AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Of course he has haha

 

Thanks a bunch, appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the rest as well!

LOL. We've had 2nd and 3rd gens out as well. Equal opportunity Taco's.

Very cool place for sure! Would love to go back and explore it more - the mine ruins especially.

 

The Re-Tour Day 4: It Always Snows at Goose Lake
August 27, 2018.

The wet and cold continued all night - or rather, the wet continued and the cold got colder! We awoke, just after 8:00am to a dusting of snow spread across camp and our trucks, and several inches on the surrounding mountains.

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It was extremely beautiful, though the fact that it snowed on our first night with Monte @Blackdawg wasn't lost on any of us. "Welcome to Montana guys!" he said as he climbed out of his tent.

As we all set about our morning activities - breakfast, breaking camp, etc., I headed out to capture what I could - the valley a beautiful green, "spring" in full force just as the new snow was starting to fall. A dilapidated cabin succumbing to time.

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Not only were we lucky to be here despite the weather, we were lucky for the weather window we got that morning - if it was raining, it was only just very lightly raining - while we packed everything up. It was all still wet of course, but it's much nicer to pack up wet gear than it is to pack up wet gear while it's raining on you! Soon, we were ready to go - with just one last thing to take care of - Monte had driven out the night before fully aired up, so he took a few minutes to make his ride more comfortable.

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And then we were off - back up the way we'd come, to Lulu Pass - the calm weather window not just closing as we reached higher elevations, but making us wonder what was in store for the rest of the day!

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Eventually, as we descended the other side of Lulu Pass, we reached the trailhead to Goose Lake - a trail that we'd never gotten to run the year before when we were stopped in our tracks by six inches of snow and the promise of more. Therefore, as you can imagine, discussion ensued - would it be in better shape this year? Would we get stuck at Goose if it continued to snow? Would we get stuck on the way to Goose?

In the end, rain falling, we decided we'd brave the trail and deal with the consequences later. For now, we were going to enjoy ourselves in the muddy mess.

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The Goose Lake trail was nothing like the trails Mike @Digiratus, Dan @drr and I had traveled the previous three days - it is rocky and slow-going even in the best of weather. And that meant we were having a blast in the less-than-best of weather. Over the next hour or so, it rained on-and-off, and we took advantage of the "off" to pop out of the trucks and take in our surroundings.

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There were of course some shenanigans as well. I mean, we all missed Ben @m3bassman, but that didn't mean we couldn't still feel like he was there with us.

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But mostly we continued on, up the rocky trail - excited to see what both the route and destination would bring. Hoping that by the time we made it to Goose Lake, the weather would clear and we'd be in camp very early.

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The scenery as we climbed was amazing. I was lucky to be in back (after telling Dan to pass me) so I could soak it all in a bit slower than everyone else. Or perhaps more frantically if one was viewing from a drone above - so in-and-out of the truck I must have been!

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But, as usual I caught back up to the group eventually - they too slowed down by their urge to capture the trail on film and we proceeded up past several more lakes as we worked our way deeper into the wild, Mike flexing out his new Cooper STT Pros as he made his way up.

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And then, we hit an inflection point in the weather - a point where the rain turned first to snow, and then to heavy snow. And then weather took a turn for the worse.

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That was of course no big deal until Monte came over the CB to tell us that "This is the first tough obstacle. I tried doing it in Igor when it was dry, and wasn't able to make it without lockers...so I recommend that Zane @Speedytech7 follows me up the bypass and the guys with lockers decide if they want to try it." (Mike, Dan and I being the guys with lockers.)

Mike was first in line and gave it a shot as Monte spotted from above.

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Not wanting to push his already torn CV, Mike didn't make it up the obstacle and eventually backed down to take the bypass. Dan was next in line and with 35" tires, powered up with little fanfare - the big tires making all the difference. Then it was my turn. Rear locker engaged, I headed up, picking my line carefully to reduce the risk of bashing something I really didn't want to bash (my rear diff, etc.) and a couple minutes later I was through! Pretty cool IMO, given my memories of the year before - where on trails less difficult than this one, I took the bypasses.

All together at the top of the hill we continued on, closer and closer to our destination; the snow falling more fiercely as our elevation increased. Now, only the second obstacle - the gatekeeper to Goose Lake - stood in our way. It's an off-camber part of the trail that slick snow would only make more difficult; messing up would mean sliding the driver side of our truck into a rock wall.

