Lake Isabelle Run

FEB 11, 2006

We showed up at Reiter at 9 am to run up to Lake Isabelle. Five rigs showed up -- 3 members, 1 candidate, & 1 guest. We had Dave & family in his XJ, Chris & Hanna in his Bronco II, TJ in his bright green Bronco II, Randy in his 03 Rubicon, and my son and I in my ZJ.

We dropped in to the upper crossing on May Creek and then went straight on the other side to a short but fun trail that drops back on to the trail. It was on this section that the green Bronco II broke a neck on his radiator and was done for the day. We sped up the trail to the rockslide. My son was driving and I led him up the rocks. He did a good job only using the right pedal as needed. Randy got a little sideways – he did not like that. After Randy bumped up the rocks, Dave in his XJ had no problems walking right up. Chris in his Bronco II lost a brake line and had no brakes. Some vice grips came in handy for this fix. Chris likes the gas pedal so it was fun watching him getting his front tires air born getting up.

The next obstacle is a rock step. When it’s dry it’s a walk in the park; in the wet, some tires spin; in the snow, fun. When you get over this, it’s a short walk to the bridge. The bridge has some new logs over it so there is no risk of losing a tire in it. At the bridge we stopped and ate lunch. We set out for the waterfall. If you haven’ been beyond the bridge, I would suggest a locker and at least 33s – although we took Dave in his XJ with 4” of lift, 31s and open diffs. It just took some rock stacking and a little longer to get up.

The trip up past the bridge is steep and stacked with nothing but large rocks that are always moving. It’s rough on your rig and your body if you’re getting up there in age. I haven’t seen anyone get away with a lot of throttle on this section of the trail. The key is traction and staying up on top of the rocks. I’ve seen axels go and drive shafts get bend from shifting rocks. Take your time and use a spotter is the driver wants one, and you will have no problem getting to the top.

On the way up Dave dropped a bead on a front tire. Using a high lift and a little ether, he tire was back on and we moved on. Chris lost his other break line so we had to dig out another pair of vice grips. We stopped at the falls and took some pictures. The falls had ice on it and it was washed out so we decided to turn around here.

This is one hill you do not want to slide down. If you go past this point the trail only goes about Ľ mile and ends. It does not go to the lake. You must hike on foot to get there. There is an old mine up on the hill at the end of the road. This is fun to go look at. We had a couple more mishaps on the way down but nothing serious. A fun time was had by all.