Written/Photography by Albert V

What do you envision when you hear that a trail is named "Die Trying"? What I conjure up is a winch fest, with extreme off-camber sections that will roll any rig that tries – a trail that dangles your tires over the edge of a cliff, an axle-breaking, butt-clenching, I-never-want-to-do-that-again (but I'm glad I did) kind of trail.

On a recent trip to Colorado I couldn't pass up the chance to see what all the talk was about. After all, another magazine that starts with a "J" recently called it the hardest trail in America. I'm not sure where they have been wheeling (or what they've been smoking)!

Die Trying is one of a cluster of trails just outside of Montrose, Colorado, and is located in a series of canyons south of town. If you want to try out these excellent rock-filled canyons you may need an Indian guide to find them. Saying that they are not well marked is an understatement, but I can assure you they are there. The other trails in this little spot have names like Top Hat and Cactus – pretty tame sounding, eh?

Craig Weston took over the lead when Clifton Slay broke a front Detroit locker on the first rock pile. Matt was up to the task in his 1988 Samurai with a 5:1 t-case, Dana 44 axles with 5.38s and ARB lockers, 16-valve Tracker engine, 4-link suspension with Fox air shocks.

Our motley group of five hard-core wheelers was lead by Clifton Slay from Poison Spider Customs in his custom-built Bruiser chassis buggy affectionately named Suicide Sally. Even though Clifton has visited the area before, it took him some time to find the trail entrance - I did mention that these trails are not well marked, right? Clifton spotted the first few boulders a short distance into the trail entrance and the crawling was on.

The trail is in the bottom of a wash that channels much of the water runoff in the area's dry desert terrain. There was evidence of water in the wash – and tire tracks in the hard-as-rock mud from those brave (or stupid) enough to try this trail when wet.

The walls of the wash reached up to 40 feet on each side, leaving very little maneuvering room for the vehicles we had with us. We were running this trail in July, a damn hot day that was too hot for the snakes (thankfully), but apparently not hot enough for a bunch of whacked-out rock hounds. Oddly enough, I'm not sure if it was nerves from the drivers but the entrance of the trail turned out to be the cause of most of the day's troubles.

You know the rocks are big when you run 44" Boggers and you still hit the diffs. Under the hood of Craig Weston's extended wheelbase CJ-8 sits a Ram Jet 350 pushing power through a Turbo 400 tranny and Atlas 4.3:1 t-case. Axles are Dana 60 front and Dana 70 rear with Moser axles and 5.13:1 gears. Lift was provided by Alcan leaf springs and attached to a Matkins frame.

Clifton found out quickly as the front locker in Sally decided it didn't want to play and packed it in after Clifton gave it a good try to get his beast over the 4 to 5-foot rocks at the start of the trail. With Clifton's rig sidelined, the lead was transferred over to Matt Carson from Conifer, Colorado, in his 1988 Samurai tube frame machine. This appointment as leader was somewhat by default as he was right behind Clifton, but Matt was up to the challenge.

Our group now consisted of Matt out front, followed by Craig Weston in a 1975 CJ8 with a stretched wheel base and 44-inch Boggers. Next was a nervous-looking Joel Fodor from Superior Axle and Gear in a TJ with front and rear Dana 44s and 37-inch BFG Crawlers, and bringing up the rear Kipp Ketterer in a '76 CJ with a front 9-inch and Dana 60 out back with all the good stuff and 38.5 Boggers. Our little Toyota got left behind at the trailhead since this rip would be way too hard for it.

After bumping and banging his Sami around the first set of rocks, the rest of the group fell in line for the thrash up the 1-1/4-mile long canyon. Clifton tried in vain to get his rig repaired but was resigned to turning around after the remaining group of four vehicles worked their way up from the entrance of the trail. It wasn't long before the few spectators that followed us to the trail quickly ran out of water and they too had to turn back. So it was down to the group of drivers who were bent on clearing the end of the trail before the end of the day.

