Jeep plunges 450 feet off Colorado mountainside

[shade]

I simply have no desire to do Black Bear or anything similar in difficulty, with that much traffic. I've crawled through some rough stuff, but having a Farabee's Jeep land on me wouldn't improve my life.

As was said, that area is simply filled with trails to all sorts of beautiful places. If claiming Black Bear as a prize is important, go for it, but there are plenty of other places to go without dealing with that mess.

 

[roving1]

I'm an addict of this way of tough trail riding in the San Juans, 3 weeks back was my 17th year in a row of taking SOA's tours.

Having a random stranger drive me on a shelf road with random passengers sounds close to my perfect circle of hell lol.

I get wanting to look at the scenery. I have exactly 2 people I trust to drive me so I can look at the scenery. But outside of that I would rather drive myself for eternity than just hook up with randos. I sort of hate people lol but not lol :/

 

[roving1]

I simply have no desire to do Black Bear or anything similar in difficulty, with that much traffic.

I have to agree. I have this on a bucket list as the one time I did it it was socked in by clouds. But as more of a part of a day trip to Telluride than as part of an escape to wilderness. I avoid national parks just due to the crowds these days and trails like black bear kind of get lumped into that mindset. I have 100 remote places ahead on my list of to dos that have priority in my limited time off scheduling.

 

[shade]

If the terrain is that rough, I'd rather be on foot than lurching around.

 

[shade]

I have to agree. I have this on a bucket list as the one time I did it it was socked in by clouds. But as more of a part of a day trip to Telluride than as part of an escape to wilderness. I avoid national parks just due to the crowds these days and trails like black bear kind of get lumped into that mindset. I have 100 remote places ahead on my list of to dos that have priority in my limited time off scheduling.

Most NPs are devoid of people if you walk a few minutes from pavement, or any groomed trails to attractions.

 

[roving1]

Most NPs are devoid of people if you walk a few minutes from pavement, or any groomed trails to attractions.

I wouldn't disagree, but unless you are planing multi day hikes it is not worth driving through the throngs of humanity to get to those places when places between 80-100% as cool or interesting are easily visited without the people, fees, or restrictions outside of the parks.

I have some exceptions like hikes through Arches NP. But mostly I always regret being in a NP in a vehicle with the traffic and parking more than I enjoy everything else.

 

[1pieceatatime]

Arches and Canyonlands are gems in the regard that you can easily get into them on non-paved, lightly-trafficked routes that avoid the throngs.

 

[zoomad75]

I have to agree. I have this on a bucket list as the one time I did it it was socked in by clouds. But as more of a part of a day trip to Telluride than as part of an escape to wilderness. I avoid national parks just due to the crowds these days and trails like black bear kind of get lumped into that mindset. I have 100 remote places ahead on my list of to dos that have priority in my limited time off scheduling.

It's on my bucket list as well, but not during peak season. I've got a couple of buddies that want to do it too that all have years of off road driving that won't have a problem doing it. The plan is going late in the season to limit the traffic. Not sure if it will happen this year or next.

If all I wanted to do is hit a high shelf road I could hit a number of other trails in central Colorado if I just wanted the thrill without the traffic. But Black Bear is just one of those iconic trails that everybody wants to tackle. I get the draw that the trail attracts all to it. I just hope that those that do take the time to understand if they are mentally ready for the drive along with the vehicle.

I know this, my wife will not go with me. She's not good with high shelf roads at all. There's a lot of screaming when she's gone with me on similar trails and it's a wicked distraction to have. We have talked about taking this trail and I've shown her pics and video and got the hard no from her. She has no intention of taking that trail at all. She trusts my driving totally but can't handle the height. So it will be a solo run for me.

 

[mtnbiker4evr13]

We were in Ouray 2 weeks before the jeep incident in the original post. Ran all the open passes in a 79 CJ7 with a full cage but there were quite a few places that had major pucker factor and I've spent years running rather difficult east coast terrain.

I was amazed at the droves of people in sxs's and rental jeeps all over the place. I can see how people unfamiliar with offroad driving or even just in a different vehicle can get in bad situations. Moab is pretty similar with the climbs/decents for people who don't know what is "bad".

 

[billiebob]

The roll cage is pretty impressive. They got very lucky.

The Wtangler has the highest record of preventing driver fatalities in insurance industry statistics.

In BC my TJR insurance is $500.00 less than insuring a pickup truck thanks to that record.

 

[billiebob]

And we constantly add to our vehicles instability. First we lift it and add big tires. Then we throw a few hunred pounds on the roof. Over the past few years I have returned to a stock suspension and tires closer to stock, absolutely everything about my TJR is better as a result including ride and gas mileage. With 33s, a lift, wider stance I averaged 17mpg. Just changing to skinny tires and stock height has givenmme another 5mpg. I now average 22mpg on the highway. AND I miss nothing. I actually cross ditches to access the beach with MORE confidence.

Most of our mods are about ego and getting into the big boys club. I admire those with the balls to keep it as Jeep intended.

Just check youtube for the guys doing the Rubicon in often near stock CJ2s.

 

[billiebob]

Wow, glad they'll make it. That's scary stuff. I am a little surprised as they're from the area so not quite the same as a tourist flying in a renting a Jeep, but who knows. I hope we find out what occurred.

This highlights why a spotter can be so important. As much as I worry about the over reliance on technology, some of the "surround" camera technology might be very helpful in situations like this too.

I say all the above gives a false sense of security. Sure doing the challenges on the Rubicon rather than doing the bypasses needs a spotter, but if you have no sense of where your tires are, or where they should be, stay home.

 

[shade]

Cameras don't really steal your soul.

 

[dwh]

Cameras don't really steal your soul.

Can you prove that?

 

[shade]

Can you prove that?

42