able to go up the trail. Most of the folks took a bypass around this section using an ATV trail that paralleled this trail. Unfortunately, this bypass had its own danger that Mike and the guys can explain fully.
I think a club day at this location to rebuild this section is in order.
While this trail is not particularly super difficult, it does require a fair amount of careful driving to avoid running into logs and axle/diff eater rocks (for lower rigs). You're constantly running over small rocks and some rocks the size of bowling balls. The ATV folks cut the downed trees barely wide enough for their vehicles, not for a full size 4x4. So, you have to extra careful spotting your 4x4 around these trees (think sidewall gash). The tank traps which are basically huge berms made of dirt to control water erosion can be rather steep. In other words, imagine climbing a pipe with a diam of four feet and then go down the other side.
Before leaving the camp site on Sunday, we moved our Thule box from the top of the 80 to the top of the camper based on the feedback that we rec'd from Mike and Jon. This was in fact an excellent move on our part and the 80 cleared the downed tree by merely two inches. Our two Thule cross bars scraped this tree but a cargo box wouldn't have made it. We would have either had to cut the tree with a bow saw or remove the box on the trail. I think this tree will be gone by the time we return to Paliza via the Southern entrance.
The down hill trip from the camp site to Ponderosa took 1.5 hours on Sunday and I was in 4Low, 1st or 2nd gear the entire time.
Let's do it again soon!
I have driven Paliza maybe 10 times over the years, mostly in the snow and maybe once in the spring and once in the fall. IMHO, it is quickly becoming an ATV trail and as David pointed out, this is probably the last summer anyone will have legal access to the trail.
Due to Ross's work schedule, I ended up doing Paliza twice this weekend. The first time was going up from Ponderosa in the dark on Friday night. Fortunately, Ron and Becca chose to select a camp site close to the trail entrance. That turned out to be a good decision on Ron's part. Going up Paliza alone, in the dark, in the summer was spooky. At the lower end, the trail looks NOTHING like it used to and I really think the creek has moved to the old road in many places toward the lower section. The summer growth has narrowed the trail considerably but it looks worse at night than during the day. I got to the campsite around 10pm and Ron and I left the North Portal at 7:30pm. We had about a 15 minute delay in the middle of Jemez Pueblo. [Sorry Becca and Ron.
] Rusty and I slept in the truck the first night.
I left around noon on Saturday to pick up Ross after work and went back down to the lower entrance. We had talked to Jon on the HAM so we knew he was on the way up from the bottom. Ross was really looking forward to driving this time and to getting a chance to play with some adult toys besides our Ruger .22 revolver. We left the house around 5:30pm and went in through the upper entrance. It was about 9 or 9:30pm when we hit camp. He drove the whole way and we took the ATV bypass around the washout area pictured above. I spotted him through the bypass and we narrowly (1/16") missed what could have been a nasty gash down the passenger side. That bypass is not 80-friendly so I chose to take a spot going back through the washout on the way out on Sunday. I have a few pics to post when I get them off the camera.
Sean, Jon, and David gave me some firearm safety and shooting lessons on Sunday. Ross has been shooting with a friend so he is much better and much more experience than I am. It was a great opportunity to try out different sized semi-automatic firearms shooting different sized shells and the group had a variety of pistols to experiment with.
Without getting too mushy, I want to let everyone in the group know how much these type of outings mean to me right now. All the guys and the ladies are helping me through a rough time in my life and making it much easier than it would be without your help. Ross and I had a wonderful Father's Day that he and I will both cherish forever. Thanks everyone!
-Mike-
Due to Ross's work schedule, I ended up doing Paliza twice this weekend. The first time was going up from Ponderosa in the dark on Friday night. Fortunately, Ron and Becca chose to select a camp site close to the trail entrance. That turned out to be a good decision on Ron's part. Going up Paliza alone, in the dark, in the summer was spooky. At the lower end, the trail looks NOTHING like it used to and I really think the creek has moved to the old road in many places toward the lower section. The summer growth has narrowed the trail considerably but it looks worse at night than during the day. I got to the campsite around 10pm and Ron and I left the North Portal at 7:30pm. We had about a 15 minute delay in the middle of Jemez Pueblo. [Sorry Becca and Ron.
] Rusty and I slept in the truck the first night.I left around noon on Saturday to pick up Ross after work and went back down to the lower entrance. We had talked to Jon on the HAM so we knew he was on the way up from the bottom. Ross was really looking forward to driving this time and to getting a chance to play with some adult toys besides our Ruger .22 revolver. We left the house around 5:30pm and went in through the upper entrance. It was about 9 or 9:30pm when we hit camp. He drove the whole way and we took the ATV bypass around the washout area pictured above. I spotted him through the bypass and we narrowly (1/16") missed what could have been a nasty gash down the passenger side. That bypass is not 80-friendly so I chose to take a spot going back through the washout on the way out on Sunday. I have a few pics to post when I get them off the camera.
Sean, Jon, and David gave me some firearm safety and shooting lessons on Sunday. Ross has been shooting with a friend so he is much better and much more experience than I am. It was a great opportunity to try out different sized semi-automatic firearms shooting different sized shells and the group had a variety of pistols to experiment with.
Without getting too mushy, I want to let everyone in the group know how much these type of outings mean to me right now. All the guys and the ladies are helping me through a rough time in my life and making it much easier than it would be without your help. Ross and I had a wonderful Father's Day that he and I will both cherish forever. Thanks everyone!
-Mike-
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