Monte went first.

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Then, it was Mike's turn. And Mike made it look easy.

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Zane followed Mike as I snapped my last photo and headed back to the truck to get ready to follow Dan. We all made it though uneventfully - the obstacle clearly not as sketchy as it'd been in previous years. Perhaps not a good thing, given it's gatekeeper status for what could become an unfortunately crowded location.

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Within minutes we'd arrived at our final destination - barely discernible in the heavy snow. As Monte announced our arrival, I can only believe that the rest of us were thinking, "OK, now what?"

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There was no sign of the snow letting up, and making camp in these conditions seemed...what's the word? Right, foolish. So I picked up the CB and asked, "So what's the plan? Are we staying here for the night, in which case I'm sitting in my truck and talking on the CB until the weather lets up, or are we heading back out to lower elevations?"

There was general agreement on the stay-in-the-trucks-and-talk-on-the-CB part, but also a desire to actually see Goose Lake - a short hike from where we had to park the trucks. So, we agreed that the best plan was to check out the lake for a few minutes and then head back down the mountain for the time being; coming back at the end of the trip when the weather was (hopefully) better.

So we donned our jackets and headed to Goose. Where, as in the valley the night before, it was "spriwinter."

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A brief lull in the storm got our hopes up that the weather might break and we'd be able to camp at the lake, but within minutes the snow started coming down again and we made a beeline back to the trucks to head back down the trail to lower - and hopefully drier - elevations.

This of course meant negotiating the obstacles on the trail again, which we all did successfully despite the slippery stuff on the ground.

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And eventually, we found ourselves back outside Cooke City, airing up and having a great time doing it. Weather be damned!

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Mike even "showed us" some road rash he'd gotten on the trail - finally breaking in his new SCS Ray 10's. 'bout time Mike! And thanks for being so respectful in your sharing.

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Tires full of air, we headed to Red Lodge - lower in elevation, a place where we could fuel up, and a great rendezvous point to meet Devin @miss.Blackdawg who'd be joining us for just one night. Of course, on the way we summited Beartooth Pass - snow covered at 10,947-feet - and closed by the department of transportation about 20 minutes after we passed through.

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As we made our way down the northern side, we made a quick pit stop at an overlook - still awesome despite the weather - and a few poser shots of the trucks. A third gen would pull into the lot as we were taking the photos, but headed out without stopping...for the time being - we'd run into the driver again the next morning; but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

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In Red Lodge, we fueled up and headed out of town to find camp - something we did relatively quickly and with good success, just after darkness fell. The rain let up during dinner (woohoo!) and we all enjoyed Mike's salsa and guacamole around the fire to boot. And, as most of us wrapped up dinner, Monte ran back into town to text Devin our location and she showed up shortly thereafter to a welcoming crowd.

We all chatted around the campfire until the rain started up again - at which point I headed under Mike's awning to stay dry and everyone else gave me a load of shit. Little did they realize that the chips and salsa were also under the awning; a fact I probably shouldn't have shared even now.

But, we'd all had enough of the rain for a while and so a short time later we called it an evening. As we climbed into our respective beds we were all hoping for the same thing, I'm sure: a good nights sleep and nicer weather for the rest of the trip.

But we wouldn't know until morning what was in store for us the next day...

--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4]​

 

Man that looks like a good trip!

 

“The RedHead - Spicy Like the Salsa”

 

The plus side of doing it in inclimate weather, other than the additional challenge, you don't have to deal with all the nutty side by sides.

I hope to make it back there this summer!

 

Sitting in my office chair sipping on my cup of jealousy.

 

Thanks guys - was a great trip. Honestly, only got better as time went on.

Good ehh? Igor's is pretty good to. hahahahaha

Totally true. We've tended to luck out and not have a ton of those things around, generally. Maybe it's just where the trips have been, or the time of year... but we too prefer a UTV-less experience.

 

One of these trips, im gonna have to tag along....unofficially inviting myself lol. Im coming out of the bay area tho so it would be a bit of a drive.

 

no shout out to our local Resident elk Licked yellowstone Expert @MTgirl

 

I drove from Phoenix lol

 

Yeah, long drives for these trips are par for the course it seems. Plus, the trips happen all over, so some are closer/further than others. Keep an eye out - like I mentioned before, the trips do get opened up to the forum (which is how I got in on my first one last year!)

