F/R Locked TRD Sport DCLB Build & Colorado Wheeling

This!

 

Thank you so much man! i appreciate the kind words!

I actually have loved the long wheel base while wheeling, so I’m sure your tundra would be great on the same trails! I think the benefit of a Taco vs a Tundra dimensionally is the width. There’s been a lot of times that I’ve narrowly squeezed the taco thru something where I feel like a tundra would struggle to get thru, but I’ve yet to wheel with one so I’d love to see that hypothesis proven / disproven first hand.

Yes, hopefully we’ll see each other on the trail sometimes!

 

Ran Slaughterhouse Gulch near Bailey, CO last week with my buddy who just purchased a 4Runner. Easy trail with a few fun & challenging obstacles, all of which had bypasses.

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July Fourth 2024 Weekend Recap

I got a really nice, long weekend away from work for the Fourth this year (they gave us Wed-Friday, which was incredible). My buddy & I spent Wednesday hitting Slaughterhouse Gulch (pictured above) and cooking some burgers on the trail to get in the holiday spirit. Upon arriving home, Hallie & I began prepping for our Fourth of July trip down to the San Juans by hitting the grocery store & loading the truck up with camping gear.

We hit the road early Thursday morning & arrived to camp late afternoon. Given it was the Fourth, campsites were at a premium. We ended up finding a pretty decent (views were incredible, but the road was so damn busy) dispersed site right off of Cinnamon Pass, a popular OHV route that is part of the Alpine Loop. We took a small walk along the pass with Theo to stretch our legs and give him some entertainment before heading back to camp to make dinner. For dinner that evening we cooked up some brats and chowed down on potato salad and chips. Brats are one of my favorite summertime foods and taste even better during the Fourth, haha.

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The next morning we hiked to Cooper Lake - one of the coolest trails we both have ever hiked. During the hike, we saw an equal person-to-bear ratio (1:1), which was awesome. It's very rare to have a trail all to yourself, especially one this beautiful. We did the complete hike, but were disappointed to find nothing more than a stream at the top. We think that there was an avalanche or landslide that filled in where the lake used to sit, so unfortunately no lake views or swims for Theo. The round trip distance from the truck was 8.96 miles and total elevation gain was 2,300 ft. I know that distance & elevation gain is not very significant, but we were wiped after the hike, haha. This was the longest & likely highest elevation hike that we've done with Theo and he did excellent. I honestly think he could have done quite a few more miles.

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That afternoon we just hung out at camp, read a bit, and I even helped a guy from Texas change a flat tire on his rental Jeep 4xe. LOL. We tried to fix some pasta for dinner that evening, but we unfortunately tapped the last of our 8.8lb propane tank (odd size, I know). Impressively, that tank lasted us from summer of last year through this particular weekend, so it was more than due for a refill. Given we couldn't warm the pasta up, we opted to have a smorgasbord of food. Leftover brats, cheese slices, dolmas, chips, and pickles. And honestly, it was pretty delicious.

The next morning we slept in & had a slow morning at camp. We made some iced coffees, yogurt parfaits (we love having cold stuff for breakfast during summer camps). After cleaning up breakfast, we took Theo down to the creek right below our campsite. There were a few beautifully clear pools that were perfect for him to swim in and play some fetch. He was living his best life. After getting Theo dried off, we picked up camp and made our way up to American Basin. I dropped off Hallie & Theo so they could enjoy some hiking & hanging out in the valley and I made my way up to the top of Cinnamon Pass. What an incredible drive! The views of the San Juans from up there are astounding. I continued downhill from the summit for a mile or two, but decided to turn around not too far after summiting since we were driving home that evening.

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All around we had a great couple days out in the San Juans. It continues to be one of our favorite places in all of Colorado for its beauty and remoteness.

 

That's awesome. This where these trucks shine IMO. Getting folks out there and back reliably. Looked like an awesome trip.

