The Utah members of TacomaWorld.com and the Utah Tacomas & Toyotas Facebook group held their first semi-official meet-up and trail run today. These guys have been enormously helpful to me with getting things done with my Tacoma, so hooking up for a sunny Sunday seemed like a no-brainer.
My first hint of a problem was when Jake and I showed up at the Cabela's parking lot in Lehi, only to find that everyone else who had arrived had at best a lifted Taco or 4Runner, or at worst one that was lifted and heavily modified for off-road use. As more folks arrived I was relieved to see some other stock models, only to have my optimism dashed when I realized that none of those folks were actually going on the trail run. Except for an upgrade to 17-inch wheels and some decent Mickey Thompson tires, my Tacoma is entirely stock. No lift, no lockers, no sliders...no nuttin'. I've done some moderate off-roading, but I'll readily admit that my skills are nascient and I can't really afford to break anything expensive.
This was going to be interesting.
We ended up with 15 vehicles heading up American Fork Canyon (for the unaware, that's basically the back of Snowbird and Alta). The whole group stopped at the end of the asphalt at Tibble Fork to air down our tires, and I opted for 20 psi.
Three decided to head up Mineral Basin to Snowbird. I was warned by an experienced member that he wouldn't even think of going up Mineral without sliders. That meant that I'd join the other 12 -- Tacomas, 4Runners, FJs and a vintage Land Cruiser -- by heading up to Forest Lake.
The Forest Lake trail begins with a ford of the American Fork River, followed quickly thereafter by what was for me the rock garden from hell. From what I'd heard I figured that the "Forest Lake Rut" would be the trail's crux. I was wrong. With some helpful spotting by Ben the worst thing that happened was that I landed my control arm on a big boulder. No harm, no foul.
I needed some spotting on a couple of other obstacles along the 1.7-mile trail to Forest Lake. Just before the lake we arrived at the infamous rut.
Aside from some water, mud and a seriously off-camber position that forced your driver's side toward a wall of dirt and rock, it really wasn't that bad. Here's how to do it on three wheels:
[facebookvideo]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152287447803922[/facebookvideo]
Jake and some other dogs swam in the lake while I enjoyed a couple of cold Sierra Nevadas. Folks grilled food or ate a packed lunch. We hung out at the lake for about an hour and a half before heading back down.
I took a few more hits on the descent -- my rear differential, more control arm contact, and more than a few drops onto the frame. But with no permanent damage it was a fait accompli.
Back onto U.S. Forest Service road 085, which runs along the floor of the canyon, I bid the rest of the group farewell and headed east as they went west. I passed the ghost town of Forest City and climbed Pole Line Pass before turning north on Cummings Parkway, another Forest Service road that drops down Snake Creek Canyon to the town of Midway. I thereafter headed back up from Midway to Bonanza Flats, then on to Guardsman Pass to drop into Big Cottonwood Canyon between Brighton and Solitude to head back home. When in the world did they pave the road from Midway to Bonanza Flats? Once I hit the pavement coming into Midway I kept my tires aired down, figuring that I'd be hitting washboard on the dirt climbing to Bonanza Flats, but as I climbed and climbed the asphalt never ended. Once I hit Bonanza Flats I pulled over and spent 15 minutes airing back up to 35 psi as Jake wandered around the countryside.
In the end I feel like I learned a lot today. It was definitely more difficult than I'd expected, and a whole lot more difficult than the trip up Mary Ellen Gulch in the same neighborhood last summer (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11066). That was just loose rubble, while Forest Lake had fixed boulders to negotiate. But like I said -- any day off-roading with no permanent damage is a good day.
I kept a GPS track on the day that can be viewed in Google Earth:
View attachment AF Canyon trail run 2014-06-22.kmz
My first hint of a problem was when Jake and I showed up at the Cabela's parking lot in Lehi, only to find that everyone else who had arrived had at best a lifted Taco or 4Runner, or at worst one that was lifted and heavily modified for off-road use. As more folks arrived I was relieved to see some other stock models, only to have my optimism dashed when I realized that none of those folks were actually going on the trail run. Except for an upgrade to 17-inch wheels and some decent Mickey Thompson tires, my Tacoma is entirely stock. No lift, no lockers, no sliders...no nuttin'. I've done some moderate off-roading, but I'll readily admit that my skills are nascient and I can't really afford to break anything expensive.
This was going to be interesting.
We ended up with 15 vehicles heading up American Fork Canyon (for the unaware, that's basically the back of Snowbird and Alta). The whole group stopped at the end of the asphalt at Tibble Fork to air down our tires, and I opted for 20 psi.
Three decided to head up Mineral Basin to Snowbird. I was warned by an experienced member that he wouldn't even think of going up Mineral without sliders. That meant that I'd join the other 12 -- Tacomas, 4Runners, FJs and a vintage Land Cruiser -- by heading up to Forest Lake.
The Forest Lake trail begins with a ford of the American Fork River, followed quickly thereafter by what was for me the rock garden from hell. From what I'd heard I figured that the "Forest Lake Rut" would be the trail's crux. I was wrong. With some helpful spotting by Ben the worst thing that happened was that I landed my control arm on a big boulder. No harm, no foul.
I needed some spotting on a couple of other obstacles along the 1.7-mile trail to Forest Lake. Just before the lake we arrived at the infamous rut.
Aside from some water, mud and a seriously off-camber position that forced your driver's side toward a wall of dirt and rock, it really wasn't that bad. Here's how to do it on three wheels:
[facebookvideo]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152287447803922[/facebookvideo]
Jake and some other dogs swam in the lake while I enjoyed a couple of cold Sierra Nevadas. Folks grilled food or ate a packed lunch. We hung out at the lake for about an hour and a half before heading back down.
I took a few more hits on the descent -- my rear differential, more control arm contact, and more than a few drops onto the frame. But with no permanent damage it was a fait accompli.
Back onto U.S. Forest Service road 085, which runs along the floor of the canyon, I bid the rest of the group farewell and headed east as they went west. I passed the ghost town of Forest City and climbed Pole Line Pass before turning north on Cummings Parkway, another Forest Service road that drops down Snake Creek Canyon to the town of Midway. I thereafter headed back up from Midway to Bonanza Flats, then on to Guardsman Pass to drop into Big Cottonwood Canyon between Brighton and Solitude to head back home. When in the world did they pave the road from Midway to Bonanza Flats? Once I hit the pavement coming into Midway I kept my tires aired down, figuring that I'd be hitting washboard on the dirt climbing to Bonanza Flats, but as I climbed and climbed the asphalt never ended. Once I hit Bonanza Flats I pulled over and spent 15 minutes airing back up to 35 psi as Jake wandered around the countryside.
In the end I feel like I learned a lot today. It was definitely more difficult than I'd expected, and a whole lot more difficult than the trip up Mary Ellen Gulch in the same neighborhood last summer (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11066). That was just loose rubble, while Forest Lake had fixed boulders to negotiate. But like I said -- any day off-roading with no permanent damage is a good day.
I kept a GPS track on the day that can be viewed in Google Earth:
View attachment AF Canyon trail run 2014-06-22.kmz
