Colorado Trip Reports

Halfmoon Creek

Did this last weekend. The plan was to hike Mt. Elbert on Sunday but my friend jacked up his ankle so we drank ourselves into oblivion instead. Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen. Some highlights:

The multitude of idiots from out of state there to hike and/or run the Leadville 100. It's bad enough to have to pick up trash...but to have to touch budweiser cans?

The great group of like-minded individuals that we met at Champion Mill.

Our neighbors, who took "public display of affection" to new heights.

The card games that we largely made up since we forgot to bring Cards Against Humanity and how to play even the simplest of card games, Go Fish.

The hummingbird that seemed to think our setup was a giant flower.

The fox that harassed us for a good 45 minutes because even foxes can't resist a halfway-decent mushroom and swiss burger.

The elk cow that wandered through our campground after we were already on high alert. I mean, if a fox would be so brazen over smells then what qualms would a bear have?

The deer that ran through the camp not too long after that. Or maybe I was imagining things since at that point our campsite had become a goddamn Disney movie.

The fox that returned after we wisely left camp to dump our trash in a bear-proof can.


Anyway.

This couple was behind us the whole time. Say what you will about jeeps, the off-roading community as a whole is fantastic.


























Champion Mill























A monument to a helicopter crash during training on Mt. Massive.

 

Random question, but do you live, work, or spend a decent amount of time near wadsworth and Quincy? I see a truck like yours around there frequently in the mornings on my way to work. My attention to detail is poor though so all I really know is it's a red second gen with a soft topper like yours. I've never gotten a good look at the rear bumper as we pass in opposite directions.

 

Nope. I live far northeast of there and mostly commute by public transportation. I've seen more than a few red trucks with Softoppers roaming Denver.

 

Thought I would get this up finally. It's a bit long but it's my mapping video going up to Bill Moore Lake. Sorry there's no music, my GoPro Studio app kept getting errors eveytime I went to process with music



and you can't forget the posing pic

 

Wrong rock. Supposed to be on the one behind you.

 

Tough crowd

 

meh ya just gotta know how to pose on that rock properly






lots of rock love going on that day...

 

Dang, bunch of mating turtle action

 

This is what happens when you fail to paint lines in a parking lot at 10k ft. Everybody just finds the closest rock!

 

Old Flowers Road

Long Draw Road
all these critters were within a 50 yards of our camp site

Homestake creek

Homestake Reservoir from the dam

Homestake Valley from the dam

testing out the solar panel at camp

Shrine Pass

 

Did Spring Creek today and came home with some bedside damage... #teamnoreararmor.

Sorry if some of the photos are rough... I just got a new (to me) camera early this week and am still learning how it works.

 

Spring creek is a cool trail for sure but it's not for the faint of armor

 

Looks good. Glad to see you out working out the camera!

And... I now know that I will not be doing Spring Creek.

 

Ran up Rollins Pass with @aero3685 today. Weather was great and a nice crisp 52 at the top.

On our way to the trailhead


aero trying to see if he can roll his truck off the top of this hill



Lots of wild flowers scattered along the trail







Aero starting down Jenny Creek trail in between some trees. We came across a guy broken down on his bike. Aero kindly stayed behind to help him out and I had to get back home to let the pup out, so I turned back since we had no idea what the rest of the trail was like and I don't have a winch.


I ran across the Big FJ group while heading down. Some sweet looking rigs!

 

Nice! That hill was a bit sketchy. Earned a nice battle scar from the pine tree on the front bumper and the mirror glass.

I wish I would've taken a picture of the bike. Yesterday he had managed to start riding his KLR down where I am pictured. He saw a "modded Jeep" that chickened out and turned around so he assumed the trail was gnarly. He turned around and his chain was way too loose, managed to get it sucked up between the front sproket and the swingarm. There isnt room for two lengths of chain, but it was in there! He came back today with a friend to try and get it to work. An hour and a half later, we mostly took off the swingarm to get extra space for the chain to drop back through. And he rode off into the sunset. And dropped a screwdriver that I later picked up after I met up with the FJ's and @NaZRaQ and we headed down Jenny Creek.

 

Forgot to tell you... that dude on the mountain bike passed me near the bottom of the trail!

 

Guy was insane! I was really planning on riding it tomorrow, but good chance of rain at 11 kinda puts a damper on that. Going up and over to WP and back is 50ish miles and 1 mile of elevation. Certainly doable.

 

Moar pics of Rollins East and Jenny Creek.

We also assisted with a 2nd gen with a broken leaf who had a recalled leaf pack. We told him to check with Toyota on that. The leaf pack was sooo cute! It was like something from a Hot Wheels car.

I didn't take many pics on the way up since i was going to take them on the way down... then I got disrupted by KLR guy. After that was finished, I figured I would go up and see what the FJ's, and taco, and tundra and 4runner were up to. Met up with @NaZRaQ , Photobombed the FJ meetup picture, then went down Jenny Creek with them. They continued onto Pickle Gulch but I needed to get home and do some stuff... since I planned on being home at 1ish and it was already well past that time.

Without further adieu

 

Lesson learned. I take pride in the battle scars right now, but it's further solidified my need for a rear bumper. I'll be searching for one sooner than I had initially planned. The ultimate question: high clearance or not.

 

The answer is yes.

The only body damage on my truck so far is the underside of both rear fenders... And the rear bumper.