Pretty cool - you can drive a truck a thousand miles of pavement, wheel it hard for two weeks, and then drive that same truck a thousand miles back...usually* without any real issue. Awesome.





* except for Frank. Frank always has a real issue.

 

Meh. Yellowstone is not what Id call a vacation. WAY to many stupid people.

We are going much cooler places.

For now...soon.

 

First off, I have no idea why I'm not already subbed.

Pretty sure I'm in agreement with everybody else in saying I have really got to try to join you guys on one of your next open trips. The pictures of the scenery are amazing! Oh, and the trucks are cool too I guess...

 

Your trips are an inspiration, truly.

 

Thanks both - the trips are definitely fun and it's great to be able to write them up and share some of the coolness with everyone. Hopefully it encourages folks to get out and explore!

 

The Re-Tour Day 5: We Follow the Sun into the Pryors
August 28, 2018.

Overnight, the rain stopped and the skies cleared - I assume - because we awoke to blue skies and sun in the morning.

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As was becoming a trend, none of us were up early - with the exception of Devin who I only just noticed was up and out of camp by 6:00am or so, since she had to get to work. Pretty cool to show up for one night of camping if you ask me. I was the next one up around 8:00am and with some extra time and nice weather, I set about making a breakfast sandwich - sausage and eggs on an outdoor roll - delicious!

But then, disaster - halfway through scrambling the eggs, I ran out of propane. I was ultimately able to refill my bottle using Mike's @Digiratus 20lb tank, but not before the griddle cooled down and left the eggs "not quite right." Still, it was nice to have a warm breakfast, which I enjoyed as others in camp started to stir.

We all had our various tasks for the morning, but there were two that were standouts this morning. First, Dan @drr had been having some issues with his ARB air lockers leaking (due to a very cool custom manifold he'd fabbed), and so he set about fixing them so they'd work a bit better on the trail. This of course meant a bit of jerry-rigging - and ultimately a trip to the hardware store - but that's nothing new for our trips, and was sure to keep Dan's rig in top shape for the rest of the trip.

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The other standout was a visit from the 3rd gen Tacoma owner who'd passed us on Beartooth Pass the night before. Seeing our trucks, he pulled into camp around 10:30am and was immediately greeted by our own "Mr. Hospitality," Monte @Blackdawg. This would happen several times over the course of the trip - Monte spending all sorts of time telling folks exactly how they should mod their Tacoma's to be as expo as possible.

That's pretty cool if you ask me (even though we gave Monte a hard time for it in the moment), to have the patience to talk to folks about the same thing over and over. Of course, not all of Monte's advice that morning was necessarily good advice - he did recommend Pelfrybuilt (which filed for Chpt 7 bankruptcy before our trip was over) as the best armor the guy could purchase. Oops.

It was nearly noon by the time we broke camp and headed into town to re-provision ice and a few miscellaneous supplies. And then, we followed a similar route as last year - through Bridger - to the base of the Pryor mountains, where we hit dirt and aired down. We were more than ready to hit some dirt under sunny skies!

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And hit some dirt we did - the approach to the Pryor mountains long and flat, allowing for fast speeds and a great view of the surrounding area. The Chugwater Formation - offset by a field irrigated to a brilliant green - was especially extraordinary; the red color of the rocks produced by iron oxide contained within. This iron oxide is commonly found in tropical soils, and it's thought that the formations here migrated north from the equator some 500 million years ago.

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Oh, and we also ran into these guys. They were not impressed - or at least, they weren't as impressed as we were; each of us stopping to take a photo of them as we passed.

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45 minutes later, we finally started climbing up into the Pryors - Big Pryor to be precise. And, though we were winding our way up the same trail we'd been on nearly a year before, the situation couldn't have been more different. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and the views were vast - even the smoke from the last few days reduced by the recent precipitation.

It was so much nicer than the rain, snow and mud we'd dealt with on the last trip! We stopped and took it all in - the trail, the trucks, and a nearby canyon.

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Now mid-afternoon, we continued up Big Pryor mountain, through gates and across grassy hillsides. We reveled in the beauty and the took in the views as we climbed, the white clouds and blue skies contrasting so nicely with the golden-green of the landscape. This truly was what we were hoping for on the Re-Tour.

