Colorado Adventure and FJ Summit July 11-20th

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 4

Monday morning came slowly with clouds overhead but no rain. We took our time getting up that day, enjoying the sounds of the birds around us, including the crazy woodpecker who was obviously working diligently on some project. After an easy breakfast we headed up the remainder of Devils Mountain.

This trail was pretty much just rocky all the way...not bad but not smooth at all. We finally made it to the top where there were the remains of a fire lookout, which was now being used to ground various communication towers, and and old outhouse!

After checking it out, we headed back down the mountain and on to our next trail adventure. We went east, and stopped randomly on the side of the road at Treasure Falls for lunch. We made sandwiches and enjoyed relaxing here, including the very cute wildlife.

After lunch it was back on the road, with more clouds and eventually rain coming down. After passing Wolf Creek we happened upon the Continental Divide, so we stopped for a picture.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 4 continued.....

A few more hours of driving and we ended up in the very small town of Creede, Co. We ran into a couple of FJ's who were on their way to the summit there, at the one gas station. I felt like an idiot because the pumps had no way to pay on them, so I assumed it was pre-pay. After walking in to the store I was informed it was pump first then pay...I couldn't believe it! Wouldn't someone steal their gas?? After filling up on gas and ice cream we made our way to Stony Pass to find a campsite.

There were several reasons we picked this trail to run, with the major one being that it was supposed to be the "less used" trail in the area with hardly any visitors. We saw more people on this trail than we did the entire trip! Every campground we went by, established or not was occupied! Trailers! Horses! Fishermen! Everywhere! *sigh* We were about to give up, when we found a random track off the main trail and decided to check it out. We came to a clearing where it ended...or so we thought. We got out and walked to the edge of the clearing, and down the hill we saw one of the most wonderful campsites ever- unoccupied! Our good fortune came to us that afternoon when we were finally able to set up camp right on the Rio Grande.

Not only was this one of the best camping spots ever, but it was secluded with the best hammock spot ever! We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the river, wondering how out of all the other occupied camping spots we got so lucky with this one. As the evening went on, the clouds rolled in but never rained. We made one last huge campfire for the night, then turned in lulled asleep by the sounds of the Rio Grande.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 5

Tuesday was our last day on our own in the Colorado wilderness. We took our time to soak in the the wonderful sights and sounds of our campsite then hit the road headed up Stony Pass and eventually on to Ouray.

The Stony Pass trail ended up being one of the most beautiful trails we have encountered here in Colorado. It was very diverse with lots of water crossings, and different terrain. Sometimes we were out in open meadows with the Rio Grande next to us, sometimes we were climbing up rocky forest roads. This picture is the spot where the Rio Grande starts!

We didn't encounter a lot of traffic on this trail, but everyone we did pass was in a Toyota sans one Hummer. We didn't see a lot of wildlife either other than more crazy chipmunks and some beaver dams. Being engineers, the beavers were obviously either on their coffee break or in a meeting as we passed.

Finally we made it to the top of Stony Pass along with crossing the Continental Divide for the second time in as many days. It was chilly at over 13,000 feet but beautiful. Wildflowers were everywhere along with a few hikers and mountain bikers who were out on the trail...clearly crazy people!

We made our way down the mountain and into Cunningham Gulch, which was also beautiful but a steep and narrow mountain road. We came upon a mine, the "Old Hundred" where they were doing tours, but it was packed so we moved on to Silverton. By this time we were exhausted, hungry, and ready to get to a shower so we pressed on into Ouray.

After checking in to the hotel and getting a much needed shower, we found some of our other AZFJ'ers and folks we hadn't yet met from the forum that was putting on the Summit. It was great to finally put some names with faces! Then we grabbed dinner at a great Mexican food place in town called Buen Tiempo. I highly recommend this place if you are ever in Ouray!

We then headed up to the KOA to meet up with BJ from Louisiana who was doing some interior light installs for us on the truck. He and his crew were great people, and the Ouray KOA is VERY nice...we will probably be staying there next year.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 6

Wednesday brought the first official day of the FJ Summit in Ouray. After spending our first night in four days in an actual bed, we checked out the free breakfast at the Best Western then got in line for registration.

After finally getting through the registration process, and getting all of our free Toyota Trail Team schwag, it was time to do more socializing and checking out the cool FJ's and other trucks. We were also Camping Lab vendors for the Summit so we set up our tent display in the vendor area.

Unfortunately the storm clouds rolled in, so the rest of the day was dark and rainy. Luckily our tent and display survived! Land Cruiser Steve was having a recovery demo that we watched, and then he and a couple other board members had a "modification" session where they discussed the different things you could do to your FJ. Two of the most modified trucks were on display, Larry "uphill" and Tibaal89's favorite, Mike "Shadow Warrior".

Finally Mike and Lance made it in to town from their Continental Divide Expedition, tired but ready to talk to everyone about their trip and Disabled Explorers. The rain continued into the night, and only the hardcore summit attendees, mostly AZFJ'ers mind you, stuck around to socialize and huddle under the one tent available.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 7

Thursday was our first trail run day at the Summit. We volunteered to be tail gunners on all of our runs, and with Lance leading our 9:00 Alpine Loop it became the first of two AZFJ runs for the weekend. The poor people in the middle of the pack didn't know what they were getting into!

