Hit the 40th annual Molina Ghost Run this weekend. Had a great time-didn't drive the truck once
Casey busted the transfer case within 10m of unloading it. Fixed it again and...
This was the last place it ran. Came down on the top of this obstacle and the t-case broke again...Casey hopped out only to have it roll backward and hit the bottom of the obstacle.
They got it rolled over and towed back to camp.
Had a few Yotas. Including Troy from Superior 4WD.
Great weekend wheeling.
Oh, also learned that the Northern California Backroads book is being re-printed. It'll have a better binding and will include both Northern and Southern California.
Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
I should totally have posted earlier! Went on a 4 day dry camping trip.
Our meetup point would be the town of Bridgeport, CA. It's on the other side of hwy 108 for me. I made a pit stop near the top.
This is the Dardanelles:
My co-pilot for this mission:
We exchanged pleasantries, introductions and fueled up in Bridgeport. From there, we visited the ghost town of Masonic. I didn't take any pictures at the mine as I'd been before.
These two are from my last trip:
The mine is open and decaying as any abandoned site can and unlike Bodie, you can walk around and touch anything. Bodie is only a half dozen miles down the same road we are on and completely opposite.
Our first camp was near the old townsite:
Tucked into the trees, we enjoy a cool evening with a light breeze (up near the mine where the wind is blowing pretty hard). Horseshoes and another game would occupy a couple of hours prior to dinner.
The following morning, breakfast was served, we packed up and were on our way to Bodie for a tour.
Just above Bodie, we would see this view:
You get a better sense of the size of the old town. Upward of 10,000 people lived here at the height of it's existence.
All too soon, we left the ghost town and headed to the northern end of Mono Lake for a night camping in the sand...initially, I didn't think much of this idea. But I'm glad we did. It was a phenomenal evening.
The following day, our route took us down the eastern side of Mono Lake toward a small cabin, Boyer. We stopped for lunch and a bit of exploration.
With the cabin in the background, Dani explains one of several riddles we worked on during the trip:
Our crew:
The group listening to Todd talk about Mono Lake.
Our third and final night was spent in the forest off of Hwy 120 (heading toward Benton Hot Springs) and near the southern end of Mono Lake:
The final day was an exploration of Mono Lake's South Tufa area. Here we are heading off to have a look around:
Finished with the Tufa, we drove on to an extinct volcano-or is it?
In the center of the picture is the volcano's cone. Pretty sweet and something not too many people drive down the road to see.
We ended our trip at the infamous Whoa Nellie! Deli located at the Mobil station on the corner of hwy 120 and hwy 395. Just like that, three nights and four days of one of the best overlanding trips I've done was over-didn't seem like any time at all.
The trip was organized by Tepui Tents in Santa Cruz and led by Todd Rogers with Dani & Griffin providing excellent meals, entertainment and all around fun.
Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
What are these camping systems called? I'm mulling a project that would put me on the road for maybe 12 months and am just starting to look at what might be workable for my F250 PS 4x4, or pulling a small teardrop style trailer with a 4x4 Tahoe, or purchase of a Jeep and determine a camping solution with that. Any advice, pros/cons or suggestions/pointers would be greatly appreciated. Would most probably be looking at camping in all the National Parks with my camera gear.
What are these camping systems called? I'm mulling a project that would put me on the road for maybe 12 months and am just starting to look at what might be workable for my F250 PS 4x4, or pulling a small teardrop style trailer with a 4x4 Tahoe, or purchase of a Jeep and determine a camping solution with that. Any advice, pros/cons or suggestions/pointers would be greatly appreciated. Would most probably be looking at camping in all the National Parks with my camera gear.
.
This is referred to as a Roof Top Tent, RTT for short. The tent folds up and sits on the truck. Usually on a rack on a camper shell or a bed rack. The tent takes about 15 minutes to deploy and about the same to close up. Tepui Tents is the manufacturer of my tent. There are others.
My tent is about $1K all in.
if you want to do get into the back country, you'll want a smaller vehicle. A tear drop trailer would be nice but if you're going to be on the road, you'll probably also want to think about space to stand up in.
Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
This is referred to as a Roof Top Tent, RTT for short. The tent folds up and sits on the truck. Usually on a rack on a camper shell or a bed rack. The tent takes about 15 minutes to deploy and about the same to close up. Tepui Tents is the manufacturer of my tent. There are others.
