Events/Trails LCDC 7 - Summer 2021 Official Thread

[indycole]

Tire question for you guys. I haven't run these trails in over 2 decades so don't really remember what they are like.
I have a set of P rated Michelin LTX AT2 tires. I am wondering how they would hold up to the rocks on the trails up there.
I have run several quite rocky trails around Vegas/AZ/Southern Utah with no issues but know that shale can be tough on tires.
Any thoughts on running these AT tires?

Thanks

I'd feel a lot better about Michelin LTX compared to the Dunlops. The trails are a little more chewed up than they used to be 10-20 years ago. Particularly, Mineral Creek (Lower Engineer) and Imogene are a little rougher. Poughkeepsie and Governor are a little easier due to a bypass for the Wall on Poughkeepsie and better maintenance on Governor.

A full size spare and patch kit would be a good idea.

 

[kcjaz]

That's great news. So far the only trail that we'll need to plan have an alternative plan for is Poughkeepsie due to the restoration work.

Are you saying Poughkeepsie will be closed or might be closed?

 

[indycole]

Are you saying Poughkeepsie will be closed or might be closed?

Might be closed. The forest service provided guidance that it would be open in time for the event but I imagine the timing will be close. It's one of the few trails that they don't actively clear in most years waiting for nature to do its thing.

We weren't able to run Poughkeepsie the last time we were in the San Juans which is a shame as it's a fan favorite for sure.

Edited to add the requisite "stay to the right" video of BBP.

 

[psnyman]

at 3:40 "honey, would you shut up"

 

[prharper]

I booked an extra accommodation in Ouray (ask me why over a few drinks). It's currently sold out for our dates. Will call them on Wed at 12 PM ET to cancel and hope this can help someone else out in LCDC.

http://www.ourayinn.com
We show you arriving on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 and staying in a Queen/Queen for 4 night(s).
4 nights
Contact Ouray Inn at:
120 W. 6th Ave - Ouray, CO 81427
Phone: 9703254445
Email: info@ourayinn.com
www.ourayinn.com
Kaytie & Christian



Look forward to meeting everyone in Ouray!

My reservation at the Ouray Inn is now canceled. Spoke with Christian, the owner, and he will hold it for anyone in our group for 24 hours. Tell him Paul sent you.

 

[HoovHartid]

Might be closed. The forest service provided guidance that it would be open in time for the event but I imagine the timing will be close. It's one of the few trails that they don't actively clear in most years waiting for nature to do its thing.

We weren't able to run Poughkeepsie the last time we were in the San Juans which is a shame as it's a fan favorite for sure.

Edited to add the requisite "stay to the right" video of BBP.

from the san juan mountain trail fb group;

**Poughkeepsie Gulch Trail is OPEN for the season!!**
I would like to thank the volunteers from the Western Slope 4 Wheelers who have worked many hours to get this trail open and the multiple hours to keep it open for the public! We hope you all get to enjoy this trail this summer!

We however, would like to let the public know that we found more trail damage this year. We found several sets of new SxS and at least one full sized vehicle with aggressive mud terrain tires that bypassed the bottom gate in an attempt to run the trail. They apparently turned around when they ran into snow, as we did not find any tracks in the snow from them. The damage can be seen from a satellite map from last year at N 37° 57.233 W 107° 37.591. This has prompted the USFS to look at relocating the lower gate closer to the trail head to prevent this from happening again. The WS4W did drag a bunch of trees across the access spot to this in an attempt to block future people from crossing the Uncomphagre River at that spot. If you have any knowledge on who damaged this land and accessed a closed trail prior to its opening, we ask you to contact Officer Stone with the USFS in Montrose at this number 970-240-5300.

 

[indycole]

Thanks for the update! The "it's open" part is great news. The trail damage is not.

 

[dntlflosstycoon]

With OnX Off-road being a Spencer, I was wondering if they had any LCDC deals. I think they have a general 30% off now to July 7th but thought they might do something for LCDC.

I work at onX and will be joining you all in Ouray. We will be offering all LCDC '21 drivers a free six-month subscription to the Offroad product. A little closer to the event we will send individual promotion codes by email to each driver, so please stay tuned!

