Slaughter House Gulch Trail Colorado
With spring on it's way everyone was getting ready for the new season and just couldn't wait any longer, so a few members of On The Rocks decided to make a quick run up to Slaughterhouse Gulch.
Head South from Denver on U.S. 285 (approximately 24.5 miles from where US285 crosses under C470). There is a traffic light about 0.1 mile before you Crow Hill (N 39*26.275' W105*27.445'). The intersection is a bit odd, but it should be labeled as "Deer Creek" and/or Park County Road 43. Make 2 right turns in rapid succession effectively doubling-back on the direction you were headed on 285 (this will place you on Park County Road 43 headed Northeast). Stay on PC43 for 6.7 miles (PC43 will cross over Deer Creek and turn to a more Northwesterly direction). Turn left onto "Saddlestring Road" (N 39*29.876' W105*31.771' - If you get to the "Y" sign you've gone about 100' too far). Saddlestring Road is an improved residential dirt road with small ditches on both sides. Stay on Saddlestring Road for 0.2 miles (crossing the creek again) as the road bends to the left look for (and turn onto) Forest Service Road 101. Run on FSR101 for2.5 miles to the steel "Slaughterhouse Gulch, Crow Gulch" sign. This is as good of a place as any to take care of air and other chores.
Take the left fork to Crow Gulch for 1.1 miles to the Slaughterhouse Gulch sign. At the Slaughterhouse Gulch sign, turn right to run up a hill and into the trees. Stay on this trail for a while and you will come down into an open grassy area with a "T" intersection. For the most part, people call this "the lower end of Slaughterhouse Gulch". Turning left at the "T" runs into private property (and is quite closed and marked VERY well), so turn right at the T to complete the trail. There will be few small depressions along the way and some very shallow stream crossings, all of which are made more interesting with rain, snow, and/or snow-melt. At the top of a climb you will pass through a Forest Service gate (if it's closed, re close it once you have passed). You will descend a hill that seems quite long as you run back to the other end of the gulch to get back to the Slaughterhouse Gulch sign.
What a wonderful day it turned out to be, we had some fears that the trail would be in rough shape, mostly based on past experiences with the trail, but the run turned out to be a wonderful way to start.
At the trail head we did the normal air down and disconnect.
Once we aired down and disconnected we made our way through the trail. I was a beautiful morning and the trail was in really good shape.
Once we aired down and disconnected we made our way through the trail. I was a beautiful morning and the trail was in really good shape. There was hardly any snow until we reached the first hill.
This obstacle wasn't that hard but had a few little obstacles but nothing that would be that tough to conquer. Roy was the first one up the hill followed by Mark and then Dan.
Coming down the backside of this hill proved to be a challenge. With the steepness of the hill and the shade it became a very dangerous and icy trail. Mark had an interesting time in one spot that required him to winch himself backwards in order to avoid a mishap on the side of the trail. Everyone made it out fine with no damage and Mark taught us how important a winch can be.
A little further down the trail we came back into the sun light and the snow once agained disappeared from the trail. We made a trip through a slightly rocky area that allowed us a little time to play so Dan and Mark took the opportunity to try and get a little flex in.
When we came to the next obstacle it was Roy's turn to show us how a relatively stock jeep can walk right over most obstacles.
At the top Mark found an excellent area to make his Rubicon flex that new long arm installation he was dying to try out.
Roy is not one to be out done so he turned around and went through the same obstacle trying to prove to everyone that you don't need all that fancy stuff in order to make the jeep flex.
Other than a little height in the wheel the red TJ walked right through it. Noticing how much fun they were having Dan decided he must give it a try.
Without much trouble the TJ walked right through it. However, without lockers there was a noticable difference in traction.
Next was a little rock that allowed a little more flexing. Slightly after this obstacle we were delayed for a few minutes because a group in front of us had a slight mishap and slid off the trail. We are still trying to figure out how this happened because we went through without a problem and didn't really notice any icy spots until we hit the snow at the end of the trail.
As we came to the end of the trail and we were blessed with a beautiful view to cap off the day.