My tent is about $1K all in.
if you want to do get into the back country, you'll want a smaller vehicle. A tear drop trailer would be nice but if you're going to be on the road, you'll probably also want to think about space to stand up in.
Thanks for the input.... I'm just scratching the surface on what I'd like to do. I've camped from Central Tejas to the Arctic Circle North of Fairbanks and back on my motorcycle, so I'm comfortable camping. Just don't have any experience doing this in a truck/SUV.
Thanks for the input.... I'm just scratching the surface on what I'd like to do. I've camped from Central Tejas to the Arctic Circle North of Fairbanks and back on my motorcycle, so I'm comfortable camping. Just don't have any experience doing this in a truck/SUV.
Camping is definitely comfy. I mention the trailer aspect since you are looking at such a long time out. Planning could keep you away from any real weather.
It's a great idea though.
Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
As soon as I got back from Moab last year I started planning my trip to Ouray Colorado.
In 2012 we took a family vacation to Disneyland and drove through Ouray, and along the way we stopped at the start of Black Bear Pass.
From that point right there I decided I had to return and do Black Bear.
Three of, myself, Brian (Stock JK Rubicon) and Steve (Modified JK Rubicon), left for Ouray on Saturday August 9th. Brian and Steve towed there Jeeps, buy I drove mine. That probably has something to do with me not having a truck/trailer. Brian lives in the same town as me, but Steve is from Iowa, so we met him at the I-80 truck stop, which is the biggest truck stop in the world!
We drove to Ogallal Nebraska the Saturday, spent the night and headed out towards Ouray Sunday Morning.
We stopped for the customary welcome to Colorado picture.
Brian and Steve didn't unload their Jeeps for a picture...I don't know why.
Then we were back on the road, through colorful Colorado.....do you see it?
We were headed towards Denver, but a flashing road sign warned us against going through Denver. We had plans to go south on I-25, but apparently I-25 was closed, in both directions in Denver, Friday through Sunday. We pulled off at the next available road, bought a map at a small gas station and scoped out the county roads. We ended up stopping at a county road that went south, so away we went. We stayed on county roads, which were smooth, traffic free and had speed limits of 55-60 mph. We did the back road thing all the way down to Castle Rock, where we got back on I-25. We probably saved ourselves hours of hassle and grid lock.
We traveled through Colorado Springs then hit 115 to Canon City, where we jumped on Hwy 50 west bound to Montrose, from there it was south on 550 Ouray. We drove about 12 hours in all Sunday, arriving in Ouray at about 6:30 pm.
The drive along 50 and 550 is just beautiful...
The long downhills, after climbing as high as 11,500 feet were interesting. The climbs were slow....like 45 mph slow.
Approaching Ouray.
Entering Ouray.
Brian and Steve are staying at the Ouray KOA, I on the other hand am staying in downtown Ouray.
Parked for the night, at the Ouray Chalet.
The Ouray Chalet.
Downtown Ouray.
Once in town I was able to meet up with Kevin (ksilovich), who you may remember was with me in Moab last year, as was Brian.
Kevin left for Ouray on Thursday and met up with a group he had met on a trip to Kentucky. That group is going to hit some other areas in Colorado, and do some harder trails than we plan on doing.
It's currently 7am Monday morning, and in a little over an hour we'll be on our way to the first trail of the trip, and which trail will that be?
Monday morning started out with Kevin and I having breakfast at the Backstreet Bistro. A bit pricey, but good. From there we fueled up, Kevin washed his Jeep, and we grabbed some supplies from the local grocery store. After that we met up with Brian, Steve and his son Blake, and headed down the road to Black Bear Pass. All ready for a day on the trails. Headed to the trails. Finally arrived at Black Bear. Happy happy. Kevin must have been happier than me. All lined up and ready to go. Posing at the top. Approaching the steps. Brian and Kevin rounding the steps. Kevin at the tightest spot on Black Bear. I believe his Jeep is 83" wide.
The trail was fun, the scenery was gorgeous. I led the way down. The three point turns on the way down really weren't nearly as frightening as some have made them seem. The trail isn't much of a challenge for a Jeep, it's more of a challenge for the driver, especially if that driver doesn't like heights. This is a must do.....I loved it! I recorded the entire trail on a GoPro, so I can relive it anytime I'd like now.
