Colorado Trip Reports

It was quite a blast. Best part was the lack of other visitors. The busiest park was Arches on Saturday night, rolled in after sunset and passed a decent number of cars leaving, up until that point, i saw no more than 20 cars at each park

 

Hey guys. Will be doing some camping in New Mexico and thinking about driving on up to S CO. Durango, or Paragosa Springs area. Any recommendations where to get off the beaten path and camp with views. Will have a very small camper for a base camp. Would like to to do some mild tacoma exploring and hiking. Will be march 14-19th. Can I get some suggestions? Places to check out, places to avoid. Less people the better.

 

I don't know much about that area except that there will still be lots of snow that time of year.

 

Like unsafe to drive snow? I am a South TX boy my whole life. I seen 12 inch of snow one time in my life and I am 40 years old. I for sure want to get into some snow, but not blizzard Alaska cold type of crap. Just a few inchs for a snow angle, snowman, and snowball fight. Might need to stay a little further south in NM for that. Hell in that time of year here in TX we are doing spring break on the beach with bikinis most years.

 

My sister live in durango right now. She said everything is starting to melt right now. It has been pretty wind as of late. But we live in CO. Which means that you can't trust the weather report for anything longer then 10 min after it was given.

 

The weather here is very bi-polar in March. There could literally be a blizzard with multiple feet of snow one day and 70 degrees the next. Just be prepared for anything.

 

"March" has Latin roots originating from "every single fucking day"

 

The main and most county roads are pretty clear here in Durango, but roads a bit higher than us are pretty snow packed still. Of course, it was 60 deg. here at the house today, and we're at 7500ft, with snow/rain expected by Sat/Sunday.

 

Man that is exactly the way it is here in TX. Weather man says 70 for the weekend and sun. Then storms and cold fronts in the 30s at night. I have a heater. It is a tiny camper. More like a aluminum insulated tent with wheels. Taxa Cricket. Very minimalist. So if we can get out there and if weather is bad stay lower elevations with places to explore, things to do worst case? Hell we spent july in big bend. It was over 100 degrees by 10. We would be in the truck exploring with AC full blast till 6pm or so. Just cruising the back roads low speeds seeing what is out there. Here in TX we are mainly flat landers. The youtube videos really have my attention. I want to make this work. Thanks for the advice. What are some boondock backwoods areas we can camp. We dont need RV hookups or electric. Want just a mountainside
with a view and not many visitors.

 

He's right. This is today after driving through 2 blizzards! Rabbit Ears and Cameron Passes. Not fun but at least I was in my Taco!

 

I was coming back from the store yesterday and the truck said it was 65 out, yet I was looking up at the foothills and seeing snow fall. This week hasn't just been bi-polar, it's been more like Two Face. Sounds like you had an entertaining drive.

 

Entertaining is right. As a native of Colorado, I am quite used to it but when Larimer County stops plowing the roads from 7pm-5am and the snow starts falling at that time by 9pm it can wreak havoc on the visibility and safety of travelers. I am just glad to have had a Tacoma rather than the Nissan Sentra we saw before going up outside of Walden. The port souls that were driving that were just as white in the faces as the snow around them!

 

Better submit your Trips form before leaving the house to assess the risk

 

This thread isn't really the right place for this conversation, there is a Colorado BS thread that is better for chat.

That being said this is probably reaching you too late, but there are a ton of cool places in northwest NM that are free and clear of snow.

El Malpais:

I was there a few weeks ago, weather was great and there is a free BLM campground that trailers can easily fit.

There are a few trails in the area, including a back country route that goes to lava tubes and some old volcanic tubes.
That whole area is right off i40.

I am personally planning on hitting up Bisti Badlands this weekend:

between Farmington and Grants.

Like many have said The mountains can be snowy, but the eastern San Juans are melting fast, shouldnt have a problem on any of the highways this weekend.

 

as a blizzard begins for the weekend....

 

Anyone have any intel in/near the Colorado Springs area? Just looking to get out on some easier trails (1-4 difficulty) this weekend. TIA.

 

Did the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands over the last few days. Got a video of playing around before the trail... Poor passenger fender took a nice hit from that damn rock that decided to roll under it. It was awesome out there. Moab is much busier than two weeks ago when I was out there. But being that to be on White Rim, you need either a day use permit or a camping permit, it kept the Easter Jeep Safari Masses out. We saw a few motorcycles, two groups of bikers, some bikers on the road and then a dozen or so other vehicles during the three day, 100 mile journey.

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v471/aero3685/MAH02410_zpsjav5ogcz.mp4




And lots of other pics
White Rim Pics

 

Time for a high clearence rear bumper

 

haha, yeah, the first body damage is on the drivers side in the same place... tires lost grip coming down T33 plane crash trail and I slid too hard down the ledge. Drivers side bumper is still bent up and back too far.

 

I know how that goes my stock bumper is a little bent up.