MSV & Coney Flats Sunday Oct. 8, 2023
I ran MSV and Coney with Rob last Sunday. I've run MSV several times over the years (including last year) but this was my first time on Coney.
MSV was the hardest I have ever seen. The gate keeper that was a very tall mound of rock last year had fallen apart making the initial approach pretty difficult. The entire trail is full of challenging obstacles unlike years ago when much of it was just a rocky creek bed.
There were quite a few razors and a couple Jeeps that were lined up to do Coney, so we waited a few minutes before getting ready to head up. We could see they were struggling and eventually a few of them turned around and come back out. (They had changed their minds).
We decided we waited long enough so we headed up. Right off the bat, we saw the rest of that group trying to get up over some very difficult boulders. About three more of them gave up and wanted to go back down which meant Rob and I had to somehow get our vehicles out of their way. It was insane! Rob found a way to get a little past them but I had no choice but to go sideways and up onto a huge boulder up in some trees a little. Once we could move again, we saw the obstacle that made all those people give up. I wish I took pictures, but frankly I was gripping my steering wheel so tight the whole day that I didn't dare. We continued on for what seemed like forever. It was very slow going, and other than a few folks with razors, there weren't many others around us.
There were puddles of water that managed to keep our tires nice and slippery which didn't help matters much. At one obstacle, Rob got high centered on a huge boulder and we had to winch him over. He spotted me over the boulder and we kept going.
I enjoyed the second half of the trail a little more as it eventually got a little easier. The big water crossing was fun and the little water crossings that followed were also a nice change of pace from the boulders.
I've decided I will never run either of those trails again. There are no views for the most part and the rocks are brutal. Rob got a picture of me going through the water crossing and I got a shot of the boulder he got high centered on. so this is it!
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