Steve O'Neal in his Bronco II
on the lower part of the mountain. Stefan Roth was riding shotgun. Being
passenger takes all the pressure off of you!
Last updated Aug 3, 1997.
We came, we saw, we conquered. Ok, so it wasn't quite like that. But it sure felt like it. Lion's Back is not a difficult mountain to climb. As a matter of fact, any 4WD vehicle could probably do it. The weak point is the driver. It's scary going up. It's scary turning around and it's scary going back down.
The drive up the mountain took about 3.5 minutes, a relatively long time when you consider that you climb most other obstacles in a matter of seconds. Those minutes really stretch out. It gives you plenty of time to think about all the things that could go wrong on your vehicle that could kill you. There is just a cliff on your left and right the entire trip. One mistake, and you could fall over the side and be killed. The drive down took about 5 minutes, in low range first gear. This is the kind of obstacle where a manual transmission will do better than an automatic. That way you won't need to drag your brakes for the long time it takes to get back down. Still, you want to make sure that your brakes are in top notch shape.
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Steve O'Neal in his Bronco II
on the lower part of the mountain. Stefan Roth was riding shotgun. Being
passenger takes all the pressure off of you!
Steve Turek in his Jeep Cherokee
on the lower part of Lion's Back. Russ Rodal was riding shotgun.
Steve O'Neal
on the "back" of the Lion.
Steve O'Neal
on the top-most part of Lion's Back, about to go over the peak.
This picture gives you some idea just how tall this mountain is! It's also very
windy at the top, probably on the order of 20-30 mile per hour winds.
Look closely below Steve and just to the left of the tire tracks and you
can see a jogger running up the mountain.
Stefan Roth in his Jeep CJ 7
just starting the long climb. This part of the mountain is about a 45
degree angle! If we were home on the granite rocks in the southeastern US,
nothing would be able to climb this hill, not a vehicle, not a bike, not a
hiker. On the rocks we're used to, you just can't get enough traction to make
these kinds of climbs.
Russ Rodal was riding shotgun and Steve Turek was standing in the back with a
video camera. Stefan drove up several days after Steve O and Steve T did.
Stefan Roth in his Jeep CJ 7
going up the "back."
Stefan Roth
coming down the "back." Steve Turek is standing in the back of the CJ
filming with a video camera. The tape is cool! On several of the shots you
can see the ant-sized people at the very bottom waiting for us to come back
down.
Stefan Roth
coming down the bottom part of the mountain. Steve Turek is standing in the
back of the Jeep filming up the hill at this point.
Stefan Roth
just about to come off the mountain. Note the steep angle of the hill just
behind the Jeep. The picture barely does it justice.
Thanks for visiting. We hope you enjoyed our ride on Lion's Back.
Author: Stefan Roth
Renegade 4WD Club, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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