I'd like to Run Moody Hill & Crystal Mountain Saturday July 12th. So far I believe there are 3 people interested (including myself)... Ziad (reapur) and Steve (not sure if he has a screen name). This trail is a little farther North than alot of trails we have run - basically it is west of Ft. Collins / Loveland Area. Masonville is a small town that isn't too far from the trailhead. Here's a map link to Masonville so you can get an idea of where this trail is.

I ran this trail once a few years back - and if I remember right, there are some challenging spots- but most obstacles have an easier line. Here are some pics from that trip. Ziad also has some pics of his trips up Crystal Mountain located here.

A meeting time and place TBD. This will be a day run for me, but I'm sure if people wanted to camp - they could.

So, anyone else interested?

John

 

The Brown family can probably make it.

 

I'm off Sat. I can go!!!!! I may even have a passenger.

I know very little about it. Tell me where to be when and i'm 95% certain i'll be there.

What does anyone know about camping in Roosevelt NF and Big Thompson Canyon? It might be better for me to camp Fri. night rather than come 100+ miles to the trail in the early morning.

 

Matt,

That would be great if you could make it. I'll post a meeting place and time later today.

So is this potential passenger a certain female you met the other night?

As far as camping - I'm not sure but you might want to email Darren, that guy seems to have camped just about everywhere, or Ziad (reapur on ODW) or Sam (sportrunner on ODW) they both live up in Ft. Collins so they might know some spots.


John

 

MEETING TIME & PLACE:

TIME: 9:00 A.M. - Leave for trailhead at 9:30
PLACE: Masonville - At the corner of County Road 38E and North County Road 27 - There is a general store at this intersection.

Directions: From Denver area: Take I-25 North to the Highway 34 exit West towards Loveland - (Exit 257B) . Drive approx 10.1 miles - Go North on County Road 27. Drive approx 5.2 miles. to the "T" intersection of CR27 and CR38. The general store is located at this intersection.

CB Channel: 4

Sam (sportrunner) hooked me up with these maps:

Map to Masonville:

Click for bigger pic.

Topo (with GPS coords.) of Trail Head:

Click for bigger pic.


Please let me know if you are coming for sure.

John

 

 

How difficult is this trail?

If it's not too difficult and we get an early start, it will be cool enough for my engine.

 

Can you do this in a stock truck?

 

I would say, if you do join us, come at his own risk. For a group to have to stop a lot on a run because someone's vehicle is having unexpected problems is one thing. If the problems are known up front, that's another.

I am not saying don't come. But you might want to ask John how risky it would be to drive that trail alone if you had to.

 

I posed this question to Sam - who has run it stock... Here is his reply:

"Yeah, a stock one can do it. If they have running boards then they may have some problems half way up Crystal. I did both of them when mine was stock (no lift and crappy Dunlop's and no locker). Steve, Ziads friend, has also done it and he was stock. Half way up Crystal there is a section that is tough. I had to go all the way to left (going up) and then turn hard right in the trees. Coming down through this section is tricky also. I got one of the rear tires to lift as I was going down. The main thing is that they take their time and ask for help if they need it. I would recommend a locker for the stock vehicles and also a trailer hitch."

Here are pictures of that difficult section Sam mention above. The red 4Runner is Sam's (then stock) 4Runner. The bottom 2 pics are the "easier" line the top 2 are the "harder" line.

So - I'll let you make the decision. I do believe that Steve who is going with us is also in a stock 4Runner. EDIT: Steve has the stock locker.

John

 

rwmorrisonjr,

You have a 2001, so the Active TRAC should substitute for the locker. (It always does for me, though I've not done this trail yet.) Just make sure your center diff is locked.

 

I don't know what to expect on this one but I imagine that if someone has tons of trouble we can stack rocks as needed.

 

Great. I'm have to miss this one, have to fly to Norfolk for the Navy on Sunday. Let me know about the next run.

 

Stay tuned. From what I heard today, it sounds like they are putting something together for next weekend with Adrian from Wisconsin. Schedule permitting, Ann and I will be in on that one.

 

We had a great time - and glad everyon that said they would come managed to make it.

Crystal Mountain is a fun and challenging trail - and I don't think anyone was disappointed in choice of trail.

I thought we snapped more pictures than we did, but here are the images I did take.

And here is the panoramic atop crystal mountain

I have several video clips - but until I can figure out how to make these .avi files smaller I don't have the room to post them. Hopefully I'll figure it out in the next day or two.

Again,
it was fun - thanks for wheelin the day away with us!

John & Anna

 

Nice pics, John. It does look like a nice trail indeed.

Man, it seems to be tough getting Ziad and Steve out of the woodwork more than once a year! Guess I'll have to wait for August to see them again.

I would've joined, but I went up to Jackson, WY and the Tetons for an extended weekend with a few other guys from work.

 

Got any of the vids John? What you Anna showed me was awesome. I'm sure people would get a kick out of that.

 

Yeah - I have several video clips - I'm trying to figure out how to make them smaller or more web friendly.

I got some help on this subject on the thread I posted on the Off topic section about how to convert these files to smaler video files. I actually have a test clip of you in that thread which is here

So if all goes well, I'll post them tonight!

John

 

Ok, I downloaded a program that let me convert my videos to smaller more compressed clips. I'm still playing with the settings - but I think these are a fairly good trade off of file size versus video quality.


VIDEO CLIPS



John

 

Nice videos too, John. They all loaded immediately here (cable).

Was that the toughest obstacle on the trail? Just curious. Pretty cool.