We did the trail in 2 hours 25 minutes, and it measured 9.71 miles.
After Black Bear we went to Imogene, where we were able to look back at Black Bear. Looking back at the the Z's.
When you get off Black Bear Pass you roll into the tiny (expensive) town of Telluride. The beginning of Imogene Pass is just a couple of blocks off the main drag, right in a residential area.
We headed on up, and unlike Black Bear, we passed a lot of traffic, coming from the other direction. At times it was a tight squeeze.
You get a view of Black Bear, as you start up Imogene.
There was also a view of my Jeep.
Looking back at one of my cohorts.
There are old mine buildings here and there.
We saw a herd of elk on the Telluride side.
You have to wonder what went on back when these building were first built.
Kevin using my Jeep as a parking brake.
These views never grow old.
Kevin at the top, 13,114 feet. It was a bit cold.
Checking the mail.
When I checked the mailbox I found a can of PBR and a can of Bud Light. I don't drink, so I didn't take one. I did however throw a bag of peanut M&M's into the mailbox. When I closed the mailbox it punctured the can of PBR, so Kevin grabbed it and drank it....it was ice cold. He couldn't stand to see it wasted. Kevin even thought it was funny to spray me with the beer....idiot.
Mailing the M&M's.
The punctured PBR.
Jeep commercial time.
Down below the lookout.
Kevin's commercial.
This is Steve and his son Blake, where I was for my commercial. Blake drove it out there.
Imogene was a blast. When you finish Imogene you are at the start of Yankee Boy Basin, which takes you to Governor Basin too. Kevin and I opted to both of those trails....as you will soon see.
Kevin and I decided to do Governor Basin after Imogene Pass. The others, Brian, Jan, Steve and Blake, opted to go back to Ouray, to eat dinner. Kevin and I figured dinner could wait.
No matter the trail. the scenery was always beautiful.
If the choice is bridge or water crossing, I'll take water crossing.....whenever possible.
Soon after we started up the trail we ran into a guy on a dozer, and it seemed our journey was over. I went over and talked to him and he said we could go on up, but there were two excavators and a truck up top, working.
We made our way around the dozer, and up the now rather smooth trail...which was supposed to be difficult.
It wasn't long and we rounded a corner to find this....
Again we thought our journey was over. I went over and talked to the operator who said give him 10 minutes and the trail would be passable and he would be out of our way. Turns out I was the first person to Jeep across this section of the trail.
There were deer just standing around watching the guy build the trail.
Waiting for the trail to be built.
Another old mine.
We were down there.
Kevin took the bridge just so he could get his picture taken.
This trail did not live up to it's difficult rating...moderate at best, but still worth doing.
We late learned that the trail was being widened and smoothed out, due to a new mining effort. Oh well, can't fault that, after all that's the reason most of these trails (or county roads) are here in the first place.
Next up is Yankee Boy Basin.
Wednesday we did the Alpine Loop. Let the fun begin.
It seemed as if every time I took a photo of an old building, Kevin jumped right in the pic.
We took Poughkeepsie.
The scenery was great.
The boulder on Poughkeepsie, just before the wall.
Up and over.
Al's turn.
Like there was even a doubt.
Kevin trying to make it harder than it needed to be.
Time for the wall....me first.
I took the far right.
Someone took a video on their phone, I have no idea who he was. I hope he sees this and remembers to send me the video. I put my email and phone number in his phone. I don't have any pictures of me lifting my driver side front tire off the ground....even though I gave my camera to someone (I won't mention any names) to take photos of me. lol.
It was a little slick, and it took me a couple of tries to find the right line.
No idea who this was.
Kevin playing around on the middle line.
Lake Como was beautiful.....and cold, or so I was told.
He had photos of several different machines like this one...4 axle, all wheel drive, all wheel steer...really neat stuff.
The old mines really made you wonder what life was like back then.
Kevin giving a little perspective to one of the building at Animas Forks.
My turn.
Location, location, location.
The rooms in these houses were small. Not much privacy back then, at all.
Leaving Animas Forks.
I could so live here.
Kevin, the photo bomber.
Just past Animas Forks we caught up with two more of our group.
