BigMike's 2016 Tacoma Trip & Trail Log

Trip #11 - Black Bear Pass (July 20, 2017)

I attended FJ Summit XI, my first FJ Summit event! https://www.fjsummit.org

For my first trail I was recommended to run Black Bear Pass. It was awesome! I've wheeled in such beautiful places as Dusy/Ershim, which takes you up to 11,000 feet and overlooks the backside of Yosemite National Park, but that failed in comparison to the wide open majestic vistas that is the Colorado Rockies, in and around Ouray and Telluride, Colorado! For sure this is the most beautiful views I've seen while out wheel'n. Ok, enough with the chit chat, I could go on for hours talking about each photo. I've done a true disservice to this thread by falling more than a year behind on updates. Ok here come pics!

 

Made it to the top of the pass!

 

Looking down at the city of Telluride!









The amazing switchbacks were so much fun!

 

And now in Telluride for my first time! The trail took about half a day.

Here we are stopped in Telluride for lunch





From this view I am looking back up at the pass we just came down

 

Here we are heading up and over Ophir Pass, which is a shorter and far more enjoyable route to get back to Ouray rather than airing up and hitting the highway









...and that concluded my first day of FJ Summit XI!

There was a Vendor Show that night which the Tacoma was featured in, but I was so busy I didn't have any chance to take pictures.

After we got back to pavement there was a dirt road with bridge over a river that had a decent current. A few rigs were playing in the river crossing rather than taking the bridge so I took a shot at it. Another event participant took video which was awesome and I got a copy of it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihfzApHtH0Y

We originally uploaded this to our MC Instagram account (@marlincrawler) and answered the following questions:

When asked why BigMike didn't just floor it, we responded with the following:

When asked how much horsepower would be required to have a 235:1 gear ratio, we responded with the following:

Original video description:
--
When 13th gear won't cut it, just engage your Marlin Crawler and let the extreme low gearing find the traction you need! Marlin Crawler: Providing driver control and finesse all at the flip of a lever. 2016 Tacoma TRD Sport shown with a Marlin Crawler TacoBox Supreme 4-speed t/case system comprising of 24 forward and 4 reverse gears and a 235:1 Crawl Ratio. Thank you @asrparts for the video!!

 

Trip #12 - Poughkeepsie Gulch (July 21, 2017)

The next day I ran Poughkeepsie Gulch, which is rated as the most difficult trail for the event. The trail itself as I found out is incredibly easy save for one obstacle known as The Wall. I was told it is even more difficult when wet so I was excited to check it out.

Driver meeting





No more than 10 mins on the trail and this happened!! YIKES!!

 

Truck was safely extracted which was remarkable because had the truck rolled it was a good 200+ foot drop into a river!!

The only damage was a pair of dents and an engine that would not run do to some engine code. I don't recall what it was but I believe they had to tow it to a dealer to get the computer cleared

 

Really beautiful trail

 

Here is The Wall

 

This unfortunately FJ had a bit of an issue...

 

This unfortunately FJ had a bit of an issue... (continued)

Rolled it. All air bags deployed. Top of body shifted. Total loss. They were able to drive the truck back to camp but I highly doubt insurance wouldn't just total this thing. Dang....





The spotter was non other than Woody himself, owner/operator of IH8MUD! Woody said that I was the ONLY truck to make it up without a winch!! He said the weather plays a huge role. Some days he'll see rigs on 33s climb it and other it'll be so muddy that no one can climb it. I got a lot of applause when I walked right up it. Thank you Roger Marquez for this photo!







Another low oil pressure lamp wooooohooooo! This was later on down the trail.

I could be wrong but it seems this V6 runs out of pressure more frequently than my 3RZ.

 

Really wet and really beautiful

 

Ohh look, an ACTUAL Land Cruiser!!







Safe and sound back at my hotel!



That was AWESOME!!

The second night of the event is an off-night: No vendor show. They encourage everyone to mingle and get out and support local businesses. I got dinner with a couple friends, it was awesome. Really good food out here

 

Trip #13 - Imogene Pass (July 22, 2017)

On the final day I asked what trail was the most beautiful, and while I'm not sure if this one is it, it was suggested I run it because it has a taste of everything the area offers: Almost the highest road in North America, water falls, rivers and river crossings, flowers, passes, vistas, deep forests, open areas, and so on.

This trail did NOT disappoint and so far it is my runaway favorite!

Driver's meeting





Airing down









There was an awesome but short river crossing at the entrance of this trail which was fun to blast through full throttle

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1jompFf2bw

 

Awesome rock outlook that you can drive onto. I probably took 50 pictures here!

 

I kept marveling at the fact of never mind this being the highest I'd ever been outside of an aircraft, but it was also the highest I'd ever taken a vehicle! Very VERY cool experience, HIGHLY recommend this trail to anyone considering the trip!!

3,997 meters

 

Some strange purple goo all around (I forgot to ask someone what this was / also I'm not a geologist or mineralogist )





So cool