After each section we had to stack the rigs up in the rocks to make sure everyone was coming along just fine. Behind Matt were Craig Weston (CJ) Joel Fodor (TJ) and Kipp Ketterer (CJ).

The wash was tough, to say the least - but not impossible. Matt was doing his best impression of a Samurai on suction cups as he bent and banged his little rig around everything the trail threw at him, taking few of the "easier" routes but only after trying the hardest routes he could see first. The wash was filled with huge rocks and large steps that all reached out to tear and rip any quarter panel that got close. On one particularly tight corner, we counted 11 different colours of paint ground into the rock.

Joel Fodor had the company car out for the day. The TJ from Superior Axle and Gear was equipped with dual Dana 44s with Superior 33-spline axles and Detroit lockers. Room for the 37" BFG Krawlers was made with a 6-inch Full Traction lift system. With a little care and some great spotting, Joel managed to keep the TJ in one piece. Below, Kipp flexes out on one of the billions of rocks. His CJ 7 was turning 38" Boggers with a front Currie 9-inch and rear Dana 60. The Chevy 350 is routed through a 465 tranny and Atlas t-case.

Right behind Matt, Craig (in his much larger vehicle) had to take some different lines to work his way through. He also tried all the hard routes before resigning to some of the "easier" ways up the rocks. But let's take a step back and define "easier": when there was actually room for more than one choice, these sections would give you a slight chance at not breaking an axle or mashing your body to get through the trail. These sections would have still turned our "little" locked up Toyota on 33s into all but a lump of bent metal.

A little further behind was Joel Fodor. While driving a well-equipped TJ, Joel needed some help with spotting. Some rock stacking and the odd winch pull were necessary to keep the TJ still looking like a TJ. He also had to carefully pick his routes, but he was coming along just fine. Bringing up the rear was Kipp who was also doing well, but he also needed a few tugs, some rock stacking and help from the other drivers.

For such a mix of vehicles, we were making pretty good progress despite the heat and the difficulty of the trail. Remember, the trail was only just over a mile and we were hoping to get out before nightfall! However, with our fast pace and the small group of well-equipped vehicles, we were able to relax and really have a great time.

There were small sections where we covered ground quickly, but for the most part, the trail is a slow crawl from one set of rocks to the next, which made me wish I had the Krawler along for the trip.

Other than the entrance, the most intimidating section was the drive out the exit. The hill was a rock pile stretching up better than 100 yards. The steep, 30-degree climb was interspersed with rocks and ledges that twisted you up and off camber with no room for error. After walking ahead of the group and surveying the area, I was sure this short little piece was going to take us some time to drive - one of those "so close, but yet so far" sections.

Craig stands his Jeep up on one of the bigger rock piles. There were not many optional routes in this tight canyon but Craig tried them all anyway.

Matt was the first around the corner and without even hesitating he banged and bashed that little Sami upwards with the Tracker engine buzzing under the hood non-stop right to the top! I was quite surprised and so was Craig when he showed up. Craig had to work a little harder taking a few back ups but also made the hill comfortably.

Joel, who had walked ahead of the group to check out the hill, told me he'd be hooking up the winch cable as soon as he got to the hill, but he did much better than he figured he would. Midway up, a wheel stand necessitated a cable to stabilize the TJ, but Joel managed to keep the Jeep off its roof and on at least three wheels for the most part. He worked his way cautiously up the hill, grinding his rock sliders as he went. Kipp, now the only vehicle left on the trail, had a little help from Matt to get his Jeep through, requiring only a winch to clear the ledge that brought him back up to dry land.

Not bad - four trucks, 4 1/2 hours, no breakage and a lot of smiles. The hardest trail in America? I don't think so. A damn good wheel? You bet! But I sure wouldn't want to follow those muddy tracks with water in that wash! Worth the trip? I'm ready to haul the Krawler down next time to spend a weekend tackling all three of the trails in the area. They say Cactus is harder - cooool!

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