Alpine Loop consists of Engineers Pass out to Lake City and back on Cinnamon Pass, down to Silverton then up to Ouray. Sounds like a lot? Well it is! We met up with the rest of the group at 9am and headed to the beginning of the trail, where we aired down and got a quick chat with Lance on trail etiquette and Tread Lightly. It was a beautiful mountain morning, but don't worry it didn't last long.

As we headed up the shelf road with our group of 7, we were able to get in contact with Mike via HAM, who was in the 830 group just ahead of us. The gray rain clouds rolled in and he warned us of slick, wet rock and fog near the top of the mountain.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 7 continued....

With the rain coming down, the trail got very wet and there were lots of little mud puddles to go through. The weather made the trail a little more challenging that I think it normally is, with a few people slipping here and there on rocks. Finally after a few stops we made it to the top.

It was getting close to lunch time, and with everyone on a different time-zone schedule we rolled down the mountain to have lunch. It was nice to get to know more people from the Summit and for entertainment we were passed by a Honda Civic heading up the trail. I didn't get a chance to take pics, but I often wonder if they made it to the top!

We had already been warned that this run can easily take all day, so we chatted with Lance about skipping Silverton and coming back a shorter way. The group agreed, so we were off to Lake City which was the furthest point on the loop. The road was mostly graded dirt at this point, and on the way we passed yet another abandoned mining town.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 7 continued....again....

Lake City was another neat little place and I'm glad we chose to go there. We stopped and picked up some ice cream cones at the local soda shop, filled up on gas and headed down the other portion of the loop, Cinnamon Pass. With the day growing longer it was time for some AZFJ-style baja running, which most of the group was able to hang with, but I think there were a few who got a little spooked! Up the switchbacks we went to reach our second summit of the day.

After a quick stop for pictures it was time for more rain, and on to Animas Forks. This was a neat little ghost town north of Silverton, where we ended up meeting up with Mike who had ditched his 830 group to take the "faster" and I think more fun way back to Ouray. I would have liked to have seen a few more of the old buildings close up, but by this time it was about 4pm and we were just trying to make it back in time for dinner! On to more wet and snowy roads through California Gulch and the Corkscrew trail.

Finally we made it off the trail and back to the hotel just before 6p. The massive line had already formed for dinner, so we checked it out and joined for about 10 minutes before giving up and heading in to town for dinner.

 

[bmh]

That's HOT!!!

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

That's HOT!!!

And it's seriously cool in person! If I could have a truck in any color that would be it....although I would have left the roof white for that classic FJ look. I dunno if you can tell in the pic (I have a small laptop here) but its all Line-x!

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 8

Friday morning ended up being another mad AZFJ run! Mike (Tibaal89) decided to join us with Jeff (Cactus Cruizer) as his co-pilot, and when we ended up with no trail leader showing up they took over the gunning spot for us. We stepped up as trail leaders for the day and subjected a group of 5 to a run up Imogene Pass.

After doing the monster run on Alpine Loop the day before, we were happy to be in a small group of people who had no interest in doing another 10 hour day. We headed out at 9am to probably the most beautiful trail we have ever been on. Imogene starts out right close to Ouray, so we didn't have to drive far to begin our journey.

After a few miles of pavement we finally began our climb through mountain shelf roads, wonderful mountain views and a few water crossings. The sun was out with only a few clouds in the sky, and we took our first break at what looked like an old cabin, next to a waterfall. Here we caught up with Shane 4x4 who puts together the FJC online magazine. He and his wife were out taking pictures that day, so maybe we will see our group published in the next issue!

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 8 continued....

Our climb continued up through fields of green sprinkled with wildflowers, combined with more slick rock. As we got higher, we started seeing less green and a lot more snow. We played tag all the way up with a couple of jeeps, and after a few little climbs we made it to the top!

The view was amazing, with no rain you could just start to see Telluride below us. At the top we came across another run-down structure, but the mailbox was in tact so we had to leave our mark!

One of the folks in our group started getting a little altitude sickness, so we sent them down the mountain to meet up with us later. We thought about camping at the top, but then we started getting hungry, so we decided to head into Telluride for lunch.

The way down became more and more interesting as we kept coming across hikers! They were everywhere! What is wrong with these people, don't they know how high it is up there? We also encountered a Jeep, a Suburban and a Titan who all decided they wanted to run the trail the wrong way that day. Eventually we got around them, caught up with our altitude-issue friends, and had some of the best Thai Food ever at Siam in Telluride. Seriously, go here.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Colorado Adventure Day 8 continued....again....

After a long lunch break enjoying the sights and sounds of Telluride, we decided to head back to Ouray via Ophir Pass. As we began our trip back, the clouds once again rolled in and became gray. I guess we just couldn't escape one day without rain! Luckily Ophir was not a difficult nor long trail.

We made it back in the middle of a rain storm, around 4pm. Finally the clouds started to clear and just as quickly as the rain began it was gone again. We had enough time to socialize a bit and check out some more trucks before heading off to dinner with a few of the AZFJ crew to Billy Goats Gruff.

 

[bmh]

Can you do me a favor and take some more pictures? You barely have any and I want to see proof of your trip? Just kidding, great pictures!

 

[Pskhaat]

Great reads. Some familiar terr'try up there and missing it in the heat down here.

Eager for more.

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

Yep walking out into the Phoenix heat today after 10 days in perfect temps was torture!

As for the pics, honestly I wish I would have taken more! My poor 4 year old camera is really starting to see the wear and although I still think it takes "good enough" pictures I'm hoping for a birthday upgrade this year. I went from SLR to pocket point-and-click, and now I'm thinking about going back to SLR.