 

Thank you, Les! It really was an awesome trip. And I totally agree - this is where these trucks shine and I love that I can take it on a road trip, a hard wheeling trip, camping trip, and daily drive it, knowing it can do all of them well, comfortably, and reliably. Thank you for following along the build thread!

 

Subbed

 

Let’s go! Thank you for following along, Mike!

 

Hallie and I enjoyed a quick camping trip in Buena Vista this weekend. Awesome weather, great evening at camp, and some solid breakfast burritos in town this morning before getting stuck in traffic on the way home. A classic Colorado weekend.

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My dad and I ended pushing our week-long Colorado wheeling and camping trip from earlier in July to next week. The original dates had terrible weather forecasted, so we opted to push back to August to hopefully get better weather and give the passes some more time to completely melt their snow & open up.

Honestly, this delay was pretty welcomed. It gave me more time to continue testing the truck and dialing in anything that was not perfect.

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I finally got my RCI aluminum transmission and transfer case skids in. Super easy and straightforward install, especially since I opted for aluminum (so light). I am so freaking stoked for the peace of mind having full belly skids brings.

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My dad arrives this weekend and we officially head out Sunday.

I have been considering upgrading my camera setup from a Canon EOS Rebel T3i that my grandpa gifted me years ago to a Canon EOS R6 Mark II (full frame, mirrorless, just generally a badass camera). I have done a ton of research on if this the right camera for me, but was I highly inspired by @turbodb gear and trip write ups. The shots he gets of his adventures are just awesome. All that to say, I have rented a Canon R6 Mark II from a local camera shop for the week of the trip, so I should be capturing some incredible photos.

I can’t wait for this trip and to share some the incredible experiences with you guys too.

 

Agreed about @turbodb Amazing content. We just completed 2 week 6k Km round trip across 3 provinces. Enjoy your trip!

 

No way?! That's awesome man. Hope you guys enjoyed & were able to stay safe / have good weather. I know that there have been fires up in the western provinces - specifically saw that Jasper was hit hard. I've been up to Alberta & (barely) into BC a few times and I absolutely loved the locations I visited. I also have been a few fishing trips to northern Ontario with my dad & uncles. Canadas wows me every time - I would definitely considering moving up there if the opportunity presented itself.

Thank you for the well wishes on the trip!

 

Any particular reason you're going with Canon over Sony a7 iv? I'm in the market for a new camera as well.

 

Honestly it’s mostly bc I’m familiar with the canon platform and have some lenses I could potentially adapt to the new camera already. The Sony a7 iv looks incredible too!

 

Hallie & I spent this past weekend hiking & camping with her family out in the Sawatch range, specifically hiking Mt. Huron. She & I left from Denver mid-afternoon Friday and got caught in some brutal I-70 traffic and ended up arriving to camp around 8:00 pm. Luckily, her parents had headed out early that morning to snag a campsite & setup camp. They were able to grab an incredible site right at the start of the 4x4 trailhead that takes you up to the Mt. Huron trailhead. As we were driving in on the forest road, we used our walkie talkies (we got them for ski-season, but use them all the time for camping & offroading comms too) to let her parents know we were close. We got into camp, said our hellos, and quickly got the Clam setup before a heavy rain storm rolled in. Luckily, we got the Clam up and all the camp goods (e.g., chairs, camp table, food, etc.) pulled in right before it started raining hard.

The brats were passed around and roasted peppers & onions were loaded on top of a toasted bun. Such an awesome meal. We enjoyed some convos & a beer while the rain slowed & eventually stopped. We picked up camp, setup our beds, and got our backpacks loaded for the hike the next morning. We finally crawled into the truck bed for a "good nights" rest at 10:00 pm, wearily awaiting the 2:45 am wake up call that next morning to hit the trail.

