Wisconsin area events, NEW POLL!!!

Some highlights from my trip to Colorado. Met up with Brian (@Trident904 on 4Runners.com
) on Tuesday, just as we had planned, despite my very exciting ride on Monday. We went directly to the Alpine Loop trail. The loose rocks were a new off roading thing for me. It wasn't nerve wracking, but it was different. Some places my tires were meer inches from the edge of the abyss. I could look at my sliders and it was 500 ft or more to the bottom. The views from above the tree line were incredable. Did it end to end then hit a Mexican place for lunch.

Brian's daughter had bad case of the altitudes, and his sig other found out she has friends in Telluride. They decided we would take Imogene Pass to town and there they were going with plan B. For me to get back to camp, I took the Ophir Pass trail. I thought it would be an easy drive through the trees. And it was, until it wasn't. Above treeline, it becomes a very narrow, one lane shelf road. You can see the road after you leave the trees, and I had to wait 15 mins for the Jeep to get down before I could go up. I still met a Ford Ranger.There are 2 turnouts on the shelf. Fortunately we met at a turn out. Still, it was sketchy as fuck getting around each other. Pics of that later. I'm tired of typing now. I'll post up Thursday later.

 

I don't know if I'd be able to do that, I'm afraid of heights

 

Dude, Milwaukee this time of the year is nice. I truly enjoy this new glarus totally naked beer. Leaving tomorrow tho

 

You say that like it's a problem...

 

The suspense is over. Her shirt says big sister. You guys can put two and two together




And for my eagle-eyed viewers you might recognize the background. If @McSpazatron doesn't I'd be shocked.


Edit: Totally forgot it was the other thread I was supposed to post this on

 

Congrats!!

 

Big sister is going to have show little sister who has all the snacks and treats.

Very happy for all.

 

Congrats on the addition!!!!!!

 

Congratulations! That is fantastic news!

 

If youse is afraid of heights, pick your trails carefully. Some of those trails are on the literal ragged edge. I could look out the drivers window at my sliders and beyond the sliders was certain death. All I could see was 100's of feet of free fall. May take a few seconds to hit the bottom. It is a long way down.

Thursday, I was left to my own devices as Brian's better-half wanted to go see her friends in Telluride, and his daughter wasn't liking the altitude. Checking the Funtrek's Guide, Red Mine Trail was right off Hwy 550 only a few miles away. I skipped breakfast and hit the dirt. The trail winds through the high alpine forest and was very enchanting in the morning sun. There are a few places that it does get above the tree line. I was in no rush and took my time, stopping for a few pics and take in the views. Trail was super easy and I didn't mind wheelin' alone on that one. When I finished at the south trailhead, I was hungry and had a few hard boiled eggs and an orange. Looking at the On-X app, there was a trail right across the hi-way. On-X says it's the "Chattanooga Trail" and off I go. This is another winding trail, up through the trees and gaining a 'lil elevation. Hikers had parked their 4x's where ever they could. It was pretty tight getting by in some places, but no issues. I get to the pass, and the sign says "Ophir Pass". Good job On-X. I had done Ophir in the other direction yesterday, I really didn't feel like going down that shelf road. But there was no point turning around. I was there for the thrill, just not alone. There were 2 jeeps going down when I rounded the switchback, and I could see a few jeeps waiting at the bottom to come up. There is a clear view from top to bottom of the sketchy part and I was only a couple of mins behind #2. I didn't want to wait for those 2 to get down, then have to wait for the others to come up. So I went for it. The trail on the Telluride side is a lot wider than the Ouray side of the mountain, and getting to pavement was a breeze. I had planned to take the hi-way back to camp. After I got to Telluride, I decided to take Imogene Pass instead. May as well run that one the other way, too, eh? There was a bicycle race going on, bottom to top. Seemed it was more a push-your-bike-to-the-top race. I asked everyone I saw if they needed water. Imogene wasn't too bad running it alone, but I did flatten the exhaust tip. A jeeper had a 3 ft pry bar and I got it somewhat open. Stopped at the "Mechanic on Duty" gas station in Ouray. 3 mins and $20 later I have a souvenir.

 

Appreciate it guys!


Now from a high to a record low. Got high centered on casual crawler/sunday drive right at the end when a storm rolled in. @OldSchlPunk being the upstanding guy he is, came out all the way here to winch me out

Seriously Rich , I appreciate the fuck out of you coming out. I would have been screwed.

 

Anyone would've done the same...

 

Gold star for you Rich!!!!!!!

 

Here's a picture someone got.




I did a pass in the morning with my brothers-in-law and got through just fine before this. Weather and some rowdy side by sides could've played a factor in the ruts being too deep. We did see a bunch of wooden boards and stuff strewn around the area so someone else must have gotten jammed.

At the end of the day it was my decision to keep going after it started raining and it was all on me.

Some minor damage to the rear bumper cap prior to getting stuck and on the passenger rear door on the way out if there. Damn ents had to kick me while I was already down.Me and @rubbersidedown are twinsies now.







Pride is wounded and the lesson is learnt. When you think you have one more trail in you just call it a day. Kids had fun at least. My sisters, not so much

 

That looks like the driver side rear door....

 

The light show on the way home last night was fantastic!

Man, that was really greasy in spots!

 

If it helps I took Ida through that same spot on the last trip and really shouldn’t have. She came down and did some plastic damage to her bumper. Granted it wasn’t nearly as dug up as in your photos plus it was drying out at the time.

 

Some might consider it a rut, while others look at it as a sink hole.
All in a days fun!
Thank G@d for retirees.

 

It was so bad in there after the rain, I thought I was going to end up stuck trying to get in behind him. I got in front of him, but the mud was so churned up that I couldn't keep my truck on line to get around behind him. I almost hit trees a couple of times myself. Finally, I gave up and pulled out my come-along. It was a bitch, but eventually we got just enough pull to get him securely on the traction boards and out.

I feel bad that he ended up thumping that tree trying to get out. I was spotting him and he had about 3" extra on both sides. I got him to where he had to turn hard driver's to keep from hitting a rock, unfortunately he slid just a few inches into the rock, which rolled the truck into the tree. It was hard to stand in places it was so slick.

There was one other possible way out of there which we could've tried...it looked way more risky to me, a bunch of off-camber stuff that could've easily ended up in sliding sideways into other stuff.

We got it out! That was the big thing. Cisco @Aztec120 and the family got to finish their celebration!

 

Damn... I think maybe more of my plastic bits got cracked up but that's still painful to see. I priced out replacing everything I would have needed to get it back to stock including the color matched cover and it was going to be between $550 and $700 for the parts.

That's when I started thinking about a high clearance bumper for back there. Didn't want to have the same problem again after fixing it. My C4 bumper was ordered exactly 4 weeks ago with an 8 week lead time. I'm not in any way suggesting that you take this path but of course ask me anything you'd like to know. I spent way too much time on that decision.

Oh, and congrats to you and your family on the good news!