Mt. Herman Rd. Passable?

[EricG]

Hey guys, anybody see this?
Driver Rescued After Jeep Flies Off Cliff - cbs4denver.com

 

[black95]

I had a friend of mine from Tennessee come to visit in his Jeep JK, while he was here I took him out on Rampart to show him around. What was weird was the way the washboards affected the Jeep's rear suspension........his Jeep would hop so bad it would get sideways, most of the time to an almost uncontrollable level, At what I thought were slow speeds. Don't know if it is because they are so light or if the coil springs were to "springy". Either way it was making me nervous.

Maybe this kid was moving too fast???

 

[Man Jerk]

I believe that the roadway caved beneath him.

Sounds like he is in intensive care and the outlook is not good.

 

[EricG]

More info: Mount Herman Road closed - Out There : Colorado Springs Gazette, CO

July 7th, 2009, 2:54 pm · Post a Comment · posted by scott rappold

Heavy rains have led to the closure of a 6-mile stretch of Mount Herman Road in Pike National Forest.

The U.S. Forest Service said the rough road west of Monument was washed out by rain in the past week, and it will take a month to repair. A vehicle slid off the washed-out portion last week, causing serious injuries to the driver, officials said.

The road is closed to vehicles from Red Rocks Drive west to Forest Service Road 315. Foot, bicycle and horse traffic are allowed.

http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=322383

 

[alteredvision]

I just went up that road last weekend because it is now open and not even 5 miles up I come across a Rang Rover on bald tires that has gone off the edge. He was "drifting" late at night coming down to the Monument side and he went over. The guys trying to do the rescue were trying to pull him up with tow straps and had no gear or a plan. I stopped and offered some help and another FJ Cruiser stopped with a winch that got it almost to the top but could not pull the weight of the Range rover over the top of the hill. We offered several times to go and get BLM or forest service and they would help. After trying to do all we could and several attempts and them refusing to do the right thing we left them. They had another full size truck coming up to help, and I hope they made it out.

Photos of the trail.

The road does have a lot of spots that are very tight and there were some very steep washed out sections. There is also a lot of traffic on this road so passing around blind corners is interesting.