Well, that 2:45 am alarm came earlier than expected (as it always does on these 14er trips). For those less familiar with hiking high-elevation mountains, it's critical to start your hikes early to avoid bad weather in the afternoons. In the mountains, the weather can change very fast, especially in the afternoons, and you definitely don't want to be the highest point on a mountain when storms roll in. Anyways... Hallie, Theo & I crawled out of the truck to find her parents already awake & moving. Hallie, her dad, and I loaded our stuff into the truck and her mom & Theo moved into the Clam for some additional sleep while we headed to the trail.

We got to the trailhead around 3:15 am. There were lots of overnight campers already parked at the trailhead and one other taco with some people getting geared up for the hike as well. We were the first ones on the trail that morning. I really like hiking early in the morning because the darkness hides some of the "what lies ahead" on the trail and you can just crush elevation & miles w/o feeling mentally discouraged. Hallie & I have actually hiked Mt. Huron before, but it was her dad's first ever 14er, so we wanted to do something that we knew would be a great starter mountain and have some incredible views. We reached tree line about an hour or so later and the sun was coming up, bringing some welcomed light to our faces & the more western mountains. It was stunning.

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Once we reached tree line, we saw what looked like some bad weather brewing towards the north & it looked like it was heading our way. We waited about 15 minutes to see what was going to happen & luckily it cleared and we decided to push onwards.

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We hiked thru the valley and approached the switchbacks that lead towards the summit. We made it all the way to 13,500 ft before calling it as Hallie's dad's legs were reaching their limit. We snapped some pics and starting to make our way down the mountain.

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Hallie made a pitstop for a hard boiled egg on the walk down. Idk why, I but found eating boiled eggs on a mountain hilarious, so I had to snap some pics of that too, haha. We got back to the truck and enjoyed a much earned beer before heading back towards camp.

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All in, we hiked around 7 miles and 3,000 ft of elevation. Hallie's dad absolutely crushed it for his first 14er and for coming in from the midwest. We even got word that he's got the itch and wants to do multiple 14ers each year, which is awesome.

Upon arrival at camp, we got a warm welcome from her mom & Theo. Her mom had made a "mountain man" breakfast for us, which we all feasted on after that long hike.

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We enjoyed coffee and gave Theo a quick walk before hoping in our beds for nap (I know, ironic to drink coffee before napping). We woke up around 2:30 to a beautiful mountain afternoon. We wanted to show her mom the valley since she didn't get to see it earlier that morning, so we loaded in the truck and drove up the 4x4 trail a bit to where it opened up. We enjoyed a little hike and some good convo.

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After the hike, we rolled back into camp and hungout for a bit. Hallie and I ended up walking up towards the old Winfield Mining camp to read some of the signage and learn more about the history. The remaining homes, school houses, etc. are very well maintained & I think are largely privately owned & still used today by individuals.

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Once again, we had an awesome dinner that night and enjoyed some quality time around the campfire. I don't remember exactly, but we all crawled into our beds fairly early due to the early morning hike.

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To wrap the weekend up, we made some breakfast & coffee, packed up camp, and headed back to Denver on Sunday. All in, this was an incredible weekend in the mountains and one of the most relaxing camping outings we've had thanks to Hallie's parents getting camp, making tons of meals for us, and providing great company.

 

So fun that they were down to camp with you in the mountains, and her dad gave Mt. Huron an attempt! Sounds like a super relaxing weekend.

 

Quick update before the full trip report. My dad and I had an INCREDBLE time out in the mountains last week. We adjusted the original plan a bit to limit the heights / exposure of the trails we hit, but it turned out even better than expected. I'm hoping to do the full write up sometime this week, but I think this one is going to take a while & I'm going to need to think about the structure a bit since it incapsulates so many places, activities, and photos. Here's a teaser of some of the scenes from the trip!

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Looking forward to the read and pictures!

 

2024 Week-Long Colorado Wheeling Trip

Trip Background

Dad and I had been planning this trip for months, researching the most iconic mountain passes that Colorado has to offer, hoping to traverse as many dirt miles from Denver to southwestern Colorado as possible.

