Land Rover Ideas for Grenadiers

[toddz69]

Been there, done that (In the Jeep, not yet in the Grenadier)bb. Imogene Pass

From an article about a U.S. Land Rover club adventure in Colorado... Tomboy Road leaves the east side of Telluride, ascends to the ghost town of Tomboy and after a 4,350 foot elevation gain arrives at the 13,114 foot summit of Imogene Pass. On the way up, check out the height of the snow against the orange Disco at the back:

At the summit:

Also at the summit:

On the way out of Telluride, part of the way up to the Imogene summit is Social Tunnel:

And in Yankee Boy Basin on the other side of the Imogene summit towards Ouray is this "half tunnel" carved out of the mountain to allow the shelf road to continue, this photo is from the magazine:

And this one isn't from the magazine:

A little history...

This map shows the reason for the pass route... by road, it's about 50 miles from Ouray to Telluride. Overland, it's maybe 10 miles. At the speeds you'd be traveling on the trail today it's easily an hour or more, but back in the days when horsepower was provided by actual horses, the long way around would have taken far longer than the pass route.

In 1891 the Rio Grande Southern Railroad reached Telluride via roughly the same route the road takes today, but before then it was animal power either the long way around or over the pass to Ouray.

Map by Dell a. McCoy, 1990 - The RGS Story, Vol. 1-12, 1990, Sundance Publications, Ltd., Denver, Colorado., <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0" title="Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92958899">Link</a>

I had planned a Colorado off-road trip in the Grenadier this August but had to cancel due to treatment for a foot injury. I have to do it next year, it's too late in the season now.

Did Imogene and Black Bear along with numerous other routes a month ago again - it certainly recharges my soul to be in the San Juans.

Todd Z.

 

[jscherb]

Did Imogene and Black Bear along with numerous other routes a month ago again - it certainly recharges my soul to be in the San Juans.

Todd Z.

How did the very large turning radius of the Grenadier do on the switchbacks at Black Bear?

 

[toddz69]

How did the very large turning radius of the Grenadier do on the switchbacks at Black Bear?

I'm not sure how they would do. I drive an early Bronco, which did great!

Todd Z.

 

[jscherb]

I'm not sure how they would do. I drive an early Bronco, which did great!

Todd Z.

My Jeeps can turn inside the turning radius of my Grenadier, even though I've adjusted the steering stops as far as possible. I have no reservations about taking the Jeeps on the tightest switchbacks but doing them in the Grenadier makes me a little nervous.

 

[jscherb]

Do you think a charcoal or wood stove is practical for overlanding? I can see how the wood version might be useful if you're camping somewhere there's readily available firewood, but carrying charcoal seems like it might be more trouble than carrying propane for the stoves many of us use?

Sam Watson's opinion of using something other than propane stoves:

Of course you'd need a nice way to carry the charcoal...

Or maybe a slow cooker?

or how about this solar cooker from the Spring issue of LRO?

What do you think of these non-propane options?