3 Tons of Fun! Littles' Build, Travel, and B.S. Thread

I am planning on making an appearance. I need to be back in Denver by Friday. Trying to sort out some last minute stuff with work and the truck.

When are you headed out?

 

Good looking build!!!

 

Sunday, running the kokopelli with a couple of 1st gens.

 

I would love to do the kokopelli. I will make it my goal to be ready to leave with you guys. My biggest concerns are covering my intake and replacing my driver LBJ. My new LCA should come in tomorrow so I will keep you posted.

Is @cynicalrider going with you on the kokopelli?

 

Unfortunately, we are keeping it to only first gens on our way to Moab. We should be arriving in Moab on Wednesday and can meet up with you then. I'm still up in the air on what trails I'll be running when I'm there. I'll have a friend with so I may lean towards doing some more scenic trails than challenging ones. I'm sure we can find something to run together.

 

I am but this ^ We made the plans for this run months ago and decided to keep it first gen only for the sake of keeping the group small and to keep the amount of spare parts/knowledge limited to a specific vehicle type. Sorry dude But we will definitely see you there!

 

No worries. I get it. Taking that 1st gen superiority to a whole new level! Enjoy the drive!

 

Had some fun on the Caribou 4x4 trail from Ned to Eldora, and then came back through Ned to take the Switzerland trail out through Four Mile. Neat little area. I'm looking forward to a little more exploring next time I get back.


Caribou is a moderate 3-5 rated trail starting at Rainbow Lakes on the Ned side. I didn't grab any pictures, but the climb up was pretty wet and muddy, with one deep spot where I bottomed out on my frame and thought the approach angles would damage a stock bumper. Otherwise it wasn't bad. I did the Klondike spur towards the Klondike mountain peak, and a loop around caribou hill which was worth the extra 20 or 30 minutes.


View of Eldora from the top:




Despite fresh tracks, I pulled no less than half a dozen small fallen trees out of the road. This was the biggest one that I couldn't move, but was only partially blocking the trail and I just broke off enough branches to get around.



Coming down into Eldora the view really gets good as you head down a narrow shelf. This was one of the wider parts of the narrow shelf section. Compared to some other shelves, there's plenty of room and it stays relatively flat. I understand that there's a section here where the road was closed most of the season due to a rock slide, which I'm pretty sure I recognized on the way down.


After getting down to Eldora I headed east back to Ned and took 119 up to Switzerland trail. I took branch off 221 to check out the Orphan Boy mine, but it looked like a pretty intense uphill climb after a sharp S turn that required backing up several times to get around, and I made the executive decision not to continue on alone. This is one of the cooler, deeper mine shafts I've had a chance to check out.






After flipping back around to Switzerland trail, I made my way back to Four Mile Canyon through Wallstreet. That was surprisingly busy little area along the creek, with a section of paved roads and at least a dozen back hoes excavating for new development.

 

Fuck. That's awesome. H8U right now.

 

Apparently I wasn't subbed to your build till you tagged me ha! Awesome photos and adventures man. Just read through the whole thing and you are getting me stoked to come out there!

https://youtu.be/2_9j43UULTA?t=15m45s

15:45

 

That was an awesome trip! Haven't watched that video in a long time and saw some of my favorite people and rigs. I forgot how few fucks you give...you launched your truck at pizza rock and barreled through some nasty shit. I'm pretty sure this is also when Craig took me down trail 13 and I snapped my factory leaf springs.

 

Yes, yes it is.

 

Yeah that was still on 32's too, so needed to be a little more violent on stuff. Trying to have a lot more finesse with the 35's and gearing haha, especially for this trip. It's a long drive back and my spare parts can only take me so far. Stoked to see you again soon dude!

 

Doing a photo dump of some pics from Rim Rocker with @mountainmonkey before Rock Therapy. Such an awesome trip. I didn't stay for Rock Therapy and missed some of the folks I was looking forward to seeing, but I got to run Rim Rocker and see white rim, which was well worth it.

The official beginning of the journey at the Horsefly Brewing Company in Montrose


First night camping in the Uncompahgre National Forest



Day 2 on the trail





We passed through several tracts of land that had signs indicating they were leased for uranium mining. One of them was a cool spot up on a hill where we stopped for lunch.




Lunch spot






Camping night 2 in La Sal National Forest

There was just one lonely aspen amidst the evergreens.

We finished out the day with a whirlwind tour through Arches. We stopped at Balance Rock then did a drive-by of the very crowded section of windows/ arches on the east side of the park. The lot was full and there were a lot of people, so we came back to Balance Rock and then took the dirt road up to Tower Arch. It was a short hike and being so far out, NO PEOPLE!

Petrified dunes


Looking at the windows from balance rock

On the way to Tower Arch we found Eye of the whale arch. Can you see it?


Finally after 2 days...the trail got a little "technical"



Far off view of tower arch






My first encounter with a rattler snake...


Parallel arch is just a little ways further along the hiking route. Easy to miss if you're just focused on the big one.




The road we took out (Tower Arch road) actually has a moderate section that is a little tricky.





We finally landed at the sand dunes on Monday a few days before Rock Therapy. No one had arrived yet.


We scrambled up the hill before dark for a view of the sunset. Well worth it.




Pics of the next 2 days at white rim are yet to come, which may have trumped Zion for me in terms of its beauty.

 

Sry, nothing trumps Zion.
Great pics bud, wish I was there.

 

Sorry I didn't get to chat much with you about the Kokopelli. I didn't realize you weren't going to be there all week. If you have any questions ask away!

 

PNW next August...

 

No worries! Based on what I've heard, Kokopelli definitely offers some more challenging terrain. Sounds like you actually needed 4L for kokopelli.

How long are you planning? Thought about where you want to go yet?

 

Yea there are some sections that are a little technical. The Cisco wash could be interesting if it's wet. Rose Garden has some good ledges to drop down but if you are armored it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Two weeks, but for me more than four days of that is just driving to get out there.
Thinking Yellowstone, craters of the moon, Yosemite, crater lake, and redwoods.