19 days in a Jeep.... Colorado, Utah and a little of Arizona

[unkamonkey]

Not sure when you ran Top of the World last, but the left part of the loop was badly eroded in September. Enough that I was dragging my rear bumper on the ledges. Maybe it's better now, I haven't read reports from the safari groups.

I'm going back in September.

It's been a couple of years. I did hit my rear springs on one of the ledges. Another friend with a CJ7 hit his gas tank skid plate on the same ledge. The 3rd guy in his CJ5 with Elockers front and rear got stuck somehow as did the JKUR following him. Must have been their Bourbon and beer.

 

[BADDANDY]

Thanks for the write-up of you trip. One question; where would you not have taken the trailer you're building? Thanks.

 

[c_mack9]

What are the night time temps like in the Colorado portion that time of year? I've been selling off a lot of useless stuff out of the garage and I've almost made enough money to pay for my trip this September! I think about it every single day.

 

[Scoutn79]

What are the night time temps like in the Colorado portion that time of year? I've been selling off a lot of useless stuff out of the garage and I've almost made enough money to pay for my trip this September! I think about it every single day.

30's and 40's depending on elevation and whether or not a storm is in the area.

Darrell

 

[whatevah]

Thanks for the write-up of you trip. One question; where would you not have taken the trailer you're building? Thanks.

Great question! Out of the trails I mentioned, I wouldn't take it on Hells Revenge, Elephant Hill (switchbacks) or Black Bear Pass (crazy tight switchbacks). I'd actually like to take it up the easier side of Top of the World and camp for a night, but haven't checked the maps to see if that's allowed there. With the 20" ground clearance and Max-Coupler, it'll handle the other trails just fine although might need a little spotting for Poison Spider. My plan is to run the harder trails as day trips and set up a basecamp for a few nights with the trailer.

 

[whatevah]

What are the night time temps like in the Colorado portion that time of year? I've been selling off a lot of useless stuff out of the garage and I've almost made enough money to pay for my trip this September! I think about it every single day.

In 2013, I was in Ouray around the 20th and it dropped a foot of snow above 10,000ft. There's a photo of me stuck on my other thread. My Alta Lakes camp was in the 20s. Last year, I went 2 weeks earlier... We had frost overnight at Alta Lakes but otherwise wore tshirts or sweatshirts. Never needed the Mr Heater this trip.

I hope you'll post photos from your trip! September will be here sooner than you realize, but time will slow down once you finally get out there.

 

[BADDANDY]

Thanks for the reply, I asked because you wrote about your trip with a trailer in mind. The trails you ran in CO is what I'm interested in. I'm more of an A to B one day, then B to C another, C to D etc. with my offroad tent trailer. Yah most of Moab is day trippin sans trailer, been there, done some, but want to do the non-tradition surrounding routes next time I go, A to B etc. with the trailer.

 

[whatevah]

Ok, the CO trails I did were all easy for a lifted Jeep, but Black Bear Pass is very tight, a lot of vehicles have to do 3-point turns. Most people do that as a loop with Imogene Pass, so you could park the trailer somewhere and return to it. That said, this is going off of advice from others as I was blocked both trips from finishing the trail. A 2-door might have the turn radius to make it through with a trailer. I'll examine the various trail videos of it to get a better idea.

 

[c_mack9]

30's and 40's depending on elevation and whether or not a storm is in the area.

Darrell

In 2013, I was in Ouray around the 20th and it dropped a foot of snow above 10,000ft. There's a photo of me stuck on my other thread. My Alta Lakes camp was in the 20s. Last year, I went 2 weeks earlier... We had frost overnight at Alta Lakes but otherwise wore tshirts or sweatshirts. Never needed the Mr Heater this trip.

I hope you'll post photos from your trip! September will be here sooner than you realize, but time will slow down once you finally get out there.

Yikes! I was expecting warmer temps than that! I don't camp in the winter so I don't really have cold weather gear suck as proper sleeping bags, etc. I might need to bump the dates up but I don't want to beat the fall colors!

 

[zzz150]

Awesome looking trip! Nice setup on the Jeep, I just picked one up and went with the same lift height and tire size. Just right for daily and trail use.

 

[BADDANDY]

Thanks again, no BLACKBEAR. I'll be looking forward to your Sept trip report this time with the trailer. I have seen lots of pics with trailers at passes, but no trip reports of use of them on the trails.

 

[VA Overlander]

AWESOME report! I appreciate you taking the time to put it together for all of us. I am making the trip to CO this summer from VA, do you mind if I send you a PM to get some campsite ideas over there?

 

[whatevah]

I don't mind at all, sharing is what this site is about. However, I only know of 3 spots in CO, two along the Alpine Loop and the Alta Lakes site.

 

[JeffRRC]

Great thread, thanks for sharing. I'm in RVA and hoping to make it out to CO next year for the FJ Summit. I'm very interested to read about your trailer build as I've been thinking about using the JSherb M-trailer as the basis for a build.

 

[Bushcoat]

Wicked pics, looks like a great time! And I have the same brown Jeep shirt lol.