chinaman gulch trail run feb 12

vailTRD [OP] · 02-02-2012, 04:55 PM

for those who are interested there is a trail run in the works for chinaman gulch located just outside buena vista on sunday feb. 12

we will be meeting at the gunsmoke travel plaza located at 12950 US Hwy 24/285 buena vista, co 81211 at 10:00am
(if anyone feels this time or place needs to be adjusted feel free to speak up)

I have never run this trail but FJess and jimmy-buffet have expressed its difficulty and from what im gathering, i would suggest having a lift, 33"+ tires, belly protection, rock rails, etc.
good info on trail -> TrailDamage.com - Chinaman Gulch

attendees:
vailTRD
FJess
jimmy-buffet
FJeep
FJC Boulder- maybe
ocr14a- 'extremely slight maybe'

Quote:

jimmy-buffett previously said:

for people to get an idea of what the trail is like, here's my GPS+photos track from when I was there this summer.

Video Voyager for iPhone

**jimmy-buffett** · 02-02-2012, 09:31 PM

My take on Chinaman, for anyone who is iffy.

It's probably the hardest trail that I ever want to do in my FJ. Even if you're lifted/armored, spotting is essential in several sections on the trail.

I did it last year with a lift and no armor, and I'm happy to have the armor this year. Jess can speak to doing it on no lift and no armor. If you don't have rock rails, forget it. Expect to scrape your wheels unless you are super careful (I am, and I did).

At the same time, both of my profile photos are from Chinaman. This is an absolutely awesome place to take "holy cow look at what that FJ is doing" pics and videos. Including my favorite offroading pic of my truck:

This trail is 90% technical challenge and 10% scenery (I tend to favor the scenic trails), so if you'd like to see what your FJ can do when pushed to its limit, this is the place to do it.

**FJess** · 02-02-2012, 11:34 PM

Yep, this is a tough one. One of the few trails I've been on where I thought the TrailDamage.com rating was too low. I'm kind of hoping to have a China Wall experience again where I return to a trail lifted (and with a bit more experience in the FJC) and wonder what the big deal was. I kind of doubt it on this trail though.

If I have enough approach angle now (I doubt it), I might give the left side of the whale tail a shot. Of course, even if I get my front tires on it I'm not sure I have the break over yet without 35s.

I've been dieing to get back here since the first run and can't wait to do it again...we're going to have fun!*

* As long as it's relatively snow free. There's one particular off-camber downhill spot on the back of the loop that would be extremely dangerous if it's slick. It's bad enough dry.

**ocr14a** · 02-03-2012, 09:42 AM

Sandi might be out of the shop by then. So, we're an extremely slight maybe.
With all of this snow we're getting, and with how difficult you guys say it normally is, I wonder if we could even make it through on the 12th.

Does this trail offer the possibility of getting so far, finding you can't make it, and turning around to go back the way you came in?

FJC Boulder · 02-03-2012, 10:23 AM

Quote:

FJess previously said:

Yep, this is a tough one. One of the few trails I've been on where I thought the TrailDamage.com rating was too low.
Yes, this is the toughest trail I've done to date. Buena Vista has been dry but after this storm who knows. BV is west of the divide from this storm so everyone could luck out, plus the run is a week away for the snow to melt out. If there is any snow coverage at all on Chinamans there's a good chance for body damage (ie: sliding sideways into one of the many boulders to navigate).

If I have enough approach angle now (I doubt it), I might give the left side of the whale tail a shot. Of course, even if I get my front tires on it I'm not sure I have the break over yet without 35s.

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/4553/img0493.png
I did the line (split the "V") directly over where the one guy is standing and the other is sitting. I had 33's then and made it up and over, I'm now running 35's and just had my rig re-geared to 4:88's with an ARB up front so I would be very interested to see how my rig handles Chinamans now.

I've been dieing to get back here since the first run and can't wait to do it again...we're going to have fun!*

* As long as it's relatively snow free. There's one particular off-camber downhill spot on the back of the loop that would be extremely dangerous if it's slick. It's bad enough dry.
I know the spot you're talking about and yes it could be very sketchy wet

Not sure I can make it yet but hope to, we'll see what the weather has in store for next weekend

FJC Boulder · 02-03-2012, 10:29 AM

Quote:

ocr14a previously said:

Does this trail offer the possibility of getting so far, finding you can't make it, and turning around to go back the way you came in?

Yes and No, it's just technical from beginning to end and a good bit of it is just tight with very little turn around room. You can run Chinamans to the point that Carnage comes out onto Chinamans, then turn around and go back to the trailhead, but once you're on the loop section your probably better off just finishing the loop.

Side Note: to see the exit to Carnage is amazing, to look at it you would think that nothing could make it up and out of there, but there are rigs that do it. It's like looking at one of the wonders of the world, sheer rock walls with winch points everywhere.

**jimmy-buffett** · 02-03-2012, 10:44 AM

Quote:

FJC Boulder previously said:

Yes and No, it's just technical from beginning to end and a good bit of it is just tight with very little turn around room. You can run Chinamans to the point that Carnage comes out onto Chinamans, then turn around and go back to the trailhead, but once you're on the loop section your probably better off just finishing the loop.

"Technical from beginning to end" is probably the best description. You'll drive on a lot of trails where there's one or two hard spots, and there are definitely hardER spots on Chinaman, but there are long stretches of Chinaman where every 50 feet you'll need a spotter (especially on the entrance section).

The absolute hardest challenge is the whale tail (where I took the photo I posted above), so if you can get past that then you're fine. Also, there's plenty of room at that spot to turn around and leave if you need to.

**jimmy-buffett** · 02-03-2012, 10:46 AM

Quote:

FJess previously said:

* As long as it's relatively snow free. There's one particular off-camber downhill spot on the back of the loop that would be extremely dangerous if it's slick. It's bad enough dry.

I'm heading down there the night before for a Valentine's Day dinner in Buena Vista, I'll probably drive up to St Elmo during the day on Saturday 2/11. So I can give some kind of estimate of the snow on the ground in the area on Saturday, if nobody else goes up there before that.

**FJess** · 02-03-2012, 12:15 PM

Quote:

jimmy-buffett previously said:

I'm heading down there the night before for a Valentine's Day dinner in Buena Vista, I'll probably drive up to St Elmo during the day on Saturday 2/11. So I can give some kind of estimate of the snow on the ground in the area on Saturday, if nobody else goes up there before that.

That would be perfect! I might swing up there this weekend if I get bored, but that's a pretty remote possibility.

vailTRD [OP] · 02-05-2012, 11:36 AM

Quote:

jimmy-buffett previously said:

I'm heading down there the night before for a Valentine's Day dinner in Buena Vista, I'll probably drive up to St Elmo during the day on Saturday 2/11. So I can give some kind of estimate of the snow on the ground in the area on Saturday, if nobody else goes up there before that.

that would be awesome... i will go up there if i need to but its still like an hour and a half drive for me