 

[radman]

The work part of my trip got postponed, and now I’m not tied to being near Denver. Im considering heading over to Ouray and can easily adjust my dates to coincide with LCDC. Few questions:
- you guys let LXs join or youz LC purists?
- the website says the event is sold out, and I don’t see how to join the waitlist. Is the group being limited due to Covid?

 

[Markuson]

The work part of my trip got postponed, and now I’m not tied to being near Denver. Im considering heading over to Ouray and can easily adjust my dates to coincide with LCDC. Few questions:
- you guys let LXs join or youz LC purists?
- the website says the event is sold out, and I don’t see how to join the waitlist. Is the group being limited due to Covid?

I’m not in charge… but here are a couple of basic answers…

LXs have always been welcome…so no worries there.
Last year it was further opened to include even non 200 LC series such as 100 series, etc.

The registration cap isn’t a Covid thing. That capped number is still the largest LCDC number ever…
Group size is limited simply due to logistical basics including trail group size regulations, and the feasibility of creating reasonable gatherings in the small town of Ouray (& its small neighboring communitues). -Its also to avoid overwhelming its numerous (but traffic-limited) trails.

Not sure about the waiting list at this point, but individual cancelations do happen… So stay tuned.

 

[indycole]

The work part of my trip got postponed, and now I’m not tied to being near Denver. Im considering heading over to Ouray and can easily adjust my dates to coincide with LCDC. Few questions:
- you guys let LXs join or youz LC purists?
- the website says the event is sold out, and I don’t see how to join the waitlist. Is the group being limited due to Covid?

Yeah, Mark is spot-on. We closed the waitlist in mid-June with only a few folks making it in, unfortunately. Our attendee list is effectively locked at this point due to USFS/BLM permitting and insurance reasons.

All that said, I imagine quite a few folks will be in the area all week. We run official trails Thursday-Saturday but there will be a lot of pre-running going on during the first half of the week.

 

[radman]

Cool cool. I don’t think my family would have been up for several full days of trails, but maybe just 1 or 2 runs. Out of curiosity, how big is the group?

 

[indycole]

Cool cool. I don’t think my family would have been up for several full days of trails, but maybe just 1 or 2 runs. Out of curiosity, how big is the group?

Nearly 100 trucks this year but we break into groups of no larger than 10 each day.

 

[Oakleyguy]

Going legit this year.

Ham License test scheduled for this Sunday!

 

[unclemat]

I just cancelled reservation at Ridgway State Park. I forgot I made it before I snatched one at Amphitheater. Maybe somebody in need here can grab it.

 

[kcjaz]

I made the mistake of showing my wife the Black Bear Pass video with the the German woman freaking out. What was humorous to me was not funny to my wife. She’s never been on a serious trail ever and is a flat lander, as am I. so the images of the vertical exposed is wigging her out. then she saw the link to the vid of the jeep rolling down the side and, well, let’s just say that didn’t help matters.

There was never any plan to take her along for Black Bear. I knew that would be to much for her. But what I didn’t understand is that now she thinks I’m going to die on this trail and star in the next BBP YouTube video.

I’m trying to convince her that this is not a completely reckless thing to do. Yes, there is some element danger and risk and doing it is not as safe not doing it but 1000s of vehicles have done this since the 1960s without people dying. I doubt there are numbers on BBP accidents but my guess that the fatality rate is less than I70 to Denver from KC or at least better than general vehicle traffic fatality rates.

I will say that I expect myself to have a high degree of pucker with some of the exposure. I am also pretty new to real wheeling. Last years LCDC was my first event and I loved it. Doing the runs with a group of other 200s was a great way to learn and seeing exactly what the truck in front of me did gave me confidence that yes, my 200 will fit through there or can make the turn or whatever. While the exposure will be unnerving, I don’t see the switch backs as really technically difficult. While I have not wheeled like this for years, I’m pretty confident there isn’t anything on BBP I can’t handle. Am I letting my “want to” cloud my judgement?