Thank goodness.
Al heading back to Ouray....in a hurry.
Al had broken an axle shaft on Die Trying, I think it was, a day before arriving in Ouray and had ordered new chromo shafts...overnighted, so he was wanting to get back and start the install.
The two Jeeps we caught up with on the trail stopped on Engineer and camped for the night.....I hope they made it out.
Kevin and I stopped at the top of Engineer.
This was the third bear I saw, on Engineer.
A few mile back I had seen a mother and her cub, near some water falls, about three miles into the trail.
He didn't like Kevin's 4bt.
Right after seeing the bear Steve and his son Blake caught up with us. They had been with Brian, who was in a stock JK Rubicon. Brian opted not to do Engineer and took the road back to Ouray.
I made a left when I should have made a right, on the way down. We ended up doing a couple of loops at Mineral Point, before we found our way back to Mineral Creek. It was all good, because the trails were fun.
As we approached the end of the trail we passed a couple in a Jeep Compass. Here's the kicker, the Compass had a donut spare on the rear driver side....wtf? Apparently they started the trail that way....doh. They declined help from several passerby's. They were gone the next day, so they made it out, somehow.
This was a long day, I believe we did somewhere between 70 and 90 miles all together
Thursday morning it was raining, pretty hard. But that was ok actually, because Steve had developed an issue with his transfer case coming down Mineral Creek, the night before. I figured he just broke the little plastic bushing in the linkage....and that's what it was.
So Thursday morning I checked for the part he needed in town, since he was up at the KOA, and I was at the Ouray Chalet. I stopped by [URL="[URL]http://coloradowestjeeps.com/"]Colorado[/URL] West Jeep Tours[/URL] to see if they'd have the part....nope. I was however directed to the local service stations, Steve's I believe it was. As luck would have it he had a replacement part. He said it was the fifth one he had sold that week. It was only $4, but I gave him $5.
I went up to the KOA and the rain just got harder. Working on the JK in the mud wasn't something we wanted to do, so Steve and I went into town to see what our options were. Steve's shop was full, so I stopped by Colorado West and asked about renting some shop space, I had seen they had alot of it when I stopped to ask about the part. Unfortunately his insurance didn't cover that. I told him that was fine, didn't hurt to ask, and said we'd do it in my hotel parking lot.
I was almost to my Jeep when he called me back and said if we signed something saying we wouldn't sue him we could use the shop. Done!
Steve and I went and got his Jeep, returned to [URL="[URL]http://coloradowestjeeps.com/"]Colorado[/URL] West Jeep Tours[/URL] and replaced the part. We had a bit of an issue getting Steve's transfer case skid to line back up, so it stayed off the Jeep.
I highly recommend stopping by Colorado West if you're in Ouray and need a Jeep rental/tour.
Once we were done wrenching the rain had stopped, so we decided to hit Yankee Boy Basin. Steve and Brian hadn't run the trail with Kevin and I on Monday, so I figured why not go again, if they were up to it?
Steve's JK and my TJ on top of Yankee Basin.
Me and my Rubi.
The weather changed quite a few times on Yankee, it was raining when we started, then cleared, then clouded up, then cleared....well, you get the point.
Steve and Brian, on the way down.
This creek crossing is actually where Imogene meets Yankee/Governor...but we had to cross it.
Steve
Brian
Me
I was able to enjoy my other hobby quite a bit, on this trip.
We couldn't do Governor Basin because it was closed. We were told the mining company was doing work on the trail....which means it probably won't be listed as "red" much longer, in fact Yankee was actually harder than Governor.....but neither was a "red" trail in Moab standards
Friday was our last day. I wanted to drive Black Bear again, and Steve wanted to give Blake a chance to drive it as well, so off we went. Brian and Jan decided to drive to Telluride, the boring way, on the road.
These guys were in front of us as we started the trail.
The view never gets old.
I grabbed this shot, as I drove by.
Blake driving down...remember, he's 14.
I looked down and saw the Rubi below, and the driver yelled "Hey, aren't you Jeff?" I said yes. He said I'm Redneck Ron from Rubicon Owners Forum. This was the third person to recognize me, the two others were JF members.
Redneck Ron, from Rubicon Owners Forum.
Blake did an awesome job.
