Memorial Weekend Trail Run 5/28/16 - Caja del Rio

[iSkiBigLines]

I'm organizing a trail run on the Caja del Rio Plateau for Saturday, May 28, on Memorial Day weekend. I’m thinking that date allows us all to get in a cool trail run on Saturday, then get on to family/traveling/cookouts, etc., for the rest of Memorial Day weekend.


If you have been wanting to wheel on the Caja, but do not know your way around, this is your chance to get together with a group and experience it without having to explore for days to find the good parts. This run should last until about 4:30pm, without too many delays.


If it’s rainy/muddy, I’ll put this trail run off for another time.


Hoping to see Land Cruisers, FJ's, Jeeps, etc. My original post for this trail run is on FJ Cruiser Forums in the NM section: Memorial Weekend Trail Run 5/28/16 - Caja del Rio - Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum

Hopefully, we can get a good crew of people together for a good day of off-roading.


I will meet all vehicles at 9:30am at the intersection of Caja del Rio Road and Santa Fe County Rd 62 (Camino del Rey).

(Look on Google Maps – There are two separate turns for CR62 – one to the west and one to the east. We will meet at the CR62 turn-off to the west that is also signed as Camino del Rey – NOT at the CR62 intersection/turn-off to the east, which is labeled as Casa del Rio, at Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe Golf Course.

The CR62/ Camino del Rey intersection that we will meet at is about ½ mile north of the golf course on Caja del Rio Road.


I’ve been exploring out there quite a bit lately, so I have put together a pretty cool run with a few great out & back additions that includes good terrain and notable geographical landmarks. All terrain is accessible for a stock FJ Cruiser. I cleared a bunch of limbs off of a new technical trail that I found last weekend, so we now have access to a cool new out & back climb/descent.


We will end the trail run at the La Bajada climb/descent, which has 2 different exits- one is easy (stockers) and the other one will require a lifted vehicle, due to a burly rock garden. Each way down ends at the same area. From the bottom of La Bajada, we can all head home on I-25.


Feel free to message me with any questions. Please chime in with any suggestions, etc. Hope to see you all out there!

 

[jstncse]

I would like to make it but I will be in Mexico for Memorial Day.
Come down to Albuquerque the second Saturday of May for the monthly Coffee meeting and we will toss it around to get some interest going.

 

[iSkiBigLines]

I would like to make it but I will be in Mexico for Memorial Day.
Come down to Albuquerque the second Saturday of May for the monthly Coffee meeting and we will toss it around to get some interest going.

I'll see if I can be around for that meeting. Maybe I can come up with an excuse to hang out in Abq the night before.
I hope it doesn't bother anyone that I cross-post in these forums. I'm a long time lurker here and a former FZJ80 owner. I know Rory, Onur, Ali, etc. Just looking to see if I can get more fun people to wheel with when I go and keep other Toyota off-roaders in the loop, if I'm going out.
If this is not ok with you guys, just let me know.

 

[iSkiBigLines]

I went out Sunday (5/1/16) in the light rain and snow. The dirt out there turns into this crazy, gummy mud that will pack into even the biggest mud tires and leave them with a 1/2 inch of slick mud covering the tread. It wasn't raining or snowing heavy at all, yet it turned even the smoothest roads out there into the slickest, tread-filling mud.
I was with a buddy that was on his dirt bike. We thought we were going to have amazing, damp dirt. Even his knobby dirt bike tires were packed full of mud the whole time. The off-camber sections of road were nearly impossible for me to do, especially since I didn't have another vehicle along that could help with recovery.
Sorry I didn't get any photos to show how crazy it was!

Once the precipitation stopped, the trails became much less slick, so even a little rain the day before shouldn't hurt things.

Make sure to bring recovery gear and clothing for any possible weather.

I'm glad I was able to see this area in these conditions. It made me aware that this trail run should definitely be Rain/Mud permitting. Fortunately, I live close by, so I can get out to see the conditions the day before the trail run, if there happens to be any precipitation on days leading into the run.

So, this trail run will definitely be held on a WEATHER/MOISTURE PERMITTING basis. If anybody needs my phone number to call or text me the night before, or early the morning of the trail run, please PM me asking for my number.

 

[sl33p3]

yeow, thanks for the info! I think I'm out for that weekend, but have my fingers crossed you guys can pull it off, and maybe I can make a trip at a later date.

 

[alia176]

I went out Sunday (5/1/16) in the light rain and snow. The dirt out there turns into this crazy, gummy mud that will pack into even the biggest mud tires and leave them with a 1/2 inch of slick mud covering the tread. It wasn't raining or snowing heavy at all, yet it turned even the smoothest roads out there into the slickest, tread-filling mud.
I was with a buddy that was on his dirt bike. We thought we were going to have amazing, damp dirt. Even his knobby dirt bike tires were packed full of mud the whole time. The off-camber sections of road were nearly impossible for me to do, especially since I didn't have another vehicle along that could help with recovery.
Sorry I didn't get any photos to show how crazy it was!

Once the precipitation stopped, the trails became much less slick, so even a little rain the day before shouldn't hurt things.

Make sure to bring recovery gear and clothing for any possible weather.

I'm glad I was able to see this area in these conditions. It made me aware that this trail run should definitely be Rain/Mud permitting. Fortunately, I live close by, so I can get out to see the conditions the day before the trail run, if there happens to be any precipitation on days leading into the run.

So, this trail run will definitely be held on a WEATHER/MOISTURE PERMITTING basis. If anybody needs my phone number to call or text me the night before, or early the morning of the trail run, please PM me asking for my number.

What no pics? Come on.....

 

[Desert100]

It's nice up there when it's dry or just muddy in a few patches but I've been told by people who went when it was really wet that, due to conditions exactly as described above, they'll NEVER make that mistake again.

 

[BionicCruiser]

I did it wet in a stock '98 4runner the day after a good rain with O'Neil (if that tells you how long ago it was). packed mud into the wheel wells down to the tires. yes, it was just as slick and tread packing as you described. I had fun and wouldn't say I'd never do it again. but no hard sections like that.

 

[iSkiBigLines]

What no pics? Come on.....

Forgot the camera Plus getting out of the car sucked! My shoes would have an inch of mud caked to the bottom each time I stepped out.
Hope you can make it out, Ali. Still looking forward to wheeling with ya. I finally bought new tires last week!

 

[Dumpolina]

Thanks for putting this out there. If I'm around I might be in for your run. I'll know better as the date gets closer.

 

[kezamora]

I plan to go on the run.

 

[kezamora]

This sounds like the same area we covered on March 20th.

 

[iSkiBigLines]

I plan to go on the run.

Looking forward to seeing you there. Should be a good run.
I'm pretty sure we will use many of the same roads that you all drove on 3/20. I found and trimmed branches off of an unused rocky spur of trail out there, so that should be something new to see on this run.

 

[lurch]

Penciled...should be good for that date and will give me a chance to test the tune up on the LC

 

[kezamora]

I won't make it after all. Still trying to get the engine back into my truck.