Any ideas on how to convince my wife that this isn’t just a reckless and crazy thing to do? The challenge here is that emotion trumps rational logic every time.

 

[codyaustin5]

I made the mistake of showing my wife the Black Bear Pass video with the the German woman freaking out. What was humorous to me was not funny to my wife. She’s never been on a serious trail ever and is a flat lander, as am I. so the images of the vertical exposed is wigging her out. then she saw the link to the vid of the jeep rolling down the side and, well, let’s just say that didn’t help matters.

There was never any plan to take her along for Black Bear. I knew that would be to much for her. But what I didn’t understand is that now she thinks I’m going to die on this trail and star in the next BBP YouTube video.

I’m trying to convince her that this is not a completely reckless thing to do. Yes, there is some element danger and risk and doing it is not as safe not doing it but 1000s of vehicles have done this since the 1960s without people dying. I doubt there are numbers on BBP accidents but my guess that the fatality rate is less than I70 to Denver from KC or at least better than general vehicle traffic fatality rates.

I will say that I expect myself to have a high degree of pucker with some of the exposure. I am also pretty new to real wheeling. Last years LCDC was my first event and I loved it. Doing the runs with a group of other 200s was a great way to learn and seeing exactly what the truck in front of me did gave me confidence that yes, my 200 will fit through there or can make the turn or whatever. While the exposure will be unnerving, I don’t see the switch backs as really technically difficult. While I have not wheeled like this for years, I’m pretty confident there isn’t anything on BBP I can’t handle. Am I letting my “want to” cloud my judgement?

Any ideas on how to convince my wife that this isn’t just a reckless and crazy thing to do? The challenge here is that emotion trumps rational logic every time.

Black bear is not a challenging trail. There are much more intimidating trails there. BB has 2 spots that you should have a spotter for and other than lots of switchbacks it’s fine. As long as you are focused, aware of your surroundings and follow the trail leader you’ll be fine. Folks who are not familiar with mountain and shelf roads can definitely feel the challenge which is my biggest takeaway after doing this for so long and living in CO my whole life. People may be experienced in their neck of the woods but a little different in the mountains. That’s why we have good trail leaders and spotters. Highly recommend BB though.

 

[wiseinvestor]

Any ideas on how to convince my wife that this isn’t just a reckless and crazy thing to do? The challenge here is that emotion trumps rational logic every time.

I will bite.
Got yourself in a pickle.

Logic helps your brain but experience calms emotions. That's how we drive on highways, cross streets, and fly commercial in spite of the videos that suggest we shouldn't.
You're not going to be able to logic away her feelings or provide her the experience for her to do it herself.

You might consider validating her emotions and then reassure her it will be ok.

All that being said... some people just don't like roller coasters. And that is ok too. Good Luck!

I got my marriage counseling license from the same place I got my professional off-road wheeling certificate.... which is to say I don't have one!

 

[Romer]

It it makes her feel better, I took my wife who hates wheeling and she wasnt scared. The video makes it look worse than it is

Also, I do this trail a lot and my daughters do it with me in their own vehicles and have been for years

My youngest in her 100 series.

My oldest in her last vehicle a 4runner. She now has a GX470 that she is bringing to LCDC this summer. This is the only real place you need a spot. Its a 3 point turn. You essentially back up almost to the wall turning so your end up headed to the right and down. The spotter makes sure you dont go to far forward. Everything else is fairly easy as long as you are paying attention and following the vehicle in front of you

Rule for wheeling when your learning. Keep your eyes on the spotter. Do what he/she says. Stop and ask clarification if it isnt clear.

BTW were the vehicles in those videos jeeps ?

There really isnt anything to worry about unless you are unable to follow the vehicle in front of you, don't do what your spotter says and wont ask for help when you are uncomfortable

 

[montegofd3s]

Start easy...after a few days she will be more comfortable. IMO black bear has one main pucker factor, and with a good trail lead (like Chris pictured below) it is fine. My wife was the same for our first trip with the 100s in the Hills crew back in 2015. She took this picture because she felt more comfortable walking this section. No harm in that since like you we are from flat (maybe more swampy) grounds, and she now loves going to CO for LC events.