My dad was the person who got me into offroading very early on in my life. From a newborn, I was riding with him on ATVs around Kansas, and by the time I was 8, he had gotten me my own little 90cc Polaris ATV so I could start riding myself. Over the years, he's taught me how to ride those ATVs, motorcycles, drive in the snow, and provided so many other driving experiences. However, this was his first venture into offroading in a "full-sized" vehicle (I know a Tacoma is mid-sized, but for lack of a better term, off-roading something that is typically driven on the road and not specifically designed by the manufacturer to live its life offroad).

Photo of my dad & I​

Trip Beginning

To start the trip, I picked my dad up from Union Station on Saturday, and we headed back to the house to finish loading up the truck. Although I had spent hours getting the truck ready for this trip in the months before, of course, something had to go wrong right before we left. You might be wondering what that problem was… well, the driver-side rear tire had developed a slow leak after taking it into my typical shop for getting a new TPMS sensor in another tire. For whatever reason, the valve had gotten broken and jammed, causing a slow air leak. Given the leak, my dad and I opted to grab the full-size spare from under the truck and replace the one that was slowly leaking.

After sweating our a**es off getting it tossed on, we finalized organizing the truck, grabbed a quick bite for dinner, and headed out on 285 towards Bailey, CO.

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We arrived at camp late that evening and set up a simple camp. That night, my dad and I decided we'd first try both sleeping in the bed of the truck on the @BamBeds platform. From a space perspective, we were comfortable, but due to snoring, sleep wasn't great that night, haha.

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Day 1: Red Cone Pass

We started day 1 of the trip with some coffee and a quick protein bar at camp. We deconstructed the sleeping setup and loaded up the truck, heading out for Red Cone Pass.

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We started on the eastern side of the route, near the trailhead split for Red Cone or Webster Pass. The trail started off moderate but quickly became more difficult as we began our climb. The forested area of the trail was by far the most challenging. There are a few obstacles that require skids and rock sliders, and in my opinion, a rear locker, to get through, along with some switchbacks that are decently tight for a longer wheelbase vehicle. We made it through this part of the trail with no issues. My dad was worried about a couple of the obstacles when we approached them, but he was thoroughly impressed with the truck's capability as we made it through them. He also did an incredible job spotting, but no surprise there with his offroad experience.

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After taking the final few switchbacks, the tree line started to fade, and we made our way into the alpine. The views from the top are incredible, with panoramic vistas of the surrounding peaks. From the summit of Red Cone, which stands at an impressive 12,801 feet, you can see major peaks like Grays and Torreys to the east, and the rugged Tenmile Range to the west. We approached the summit and got our first sight of the mountain goats. Although I've spent many days high in the mountains over the last few years, this was my first time seeing these goats in person, which was so cool. Definitely a bucket list wildlife encounter in CO. They seemed very normalized to hikers and vehicles passing through and just hung out by us at the top.

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After snapping some pictures, we took the VERY steep descent down to where Red Cone connects to Webster Pass. We took Webster Pass westbound towards Montezuma, enjoying continued views of the mountain valley.

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After getting off Webster Pass, we hopped back on the highway from Montezuma to Breckenridge, grabbed some ice, and then headed to camp.

That night, we camped at one of the dispersed sites about 20 minutes outside of Breck. Upon arriving at camp, we set up the Clam, plopped our camping items inside, set up my tent, and got a fire started. We whipped up some sandwiches and enjoyed some good conversation recapping the day and planning for day 2 before crawling into bed. It rained off and on that night, which provided a soothing pitter-patter on top of the tent and truck while we slept. What a way to start the trip.

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Stay tuned for updates from days 2-7!​

 

Love the hidden winch , the way it don’t look is what I like. Great lookin truck I will follow you Sir , have in mind a cap to camp in as well Just this far into your build thread do you have pictures of inside the cap, I’m impatient. Looking forward for ur updates thanks man for posting.