On the way down we encountered a Pathfinder (I believe it was) parked blocking part of the last switch back before the two way traffic began. It was causing issues. I wasn't happy. I may or may not have wrote "I'm and *******" in the dust on the rear window. What a jerk, there was plenty of room to park, out of the way.
We never did stop in Telluride. In fact the only thing we bought in Telluride, on Monday, was lemonade from a young girl, who had a stand just as we rolled back into town. She had a pretty good gig going
After Black Bear we decided to take Last Dollar Road back to Ouray. We couldn't find Brian and Jan...their phone was taking messages, probably because they were on a mine tour.
Last Dollar is a 21 mile road, about half gravel and half clay. It was wet in a few spots, but travel was actually pretty easy. It is a "green" trail after all. The views along the way were awesome.
Comments
Good times!
I did get some new tires.
Looks good....good luck with that ad, that'd be cool.
Casey busted the transfer case within 10m of unloading it. Fixed it again and...
This was the last place it ran. Came down on the top of this obstacle and the t-case broke again...Casey hopped out only to have it roll backward and hit the bottom of the obstacle.
They got it rolled over and towed back to camp.
Had a few Yotas. Including Troy from Superior 4WD.
Great weekend wheeling.
Oh, also learned that the Northern California Backroads book is being re-printed. It'll have a better binding and will include both Northern and Southern California.
Nice. I haven't been out in "forever". I have plans to be in Ouray Colorado from August 10-16th, until then I'll just be mall crawling.
Went out for an evening ride, posed along the way.
You don't take a photograph, you make it. ~Ansel Adams
Blue Moon Originals
We all have to mall crawl once in awhile.
Nice shots.
I'm about 3 weeks away from a wheeling trip to Ouray, Colorado....that should provide me with a few photo ops.
Our meetup point would be the town of Bridgeport, CA. It's on the other side of hwy 108 for me. I made a pit stop near the top.
This is the Dardanelles:
My co-pilot for this mission:
We exchanged pleasantries, introductions and fueled up in Bridgeport. From there, we visited the ghost town of Masonic. I didn't take any pictures at the mine as I'd been before.
These two are from my last trip:
The mine is open and decaying as any abandoned site can and unlike Bodie, you can walk around and touch anything. Bodie is only a half dozen miles down the same road we are on and completely opposite.
Our first camp was near the old townsite:
Tucked into the trees, we enjoy a cool evening with a light breeze (up near the mine where the wind is blowing pretty hard). Horseshoes and another game would occupy a couple of hours prior to dinner.
The following morning, breakfast was served, we packed up and were on our way to Bodie for a tour.
Just above Bodie, we would see this view:
You get a better sense of the size of the old town. Upward of 10,000 people lived here at the height of it's existence.
All too soon, we left the ghost town and headed to the northern end of Mono Lake for a night camping in the sand...initially, I didn't think much of this idea. But I'm glad we did. It was a phenomenal evening.
The following day, our route took us down the eastern side of Mono Lake toward a small cabin, Boyer. We stopped for lunch and a bit of exploration.
With the cabin in the background, Dani explains one of several riddles we worked on during the trip:
Our crew:
The group listening to Todd talk about Mono Lake.
Our third and final night was spent in the forest off of Hwy 120 (heading toward Benton Hot Springs) and near the southern end of Mono Lake:
The final day was an exploration of Mono Lake's South Tufa area. Here we are heading off to have a look around:
Finished with the Tufa, we drove on to an extinct volcano-or is it?
In the center of the picture is the volcano's cone. Pretty sweet and something not too many people drive down the road to see.
We ended our trip at the infamous Whoa Nellie! Deli located at the Mobil station on the corner of hwy 120 and hwy 395. Just like that, three nights and four days of one of the best overlanding trips I've done was over-didn't seem like any time at all.
The trip was organized by Tepui Tents in Santa Cruz and led by Todd Rogers with Dani & Griffin providing excellent meals, entertainment and all around fun.
If you had been there this weekend, you could have hung with the FJ Summit crowd.
What are these camping systems called? I'm mulling a project that would put me on the road for maybe 12 months and am just starting to look at what might be workable for my F250 PS 4x4, or pulling a small teardrop style trailer with a 4x4 Tahoe, or purchase of a Jeep and determine a camping solution with that. Any advice, pros/cons or suggestions/pointers would be greatly appreciated. Would most probably be looking at camping in all the National Parks with my camera gear.