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Breaking up the grand views, we came upon the Bainbridge Homestead. Built in the 1920s, this cabin was nestled in the treeline and still in relatively good condition - aided I'm sure by the metal roof and respectful visitors.

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We explored a bit and signed the guest book before continuing on - we weren't sure where we were going to camp, but we knew that it was either 5 minutes away or a few hours. Given the early time, we opted for a few hours, which meant we needed to keep moving... except when we'd stop to take photos - for us, a frequent occurrence.

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Eventually though we made it to the top of Big Pryor Mountain, the views stretching in all directions. We lingered a bit longer here than normal - there was talk of a truck-swap, and everyone was working out their trades. Well, everyone that is except me - I'm still a bit chicken on that front, a fact the guys were nice enough to ignore for most of the trip.

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Having played musical trucks, we all took off back down the mountain towards a set of switchbacks that Monte thought would save us a good couple hours of monotonous driving on our way to East Pryor. That sounded good to us, and the landscape surrounding the switchbacks was interesting to boot - a fire having passed through years before, leaving a forest of ghost trees in its wake.

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After leaving Goose Lake, we'd all been talking about possibly running the Morrison Jeep Trail later in the trip, and these switchbacks reinforced for all of us our preferences of doing that... which - you can imagine - didn't help to build consensus amonst the group. But, we navigated all five of the switchbacks with only one close call (a detail that will stay on the trail), and popped back out into the open between Big Pryor and East Pryor at Gooseberry Hollow as evening was approaching and the sun's rays were getting longer.

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It was here that a minor disaster struck. As I was coming down the last stretch of hill (to catch up) onto the main road, a fallen branch got flipped up into the air by my rear tire. It flew, parallel to the truck, all the way to my front driver fender, where it left a nice little dent. A momento of the trail I guess, but never an awesome feeling when it happens. Hopefully some dentless auto-repair will be able to make it "good as new."

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Keen to find camp at this point, we all had our eyes peeled for spur roads that wound back into hills - often the perfect place to level out, find a fire ring in which to build a fire, and spend the night. But as is often the case, we were easily sidetracked by the steep canyon walls and we pulled over to take it all in - impossible really, with a place like this. While Mike, Dan and Zane chatted around the trucks, Monte and I bound down off the road and to the cliff's edge; our happy place.

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Satisfied for only a moment, we were back on the road, driving further up the canyon into the afternoon sun.

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Eventually we found a spur, and we took it to it's end a mile or two up the road. There, an opening in the trees, looking out across the Pryors - not totally level, but an old fire ring suggested that we weren't the first to camp in this spot. Zane @Speedytech7, Mike and I decided that we'd stay put while Monte and Dan continued on up the main road to explore.

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Listening to them on the CB, it was clear that they were having a great time on their adventure, but we eventually decided that regardless of what they found, we weren't going anywhere and so we deployed our tents, collected wood, and built (but did not light) the fire.

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Monte and Dan had quite the adventure it seemed, and finally returned an hour or so later, having nearly gotten stuck a couple of times looking for a better site. Happy to be back, they quickly got setup and we got the fire going, the local wood small, dry and barkless - perfect for a blazing hot fire, just as the sun was setting and the sky too was lighting up!

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Of course, sunsets are to us like bright lights are to bugs, and there was no shortage of shutter clicking going on during this time. We'd clearly chosen a photogenic spot to stop for the night, and we were relieved to have weather that was finally cooperating!

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Dinner and campfire ensued, as usual. We talked trip, we talked trucks, and I'm sure we talked about all matter of things late into the night - happy to do it with no threat of rain. It was, I think, our latest night of the trip - all of us hesitating to leave the warmth of the fire even past one in the morning. But eventually we all found ourselves yawning, and it was clear that our usual indicator of campfire completion - an empty wood pile - was impossible on this night, so we said our good-nights and headed for bed.

It had been another great day, and we were sure there were many more to come.

 

I'm always jealous of these trips out west that can result in hours/days of driving on dirt and gravel roads.

 

You guys should stay on the roads so it doesn't get closed for the rest of us.

 

Where did they go off the road and cause issues? Just from what I've seen these guys talk about on this forum they're definitely the last people I'd ever expect to tear up anything or go off the trail.