IntrepidXpedition 2007

[IntrepidXJ]

Well, I am heading out from work later this afternoon and making my way out to Colorado to start my 2+ week trip.

I'm going to try and post updates and pictures from the road, but I'm guessing if I do, I will only have time to post them up on my blog.

So if you are interested, check it out here: http://myxj.net/blog/

I'll be starting out at the Sawatch Range before heading over to the San Juans.......also stops in Grand Junction, La Sals, Moab, San Rafael Swell, Uintas, Devil's Tower, Badlands NP (among others) are planned.

Really looking forward to it!

:wings:

 

[The BN Guy]

Keep the shiny side up and have fun!

 

[hattrik21]

I can't wait to see some updates.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Day 2 - The day that almost wasn't!

Why was it almost not? Well, when I got close to the Nebraska border, not only was my Jeep running very warn and almost overheating, but my transmission wasn't shifting properly.......

I decided to stop and get dinner at Country Kitchen and then turn around and head home. Luckily after dinner I scanned my check engine codes and was able to clear it causing the shifting problem to go away. Then I decided to make it to Denver by morning in order to fix the overheating problem. During the night I was able to drive with no issues since it was cool out, but as soon as it warmed up, I had to turn the heat on to keep the vehicle cool enough. I ended up only sleeping 1.5 hours last night (as still haven;t got any more than that), making it to Denver by 9am and replacing my whole cooling system (with a big help from Mark over on NAXJA) by around 3pm. I was still able to stop at Sonic for dinner and make it to the Sawatch Range by 5pm so I could run a trail or two and keep on schedule!

What a day!

Anyways, here I am getting ready to head to bed at Chalk Creek campground in Nathrop.....so I can explore some more tomorrow (plus make up for my lack of sleep last night). It feels great to be back in Colorado again!

But I will leave you with a couple of pictures I have taken so far. Enjoy

Fixing my Jeep in Denver:

Sevenmile Road:

Now I am off to bed.....goodnight!

 

[bovw]

I made the drive from Chicago to Denver is one shot a couple years ago, I do not envy you on the journey. Between the traffic and carsick kid, we made Denver at 4AM.

 

[teotwaki]

Wow.... gorgeous scenery and really cool to get your reports while you are on the road!

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Day 3.....just some pics for now.

St Elmo

Hancock Pass

Hancock Lake Rd

Alpine Tunnel Road

Alpine Tunnel

Cumberland Pass

Tincup

Mary Murphy Mine

Pomeroy Lake

Iron Chest

Tomorrow I make my way to Silverton.

 

[teotwaki]

Sweet! Give us more...........

 

[The BN Guy]

Very cool pix! Dang that is a beautiful state.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Day 4 in Pictures (2 days late)

Day 4 in Pictures

Headed from Monarch, CO over to Silverton almost never hitting pavement on Sunday.

Old Monarch Pass

Middle Quartz Creek

Pitkin

Traffic on Los Pinos Pass

Los Pinos Pass

Cunningham Gulch

Stony Pass

Silverton

 

[Tucson T4R]

Outstanding country. I have to find a way to get up there and explore the area. Great pics. Thanks for posting.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Day 5 in Pictures (1 day late)

Wow! That's all I can say about the San Juans......I have seen thousands of pictures opf the area over the years, and none of them do this place any justice....not even any I took. You really have to go there to get the full experience......the scenery is just amazing! Anyways, I will leave you with a few pictures from Monday now.

From Engineer Pass

Whitmore Falls

Carson City along Wager Gulch

From Cinnamon Pass

Animas Forks

Placer Gulch

Lake Como from California Pass

Corkscrew Pass

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Day 6 in Pictures (on time)

Well, my original plan for today was to take Ophir Pass over to Telluride and then take Imogene back into Ouray before heading up to Grand Junction......unfortunately a big storm in Telluride changed my plans last night. When I got to the top of Ophir, I found a road closed sign, so I headed over to Black Bear....again, another road closed sign. Finally I headed over to Imogene from Ouray and found a ranger putting up another road closed sign.......apparently they had some bad storms and a few mudslides that closed the trails on the Telluride side. I did take Imogene to the top and back, though.

After getting out of Ouray I headed up to Grand Junction over the Uncompahgre Plateau.

Here's some pics from the day.

Ophir Pass

Yankee Boy

What I found at Imogene

Imogene

Back to some red rocks near Montrose

Heading down into Jack's Canyon

Now I'm going to be in Grand Junction for a few days attending the UFWDA annual meeting....so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get on any trails again until Friday.....but I'm going to try

 

[The BN Guy]

As usual, some beautiful pix! Keep 'em coming and keep me dreaming.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Day 7

Well, day 7 has come and gone. Unfortunately, I was stuck in a UFWDA meeting most of the day. However, this evening, I did manage to get out to the Grand Junction desert and get a few pics of the Book Cliffs.

Book Cliffs in the background with a nasty storm rolling in

At the end of 27.25 road

Sun is setting, storm is rolling in and high winds are kicking up some dust

More meeting tomorrow....