Argentine Pass Cleanup Run 6/26/11

[nakman]

Just an update: Brant and I drove up as far as we could on Saturday, May 28th. The upper road was drifted/snowed in at our "Stay the Trail" sign. We didn't go all the way up the the lower road, but I'm guessing it would also have a lot of snow as it climbs up from the creek. There was a good amount of water flowing and the snow is melting fast. Tons of late melting snow this year. There were a lot of people camping in the spots close to the trailhead, so there's going to be trash to pick up. Thanks to everyone who is volunteering to go up I hope it's melted out at least to Waldorf by the 26th!

Wow, that seems low for snow.. guess we'll see what the next week brings. Anyone else who wants to camp on 6/11 the plan is pretty simple: drive up in the afternoon, find a spot, set up & do camping things. Sunday morning do a little snow run and see what kind of drifts we can open up, do our best to assess the area, then pick up trash on our way out.. report back our findings. I hope to get up there by 3:00 on Saturday, will have the radio on.

 

[MDH33]

Tim, I don't think you'll have any problem finding good camp sites along the lower road, and likely with some built rigs, you'll be able to snow bash all the way to Waldorf if you're up for it.

 

[nakman]

Tim, I don't think you'll have any problem finding good camp sites along the lower road, and likely with some built rigs, you'll be able to snow bash all the way to Waldorf if you're up for it.

If by built rig, you mean a 40 on 34" Swampers, sounds good!

 

[MDH33]

If by built rig, you mean a 40 on 34" Swampers, sounds good!

That would be fun, but I'm working weekends again. Let us know how it goes.

 

[bh4rnnr]

Wow, that seems low for snow.. guess we'll see what the next week brings. Anyone else who wants to camp on 6/11 the plan is pretty simple: drive up in the afternoon, find a spot, set up & do camping things. Sunday morning do a little snow run and see what kind of drifts we can open up, do our best to assess the area, then pick up trash on our way out.. report back our findings. I hope to get up there by 3:00 on Saturday, will have the radio on.

Tim,

Was planning on camping up there. I was going to go check out an old mining flume outside of Frisco but will plan on being at Argentine around 3pm.

 

[Beater]

will be in vegas. no, not getting married

 

[subzali]

bummer John, you gave a good safety speech last time. I'll have to try to remember the high points - food, water, sunscreen, sturdy shoes, altitude.

 

[Old40Dog]

Wow, that seems low for snow.. guess we'll see what the next week brings. Anyone else who wants to camp on 6/11 the plan is pretty simple: drive up in the afternoon, find a spot, set up & do camping things. Sunday morning do a little snow run and see what kind of drifts we can open up, do our best to assess the area, then pick up trash on our way out.. report back our findings. I hope to get up there by 3:00 on Saturday, will have the radio on.

See ya up there Friday PM Tim! Maiden voyage with the M416 rep trailer with the RTT on 31's. No problem, the "melt" is underway...

 

[MDH33]

See ya up there Friday PM Tim! Maiden voyage with the M416 rep trailer with the RTT on 31's. No problem, the "melt" is underway...

Tim, are you heading up Friday or Saturday? I was planning on stopping by on my rounds either late Saturday or early Sunday.

Dave, can't wait to see your finished trailer too!

 

[Old40Dog]

Tim, are you heading up Friday or Saturday? I was planning on stopping by on my rounds either late Saturday or early Sunday.

Dave, can't wait to see your finished trailer too!

Change of plans! Something has come up, so can't go this weekend. Still planning on the 25th/26th though.

 

[sank]

Ok, you guys getting home from the weekend fun, how did it go?

 

[nakman]

We were able to get pretty high up on the lower road, didn't see any snow until after the junction that I mentioned on the prior page. There were multiple Jeeps up there on Saturday bashing through drifts, they got to within about a half mile of meeting back up with the main Argentine pass road, but the last drift was pretty big. We scoped it out on Sunday... all the stuff they took all day bashing through was easy, with water flowing rapidly.. the last drift still pretty big though, it was early and we managed to winch Marco's 60 over it, there were a few more drifts ahead of it so we chose to turn around, rather than to risk getting further stuck up there. But I suspect by next weekend it's clear to the Waldorf mine, by 10:00 it was downright hot feeling, and the snow is melting fast.

The one "closed" road we spent so much time barricading last year, just after the first deep river crossing, has been opened again.. the Adopt-a-Road sigh is nicely in tact, didn't see any other crazy trash items.. though did manage to pick up a few extra cans and bottles from our camp site.

The river crossings where pretty easy, the later in the day, the deeper they'll get. Judging by the rocks that the kids were tossing in the night before at camp, I'd say the level of water changes about 8-10" during the day, it's highest in the evening.. and was flowing pretty fast at night.

 

[nakman]

Only other thing that really resonated from the weekend was the people we encountered- everyone was super cool. All the jeep groups talked to us, everyone smiling & waving, some kids on motorcycles camped just up the road would literally idle through our camp.. few folks we met on those Razor golf cart things also super nice- hopefully the public that's up there during the clean up in a couple weeks will be as friendly.

 

[bh4rnnr]

Looks like a fun weekend

Ready to get up there.

 

[subzali]

cool, thanks for the report Tim! So the water is overflowing the banks and flowing down the lower road for a bit right now too it looks like?

I forgot about the user-created route you guys blockaded last year; that will mean that we will have more to do than I thought. I'm still hoping that the snow is melted enough in 2 weeks so we can make it up to the Santiago Mine for lunch.

Sounds like we will have to shoot for a late summer/fall cleanup run as well to tie up any loose ends, plan next year's projects, and maybe even have a little more fun exploring!

 

[subzali]

see post #1 for meeting time/place details.

 

[Overlander]

Could I make it up there in my stock FZJ80 (with lockers) and a decent set of tires? Or is there a good chance I'll bust up my rocker panels trying to get through?!

I suppose I should at least remove the running boards...

 

[Jacket]

I think you'd do fine. The water crossings are super fun and make it well worth the trip up this time of year. The rest of the drive is just rocky dirt road with great views if you can make up to the mine.

 

[Overlander]

I think you'd do fine. The water crossings are super fun and make it well worth the trip up this time of year. The rest of the drive is just rocky dirt road with great views if you can make up to the mine.

Thanks Jacket - we're planning to be there.

 

[subzali]

Overlander, you are more than welcome to join us. Only caution about this trail is that there are some narrow sections on the lower road that might give your 80 a little Rocky Mountain pinstriping. But not bad. They're just willows. Oh, there are some mid-sized rocks too, but with some careful tire placement they should be no problem.

Everyone, check the first post again because I just added some more updates. Martin wanted me to add also that sturdy shoes/boots and gloves are required, so rustle some up and bring them with you!