Lake Como Road's Revenge

[djkest]

Must have been a really bad weekend for adventurers on Lake Como road.

First, we saw a brand new Land Rover / Range Rover with upgraded mud tires coming down. We noticed that the rear left wheel was wobbling back and forth. They told me that the wheel was being held on by a nylon strap. Major suspension damage.

Next, we saw a Yamaha Raptor (side by side ATV) that had snapped the left rear wheel had come off. It was right above JAWS 3. They must have been able to fix it because it was gone by 1PM the next day. We ran into their buddies the previous day and they had destroyed both front fenders.

And lastly, it looks like someone rolled their ATV off the side of JAWS 1 and were trying to winch it back up to the road. Hopefully no one was injured.

Myself, I hit my frame on the way down just above the "bear country" sign; truck made it home so it's probably fine. I only drove to about 9,500 feet.

[MountainDawg]

como road would be cool on an atv (not bad).

[Dezelrig]

[Justin9]

When I was there Wednesday I drove to what some call jaws 1/2. I was passed by an atv and left the truck about 10 minutes after they passed me. I repassed the same atv about 15 minutes before lake como. They were winching over an obstacle. I offered to help in exchange for a beer from their cooler but they declined. I saw them pull into lake como about an hour after I got there. Long story short- atv is still slower than walking on that road.

[BillMiddlebrook]

When I was there Wednesday I drove to what some call jaws 1/2. I was passed by an atv and left the truck about 10 minutes after they passed me. I repassed the same atv about 15 minutes before lake como. They were winching over an obstacle. I offered to help in exchange for a beer from their cooler but they declined. I saw them pull into lake como about an hour after I got there. Long story short- atv is still slower than walking on that road.

Not if you're an experienced rider. On my atv, it usually takes me about 45 minutes to get from the absolute bottom of the road all the way to the lake, without using the winch.

There was that one time someone left a Land Rover hanging off the side of Jaws 1 and tied a climbing rope from the vehicle to a tree on the other side of the road. That made for an interesting atv maneuver under the rope and I was kind enough not to cut it on them.

[djkest]

Sorry, and I'm not kidding, it was raining so hard on the way down that we didn't take any pics. We did however pass a group of ATVs while hiking and beat them down to the bottom. It was very slick and muddy up there.

[Iguru]

When I was up there in my Cherokee in 2011, I saw how easy it would be to roll off left while trying to bypass Jaws 1.
I couldn't manouver it, and in trying to slip around left, I almost went over left. I actually teetered a little bit while backing off, and had 2 guys stand on the right front corner for traction. Got lucky. I parked there for the night.
Did also see a Toyota rip open his t-case on Jaws 1.
I thankfully have no need to attempt that road again.
Whew, I was almost a Colorado statistic.

But I summited Blanca, which was the goal.

[jeffs]

When we walked out this morning there was an Artic cat with a broke left rear and 4 passenger Solaris? With a broke left front.. We talked to them last night before they headed down. Sounds like they were rentals... Sounds like a headache in the works....

[BillMiddlebrook]

Oh boy, rookies with rentals on lake Como road. Lol

[Dezelrig]

Here's some useful pitchers for rookies that'll hopefully read this thread:

Log placed on the trail (left of the picture) to prevent vehicle spillage down into the ravine (4runner is going downhill from Lake Como):


Just some fun on Jaws1


4Runner is going uphill here and utilized the log:


Here's a good video of the main obstacles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obioFSHT-BQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Bullwinkle]

I have never understood why anyone would want to drive past Jaws 1. I viewed 10,500' as the practicable limit for a stock, off-road, high ground clearance car. It is not a bad hike from there anyway.

[PaliKona]

Here's a good video of the main obstacles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obioFSHT-BQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;[/quote]

Total rookies...I had no problem getting my BMW 325ix up there