.
This is referred to as a Roof Top Tent, RTT for short. The tent folds up and sits on the truck. Usually on a rack on a camper shell or a bed rack. The tent takes about 15 minutes to deploy and about the same to close up. Tepui Tents is the manufacturer of my tent. There are others.
My tent is about $1K all in.
if you want to do get into the back country, you'll want a smaller vehicle. A tear drop trailer would be nice but if you're going to be on the road, you'll probably also want to think about space to stand up in.
Thanks for the input.... I'm just scratching the surface on what I'd like to do. I've camped from Central Tejas to the Arctic Circle North of Fairbanks and back on my motorcycle, so I'm comfortable camping. Just don't have any experience doing this in a truck/SUV.
Camping is definitely comfy. I mention the trailer aspect since you are looking at such a long time out. Planning could keep you away from any real weather.
It's a great idea though.
In 2012 we took a family vacation to Disneyland and drove through Ouray, and along the way we stopped at the start of Black Bear Pass.
From that point right there I decided I had to return and do Black Bear.
Three of, myself, Brian (Stock JK Rubicon) and Steve (Modified JK Rubicon), left for Ouray on Saturday August 9th. Brian and Steve towed there Jeeps, buy I drove mine. That probably has something to do with me not having a truck/trailer. Brian lives in the same town as me, but Steve is from Iowa, so we met him at the I-80 truck stop, which is the biggest truck stop in the world!
We drove to Ogallal Nebraska the Saturday, spent the night and headed out towards Ouray Sunday Morning.
We stopped for the customary welcome to Colorado picture.
Brian and Steve didn't unload their Jeeps for a picture...I don't know why.
Then we were back on the road, through colorful Colorado.....do you see it?
We were headed towards Denver, but a flashing road sign warned us against going through Denver. We had plans to go south on I-25, but apparently I-25 was closed, in both directions in Denver, Friday through Sunday. We pulled off at the next available road, bought a map at a small gas station and scoped out the county roads. We ended up stopping at a county road that went south, so away we went. We stayed on county roads, which were smooth, traffic free and had speed limits of 55-60 mph. We did the back road thing all the way down to Castle Rock, where we got back on I-25. We probably saved ourselves hours of hassle and grid lock.
We traveled through Colorado Springs then hit 115 to Canon City, where we jumped on Hwy 50 west bound to Montrose, from there it was south on 550 Ouray. We drove about 12 hours in all Sunday, arriving in Ouray at about 6:30 pm.
The drive along 50 and 550 is just beautiful...
The long downhills, after climbing as high as 11,500 feet were interesting. The climbs were slow....like 45 mph slow.
Approaching Ouray.
Entering Ouray.
Brian and Steve are staying at the Ouray KOA, I on the other hand am staying in downtown Ouray.
Parked for the night, at the Ouray Chalet.
The Ouray Chalet.
Downtown Ouray.
Once in town I was able to meet up with Kevin (ksilovich), who you may remember was with me in Moab last year, as was Brian.
Kevin left for Ouray on Thursday and met up with a group he had met on a trip to Kentucky. That group is going to hit some other areas in Colorado, and do some harder trails than we plan on doing.
It's currently 7am Monday morning, and in a little over an hour we'll be on our way to the first trail of the trip, and which trail will that be?
Black Bear Pass!
I'll catch you later.
All ready for a day on the trails.
Headed to the trails.
Finally arrived at Black Bear.
Happy happy.
Kevin must have been happier than me.
All lined up and ready to go.
Posing at the top.
Approaching the steps.
Brian and Kevin rounding the steps.
Kevin at the tightest spot on Black Bear. I believe his Jeep is 83" wide.
The trail was fun, the scenery was gorgeous. I led the way down. The three point turns on the way down really weren't nearly as frightening as some have made them seem. The trail isn't much of a challenge for a Jeep, it's more of a challenge for the driver, especially if that driver doesn't like heights. This is a must do.....I loved it! I recorded the entire trail on a GoPro, so I can relive it anytime I'd like now.
We did the trail in 2 hours 25 minutes, and it measured 9.71 miles.
After Black Bear we went to Imogene, where we were able to look back at Black Bear.
