Rollins Pass East

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I have some parts waiting to go on the Jeep, but lately I’ve just been enjoying it. Last weekend I headed out with John to check out Rollins Pass in Gilpin. We car camped on Saturday and then set out for what supposed to be an easy drive to a hiking trail head. Turns out that a late May snow storm left the last section of the road impassable. We ended up driving through a few snow drifts to get as far up the trail as possible.

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The snow pack was still entirely covering the road above Yankee Doodle lake. We might have tried it anyway, but the the steep dropoff into the lake convinced to go the rest of the way on foot. We ended up hiking to the old Needles Eye tunnel at the top of the pass.

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The way back turned into a more entertaining drive. The sun had softened the snow and each drift now included a truck buried to its axles in snow. I got to use the snatch strap for the first time and yanked a TJ out of the first drift. John got his turn on the second drift and snatched out a Yukon. I didn’t take any pictures of the recovery, but the video below includes some footage of us getting through the drifts. With a bit of momentum we both made it through fine.

 

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