Reason i ask this question is because i have yet to wheel the con, i live in the bay area and i have been in this game for 16 years and have yet to challenge it..
I have done my share of wheeling and i know my rig is plenty capable but from all the reading i have done it seems a bit congested and i wouldnt want to be in "anyones way" so to speak,, i want to enjoy the run and not feel like im holding anyone up or being rushed or in the way..
im a long time outdoors man respect our land and have done tons of research of the trail and know whats expected of me and who i bring along with..
anyone know when a good day to start the trail would be? obviously weekends are out.. whats a good quiet day to start the trail?
Reason i ask this question is because i have yet to wheel the con, i live in the bay area and i have been in this game for 16 years and have yet to challenge it..
I have done my share of wheeling and i know my rig is plenty capable but from all the reading i have done it seems a bit congested and i wouldnt want to be in "anyones way" so to speak,, i want to enjoy the run and not feel like im holding anyone up or being rushed or in the way..
im a long time outdoors man respect our land and have done tons of research of the trail and know whats expected of me and who i bring along with..
anyone know when a good day to start the trail would be? obviously weekends are out.. whats a good quiet day to start the trail?
My favorites are long weekend trips up there. (non holiday weekends) Head in Thursday. Camp near Little Sluice. Friday head to buck Island and the springs. Saturday relax,fish,enjoy the outdoors. Sunday head back out to the trucks and trailers as early as your hangover from Saturday nights camp fire will allow.
Thursday the trail is quiet, Friday mid-trail about the same, and if you head out early enough Sunday you hopefully won't get stuck in any traffic jams.
We did a trip this year going in on a Wed. and came out Saturday.
It was perfect.
We literally didn't see more than just a couple small groups of people until Friday. Trail was wide open and we had Buck Island to ourselves for two nights. Ran the whole trail both ways without having to wait once. We camped Friday night on the slabs near the top of the Wentworth Springs entrance/intersection near Ellis Creek thus allowing for a quick exit on Saturday morning.
But seriously it's like most of the others have already said. Any time mid week is best if you want to try to avoid the most people. If you have to go during the weekend, Fri - Sun then here's some more tips: Since the trial is typically run from West to East (although on Sunday traffic is going both ways as some continue to head up and out Cadillac while others head back to Loon, try not to go against the flow by heading west on Saturday as thats when most will be coming in. With the closure of a lot of the area aroud Spider Buck is the new hot spot. Unless you want to have a big party atmosphere going into the wee hours of the night avoid camping here. Again Saturday can be the worst for this.
As for being in "anyones way" my initial response is screw them. If you're making decent time and they're still in that big of a hurry they're probably bad for the trail anyways. Now if you're going slow, different story. But there are plenty of opportunuties to pull off and let faster rigs get by you so if you're considerate it is really a non issue. The ability to pull out also applies to going against the flow. For the most part it is a non issue, but if there's some large groups you could find yourself pulling out and waiting for extended periods. I ran it "backwards" a couple of weeks ago going from the springs to Ellis on a Saturday and between Buck and Ellis had about 40 rigs pass me going the other way. I knew it was going to happen, so I just planned to take a little longer than normal to make my journey.
I recommend you get out there asap as it's really an awesome trail and the vast majority of the people you will meet are totally cool. Go with an open mind, give yourself a little extra time (personally doing the Con always seems to take me longer than I think it will) and just enjoy being on the most famous 4 wheel drive trail in the world.
There is one slight advantge to going on the weekend and dealing with the crowds and thats the ability to have virtually anything get fixed that you might break on your rig. It's like a floating mechanics bay / part shop out there. If you break and don't have the skill or part, just wait about ten minutes and somebody coming by will. And the best part is 100% of the time they will help you out, get your rig rolling again and then to top it off they'll probably refuse any type on compensation you might try to offer.
There's 3 main guys in our group and we all drive them. Our rigs are road worthy but lets just say we got contacts to take care of any fix it type tickets we might get.
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