Looking back at the the Z's.
We headed on up, and unlike Black Bear, we passed a lot of traffic, coming from the other direction. At times it was a tight squeeze.
You get a view of Black Bear, as you start up Imogene.
There was also a view of my Jeep.
Looking back at one of my cohorts.
There are old mine buildings here and there.
We saw a herd of elk on the Telluride side.
You have to wonder what went on back when these building were first built.
Kevin using my Jeep as a parking brake.
These views never grow old.
Kevin at the top, 13,114 feet. It was a bit cold.
Checking the mail.
When I checked the mailbox I found a can of PBR and a can of Bud Light. I don't drink, so I didn't take one. I did however throw a bag of peanut M&M's into the mailbox. When I closed the mailbox it punctured the can of PBR, so Kevin grabbed it and drank it....it was ice cold. He couldn't stand to see it wasted. Kevin even thought it was funny to spray me with the beer....idiot.
Mailing the M&M's.
The punctured PBR.
Jeep commercial time.
Down below the lookout.
Kevin's commercial.
This is Steve and his son Blake, where I was for my commercial. Blake drove it out there.
Imogene was a blast. When you finish Imogene you are at the start of Yankee Boy Basin, which takes you to Governor Basin too. Kevin and I opted to both of those trails....as you will soon see.
No matter the trail. the scenery was always beautiful.
If the choice is bridge or water crossing, I'll take water crossing.....whenever possible.
Soon after we started up the trail we ran into a guy on a dozer, and it seemed our journey was over. I went over and talked to him and he said we could go on up, but there were two excavators and a truck up top, working.
We made our way around the dozer, and up the now rather smooth trail...which was supposed to be difficult.
It wasn't long and we rounded a corner to find this....
Again we thought our journey was over. I went over and talked to the operator who said give him 10 minutes and the trail would be passable and he would be out of our way. Turns out I was the first person to Jeep across this section of the trail.
There were deer just standing around watching the guy build the trail.
Waiting for the trail to be built.
Another old mine.
We were down there.
Kevin took the bridge just so he could get his picture taken.
This trail did not live up to it's difficult rating...moderate at best, but still worth doing.
We late learned that the trail was being widened and smoothed out, due to a new mining effort. Oh well, can't fault that, after all that's the reason most of these trails (or county roads) are here in the first place.
Next up is Yankee Boy Basin.
Let the fun begin.
It seemed as if every time I took a photo of an old building, Kevin jumped right in the pic.
We took Poughkeepsie.
The scenery was great.
The boulder on Poughkeepsie, just before the wall.
Up and over.
Al's turn.
Like there was even a doubt.
Kevin trying to make it harder than it needed to be.
Time for the wall....me first.
I took the far right.
Someone took a video on their phone, I have no idea who he was. I hope he sees this and remembers to send me the video. I put my email and phone number in his phone. I don't have any pictures of me lifting my driver side front tire off the ground....even though I gave my camera to someone (I won't mention any names) to take photos of me. lol.
It was a little slick, and it took me a couple of tries to find the right line.
No idea who this was.
Kevin playing around on the middle line.
Lake Como was beautiful.....and cold, or so I was told.
We saw the sheep, and spotted one of the dogs.
This guy had an interesting machine.
He had photos of several different machines like this one...4 axle, all wheel drive, all wheel steer...really neat stuff.
The old mines really made you wonder what life was like back then.
Kevin giving a little perspective to one of the building at Animas Forks.
My turn.
Location, location, location.
The rooms in these houses were small. Not much privacy back then, at all.
Leaving Animas Forks.
I could so live here.
Kevin, the photo bomber.
Just past Animas Forks we caught up with two more of our group.
Thank goodness.
Al heading back to Ouray....in a hurry.
Al had broken an axle shaft on Die Trying, I think it was, a day before arriving in Ouray and had ordered new chromo shafts...overnighted, so he was wanting to get back and start the install.
The two Jeeps we caught up with on the trail stopped on Engineer and camped for the night.....I hope they made it out.
Kevin and I stopped at the top of Engineer.
This was the third bear I saw, on Engineer.
A few mile back I had seen a mother and her cub, near some water falls, about three miles into the trail.
He didn't like Kevin's 4bt.
