Longwater Gulch & Hackett Gulch
Saturday June 19th.
 
     Saturday started off a bright sunny morning, just perfect for Jeepin’.  Patrol 2 met at Obrien’s in Sedalia for breakfast, before heading to the trail.  Brandon Morris, and his dad Craig, George Gallie, Jerry and Laurie Kennedy, Richard and Sherry Dillon, Rich Stockton, John Clark, Galen Burkhardt, and Matt Hawkins all came out to make the run.  After breakfast, the group caravanned down Highway 67 through Deckers to Westcreek, where we exited at Lakeview Rd.  We stopped at the fire station to air down, and then we headed to the Longwater Gulch trail.  It’s rated a 4 to 5, and it goes through the area of the Hayman burn from 2002.  Its 3.87 miles from the gate to where the trail ends at the county line.  The trail is fairly flat for the first half.  After that trail begins to rapid descend into the gulch.  There’s a large rock slab covered in sand and gravel with the little drop off at the bottom.  It was fairly simple as long as you take it slow.  A few people on ATV’s gathered around to watch us climb down the slab.  We stopped at the end of the trail to eat lunch, and then we headed back up.  The trail is a continuous steep upward climb back to the trail head.  The rock slab is a little bit of a challenge for those who do not have lockers.  Richard, Sherry, Jerry and Laurie led the patrol back up and over the rock slab.  George and Brandon went next, and made it with minimal effort.  They both disconnected their sway bars, and demonstrated the benefits of utilizing some extra articulation.  I (matt) went next.  It took me a few runs, but with Jerry’s and Richard’s direction on which route to crawl up, and I made it.  Galen was next.  After trying a few different ways, he finally made it ¾ of the way up the rock, and lost traction.  Galen decided to have Brandon strap his Cherokee the last couple of yards to make sure he didn’t lose any ground.  John Clark and Rich Stockton were the last to climb the rock slab, and both made it up effortlessly.  I think John put his Rubicon in “hover mode” and actually just floated up.  We continued the climb back to the Longwater gate, and then over to Hackett Gulch.
     Hackett Gulch runs parallel to Longwater Gulch about 2.5 miles to the south.  We stopped at the Hackett Gulch trail head.  Rich and John decided to call it a day at this point, and headed home.  The remaining Jeepers pushed on.  Hackett Gulch is rated a 5 to 6.  Its about 3 ¾ miles from the trail head to the end.  The trail is narrow in places, and filled with whoop de doos.  We had to carefully pass another Jeep convoy heading out as we were coming in.  The trail is fairly simple until you came to Hackett Rock.  It’s a huge slab of granite with a ditch on 1 side.  Richard and George led the pack, and made it to the top without incident.  I (matt) made it onto the rock slab, but then lost traction.  I got out, and everyone helped me survey the situation.  Jerry’s suggestion was to further lower my tire pressure to about 9-10 pounds, and then back down the rock to a lip at the bottom.  I followed his direction and made it right up.  Brandon was next, and he made it up like a pro.  Galen was next.  He tried running through the ditch on the left, and then climbing onto the slab a little further up the hill.  He made it about ¾ the way onto the slab, and lost traction.  Laurie was able come around and get in position ahead of Galen.  Jerry then strapped Galen the rest of the way onto the slab.  I have decided that, until I’m able to purchase lockers, that using them is “cheating.”  There’s another little section of rock slab after that, but we all made it up.  We continued to the trail end, where we stopped to stretch our legs.  Richard and Jerry noticed a couple guys on dirt bikes coming up the hill on the other side of the “No vehicles past this point” sign.  The dirt bikers said they come down the other side, but it was so steep they were unable to get back up, and they had no choice.  After reprimanding them, we took a few photos, loaded up, and headed out.  Hackett rock is much easier to traverse heading out, thanks to the magical power of gravity. 
     Once we made it back to the trail head, we decided to take the long way out, through Westcreek CR-3.  The road crisscrosses a creek a half dozen times, which is highly entertaining.  We headed back to the fire station where we aired up, and headed home.  Doing both trails and the creek crossings was a full day of Jeeping, and it was very worth it.  It was a highly successful fun filled day with a great group of people.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday, than wheelin’ with Patrol 2.