Colorado & Utah : CAMPTEQ & the White Rim

[ab1985]

This story begins like many others with a guy sitting on the east coast dreaming about traveling west. I bought an 80 series Land Cruiser in Atlanta last spring. We’ve been to Red River Gorge and Great Smoky Mountain National Park, but I was angling for a reason to take her on a longer road trip. Sometime around the first of the year I noticed Campteq was offering a discount on the first batch of their new pop tops. We discussed it at home for a bit, and decided to pull the trigger. Gitty up.

:smiley_drive:

I emailed Campteq and we discussed options. I was sold pretty early on about the idea of cutting the roof out of my cruiser and going into full on camper mode. Over the next few days we hammered out the details and an install date was set. I would be travelling to Colorado so Campteq could perform the surgery. Since I was going to be out that way, I took a flyer and requested reservations for a couple of nights on the White Rim trail. I received word back later that day that I was confirmed for a night at Potato Bottom and another at Airport. Score!

So that’s the background. I’ll keep the talk small in favor of visual aids, but I’ll point out details where it makes sense. This is my trip from Kentucky to Colorado to Utah and back. Hope you enjoy.

 

[ab1985]

Day 1

Day one was a long drive from Prospect, KY to Salina, KS. I made decent time in the wet weather and arrived at a campground off I-70 by early evening with half of the long drive through Kansas under my belt. The hosts were nice and it was a cheap place to crash and grab a shower the next morning. As I sat in the back of my cruiser watching the rain and dreaming about the pop top I thought about the trip that lay ahead. I knew there would be epic scenery and great memories, and I knew from personal experience that the gravity of those moments would be lost, even in pictures, to those that weren't actually there. I had an idea.

Leaving Louisville with the balloon races in the foreground:

St. Louis in the rain:

Kansas:

 

[ab1985]

Day 2

Next morning I was up early, showered, and on the road not long after the sun “came up”. It was still overcast and looked like another day of driving through the muck, but I was headed west. Blue skies were only a matter of time, right? Back to my idea – I called my father with a spur of the moment proposition: "I'm going camping in Utah for a week, and I've got more airline miles than I know what to do with – what do you think about flying out to meet me?" After a brief pause followed by a spate of logistical inquiries it was decided. My father would fly into Denver and ride along for the Campteq install and White Rim. :friday:

I gave him my frequent flyer number and some direction on what to pack and we exchanged a few calls as I barreled down I-70 towards Denver where I would spend the afternoon at REI, Walmart, and Tewksbury & Co. picking up extra camping gear, groceries, and cigars (I scored a decent bottle port in there somewhere). I picked my father up at Denver International that night and we crashed at a Days Inn in Golden. The next morning it was off to Campteq for the Big Cut.


No more Kansas:

 

[ab1985]

Day 3

We woke up early the next morning and headed out of Golden. The drive up the through the Rockies was excellent. :Wow1: We arrived in Carbondale later that morning and met up with Eric from Campteq. Eric and Jeff were awesome hosts. Eric tore it up with the pop top install while Jeff showed us around the grounds and helped me plan routes for the next few days. I won't go into the install in detail here, but there are more pics on the full build thread here http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/102308-Project-Alpha-Bound-II-Electric-Boogaloo.

A couple of pics:

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Love your photos keep them coming

 

[ab1985]

Love your photos keep them coming

Thanks, Phil. I've got many more - should have everything up over the next few days.

 

[p nut]

Subscription initiated.

 

[LR Max]

 

[mtnbike28]

Great trip! I love that top!

 

[ab1985]

Day 4

Installation at the Campteq compound took the better part of a day. Eric offered up his place to crash, but I wanted to get as close as possible to our next day’s destination so we bid adieu to our great hosts and headed off toward Grand Junction. Up early again the next day, we were on the road after one last stop for supplies. We passed on Hwy 128 after feedback from Eric and Jeff and took Salt Valley Rd in through Arches where we were quickly greeted with close up views of the terrain we'd been eyeing all morning while rambling down the paved interstate. Through Arches and on to the Island in the Sky visitor center, we stopped often to take pictures all the while fixated on the snow capped La Sals on the horizon. That contrast against the browns and reds of the desert was a thematic point of enjoyment for me throughout this trip.

After checking in we descended the Mineral Bottom switchbacks and made our way to our campsite. Dinner was cooked, cigars were smoked, and adult beverages were consumed. It was turning out to be an awesome father/son trip.

Warning - high speed internet connection recommended.

 

[ab1985]

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[ab1985]

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[ab1985]

Day 5

Up at dawn seems to have been a recurring theme. My wife also thinks vacation should involve a beach. There's something about this hobby of ours.

We camped at Potato Bottom the previous night and were reserved at Airport Tower that evening which meant we had a bit of driving to do - a little less than 50 miles if memory serves me. Now that I've done it, I would recommend driving 25-35 miles per day tops. The scenery is jaw dropping and never ending. Many times we would tell ourselves after stopping for pictures "Ok, let's drive hard for a bit" thinking we had just gotten some really great shots. Then we would round a corner only to be presented with an even more breath taking view. Unreal.

It was a bit overcast which may have been a blessing. It never rained, but we didn't have to deal with blazing desert sun either. After 7 hours in (and out of) the seat we arrived at our second camp site. We had seen a group of older guys in a Toyota pickup and an Xterra going back and forth on the trail. At the end of the day we both pulled into Airport Tower at the same time. We rolled into B, they drove further back to A. As we set up we talked about how amazing our campsite was but how much better the other would have been. Set back further towards the hills, their site offered more privacy and possibly some protection from the windy conditions we knew were coming that evening. To my surprise, one of the guys walked down and asked if we wouldn't mind switching sites. They were camping for the 7th of 13 nights and were going to have to move from A to B over the course of the next two days. We were happy to accommodate - they got to stay in the same spot both nights, and we got to move further up the hill. Score.

That night was rib-eye steaks and mashed potatoes. Maybe a few more adult beverages, but who's counting.

 

[ab1985]

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[ab1985]

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