Right after seeing the bear Steve and his son Blake caught up with us. They had been with Brian, who was in a stock JK Rubicon. Brian opted not to do Engineer and took the road back to Ouray.
I made a left when I should have made a right, on the way down. We ended up doing a couple of loops at Mineral Point, before we found our way back to Mineral Creek. It was all good, because the trails were fun.
As we approached the end of the trail we passed a couple in a Jeep Compass. Here's the kicker, the Compass had a donut spare on the rear driver side....wtf? Apparently they started the trail that way....doh. They declined help from several passerby's. They were gone the next day, so they made it out, somehow.
This was a long day, I believe we did somewhere between 70 and 90 miles all together
So Thursday morning I checked for the part he needed in town, since he was up at the KOA, and I was at the Ouray Chalet. I stopped by [URL="[URL]http://coloradowestjeeps.com/"]Colorado[/URL] West Jeep Tours[/URL] to see if they'd have the part....nope. I was however directed to the local service stations, Steve's I believe it was. As luck would have it he had a replacement part. He said it was the fifth one he had sold that week. It was only $4, but I gave him $5.
I went up to the KOA and the rain just got harder. Working on the JK in the mud wasn't something we wanted to do, so Steve and I went into town to see what our options were. Steve's shop was full, so I stopped by Colorado West and asked about renting some shop space, I had seen they had alot of it when I stopped to ask about the part. Unfortunately his insurance didn't cover that. I told him that was fine, didn't hurt to ask, and said we'd do it in my hotel parking lot.
I was almost to my Jeep when he called me back and said if we signed something saying we wouldn't sue him we could use the shop. Done!
Steve and I went and got his Jeep, returned to [URL="[URL]http://coloradowestjeeps.com/"]Colorado[/URL] West Jeep Tours[/URL] and replaced the part. We had a bit of an issue getting Steve's transfer case skid to line back up, so it stayed off the Jeep.
I highly recommend stopping by Colorado West if you're in Ouray and need a Jeep rental/tour.
Once we were done wrenching the rain had stopped, so we decided to hit Yankee Boy Basin. Steve and Brian hadn't run the trail with Kevin and I on Monday, so I figured why not go again, if they were up to it?
Steve's JK and my TJ on top of Yankee Basin.
Me and my Rubi.
The weather changed quite a few times on Yankee, it was raining when we started, then cleared, then clouded up, then cleared....well, you get the point.
Steve and Brian, on the way down.
This creek crossing is actually where Imogene meets Yankee/Governor...but we had to cross it.
Steve
Brian
Me
I was able to enjoy my other hobby quite a bit, on this trip.
We couldn't do Governor Basin because it was closed. We were told the mining company was doing work on the trail....which means it probably won't be listed as "red" much longer, in fact Yankee was actually harder than Governor.....but neither was a "red" trail in Moab standards
These guys were in front of us as we started the trail.
The view never gets old.
I grabbed this shot, as I drove by.
Blake driving down...remember, he's 14.
I looked down and saw the Rubi below, and the driver yelled "Hey, aren't you Jeff?" I said yes. He said I'm Redneck Ron from Rubicon Owners Forum. This was the third person to recognize me, the two others were JF members.
Redneck Ron, from Rubicon Owners Forum.
Blake did an awesome job.
On the way down we encountered a Pathfinder (I believe it was) parked blocking part of the last switch back before the two way traffic began. It was causing issues. I wasn't happy. I may or may not have wrote "I'm and *******" in the dust on the rear window. What a jerk, there was plenty of room to park, out of the way.
We never did stop in Telluride. In fact the only thing we bought in Telluride, on Monday, was lemonade from a young girl, who had a stand just as we rolled back into town. She had a pretty good gig going
Last Dollar is a 21 mile road, about half gravel and half clay. It was wet in a few spots, but travel was actually pretty easy. It is a "green" trail after all. The views along the way were awesome.
I'll have some video of this trail/road as well.
Looking down on Ouray.
I still have some photos to get off my laptop, and I have a bunch of GoPro video to process.
You can see more photos from the trip [URL="[URL]http://www.leiningerphotos.com/Only-In-A-Jeep/Ouray/Ouray-2014"]here.[/URL[/URL]]
It sure was. I love that part of Colorado, I'd move in a heart beat....if I could.