So my friend told me he needs to get rid of his gold Forester XT forever.
He wanted to give it a proper send off and we got to talking and realized that while some had come down to Union Springs in the Subaru before, we didn’t know of anyone going up.
Since it’s more than 100 feet of elevation change every mile, it’s much more passable going down than going up.
But we decided to do it anyway!
Here is some information I was able to find on the trail:
We had a few others join us for the ride, including my friend who drives my Suburban (dog limo), a cleverly modified LL Bean Forester, a Gen 4 2.5 Outback, a crazy 98 Forester, and a Baja with a bed cover.. and an H6..and a 5 speed…and a dual beam. 
Being a Saturday, there was a lot of traffic. We were joined by a Jeep Rubicon (in a nice neon green color) several Lexus 460/470s, and my favorite, a Honda Element that was sent straight up the mountain.
Overall, while it was on the hard side for a Subaru, it wasn’t insurmountable. All but 2 vehicles made it unaided.
One was the crazy Forester that broke an axle. He had a back locker and was still able to climb, but was vulnerable to the diagonal roll. There was a winch, so we hoisted it into a bad area of the canal.
Next was the Gen 4 2.5 Outback. Having only minimal mods (2″ lift, skid plates and bumper sweeps) it was also vulnerable to the diagonal spinner and couldn’t find a good line in the same spot. We ended up hooking a tow strap to get it out.
The biggest problem with my car (Gen 5) was that it seemed to be less raised so I couldn’t pick the same line as some others. I also fell prey to the dreaded TR690 ‘stall’. It was likely running hot as it was running fine before. I would like to find a solution for it in the future.
We also had a sidewall puncture on a General Grabber tire. Fortunately, we had a matching full-size spare.
Overall, a great experience with some great people. I look forward to doing similar trips!
