mizedog
08-10-2009, 09:37 AM
Well, I took the XJ on it's second official trail run with me as an owner. I took the family on the Miners' Loop run here in Colorado. This started and ended in the ghost town of St. Elmo and includes three passes over 12,000 feet in elevation:
Hancock Pass
Cumberland Pass
Tincup Pass
We saw the Allie Bell storage building which looks ready to fall, two old RR watertanks (one was collapsed, but the stand was was still up), what's left of the Alpine Tunnel, the "ghost" town of Tincup, and Mirror Lake. Most of the road is on old train beds. It was kind of cool to imagine you were on a train in 1881. You could even see some of the old telegraph cable poles (just like the robbers used to cut to keep victims from sounding the alarm. Some with cable still dangling.
The whole trip thing would have to be rated as easy. I did the first 5-8 miles in 2wd, high range. Going up Tincup Pass trail pass Mirror Lake we had some small rocks, but nothing difficult. There was a bone stock ZJ on street tires in the group (driver was probably 75) and he did great!
I'll definitely get back up there, but with a smaller group that can take the time to explore the old cabins and mines. Our group was so large that we felt rushed through.
My XJ did fine. The 4.56 gear let me stay comfortably in 2wd for miles. However, I REALLY missed the option of locking in 2nd gear when in 4lo. The Turbo 400 in my old CJ did this flawlessly and was a used much more than 1st. Unfortunatly, the XJ's AW4 drove me crazy. I was either crawling slower than anyone else, or riding the breaks to keep from dashing down the trail. One day, I'll have to get the Baja shifter upgrade.
I'll add picturest to this thread this evening. In the mean time, www.traildamage.com gives great info on these trails.
Hancock Pass
Cumberland Pass
Tincup Pass
We saw the Allie Bell storage building which looks ready to fall, two old RR watertanks (one was collapsed, but the stand was was still up), what's left of the Alpine Tunnel, the "ghost" town of Tincup, and Mirror Lake. Most of the road is on old train beds. It was kind of cool to imagine you were on a train in 1881. You could even see some of the old telegraph cable poles (just like the robbers used to cut to keep victims from sounding the alarm. Some with cable still dangling.
The whole trip thing would have to be rated as easy. I did the first 5-8 miles in 2wd, high range. Going up Tincup Pass trail pass Mirror Lake we had some small rocks, but nothing difficult. There was a bone stock ZJ on street tires in the group (driver was probably 75) and he did great!
I'll definitely get back up there, but with a smaller group that can take the time to explore the old cabins and mines. Our group was so large that we felt rushed through.
My XJ did fine. The 4.56 gear let me stay comfortably in 2wd for miles. However, I REALLY missed the option of locking in 2nd gear when in 4lo. The Turbo 400 in my old CJ did this flawlessly and was a used much more than 1st. Unfortunatly, the XJ's AW4 drove me crazy. I was either crawling slower than anyone else, or riding the breaks to keep from dashing down the trail. One day, I'll have to get the Baja shifter upgrade.
I'll add picturest to this thread this evening. In the mean time, www.traildamage.com gives great info on these trails.