7 days, 1,555 miles & 132.5 gallons of fuel used around UT & CO

[DirtyLarry]

For the past few years I’ve been taking the ole girl on longer runs now that it is sporting a reliable modern engine and overdrive trans. In March we ran a trip to Flagstaff to the Overland Expo then around Southern Utah and Northern Arizona to the typical hot spots. Last week we met up with Mosesburb which I finally got to met at the Overland Expo. We spend the 4th of July week roaming around Southern Utah then worked our way into the four corners are then on up towards the Ouray/Telluride area. It was a great time!

One to the pictures…….

The GPS is programmed and the truck is loaded up and ready to roll. 6 AM, Saturday, June 30th


We met up in Valley of the Gods late Saturday afternoon



Fancy new shower arrangement I rigged up to replace a PITA tent type shower stall




From Valley of the Gods we motored on down to the Hole In The Rock trail near Halls Crossing Marina at Lake Powell for a day. This is my third trip to the Hole In the Rock trail area but the place never gets old. There is one nasty spot 20 some miles in on that main trail that is too sketchy for short wheel base to try to pass so we stopped and spent the night then headed towards Moab for a while.

Airing down the tires at the beginning of the Hole In The Rock trail


Cool sights to see out in the middle of nowhere




Then there is that nasty spot that I mentioned. Pictures serve no justice to how steep and off camber this spot is with a one tire drop off. A perfect place to dump your junk over 5 hours from the nearest town.

View looking down


View looking up. Looks like no big deal in these pictures but it is ugly


We had a great camp spot this night.


So nice not to see any other people!




A bit toasty in the camper this night, but it is a dry heat. Ha!


The Hole In The Rock trail isn’t super technical but there are several opportunities to get flexed up a bit.




As we approached the Hwy 276 we ran across this interesting contraption…A Dodge truck/trailer/solar panel cattle watering hole pumper thingymobober



Interesting use of left over truck parts


Guess they needed a new power source once their windmill kind of fell apart



A few YouTubes taken on our way out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Na2cLEsKaPs

This one is really looonggg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL...yer_detailpage

[DirtyLarry]

After Hole In The Rock we peddled up to Moab for day while Mosesburb and his family grabbed a hotel and visited Arches Monument the next day. Meanwhile we headed up to Sand Flats Recreational area for the night. Got a decent camp spot there too!


From Moab we headed to Mesa Verde to look around






After Mesa Verde we met up with another buddy in Durango that joined us for the remainder of the week. After lunch in Durango we headed towards Ouray and camped at the foot of Imogene Pass.




Imogene Pass







13,177 ft elevation


Airmail


This is where the GoPro rides

Or sometimes here


On the downhill side of Imogene


Somebody lost their sole on Imogene



Nice view of Black Bear Pass and Bridal Falls as Imogene Pass approaches Telluride


GoPro video of Imogene (wish I could remember how to embed videos here!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL...yer_detailpage

[DirtyLarry]

After Imogene Mosesburb and family grabbed a hotel in Ouray while my Ram Charger buddy and I set up camp at the foot of the Corkscrew Gulch trailhead in preparation for the next day’s trail ride. Corkscrew has some pretty interesting steep hairpin switchback that lead you back into the really pretty red mountain area. I think I posted one of the Corkscrew pictures above in the Imogene section in error.

Corkscrew Gulch (I tried my best not to get pictures of many rental Jeeps, ATV’s, off-road tour trucks and other Jeepers but it wasn’t easy so there aren’t many pictures of this trail).





Even an outhouse for when people riding the off-road tour trucks need to clean out their shorts


Corkscrew Gulch has some interesting tight hairpin switch backs where you may notice your sphincter pinching holes in the seat at times
Corkscrew - YouTube

After we got back in to Ouray we had lunch and went our separate ways. The Suburban pointed towards Phoenix while the Ram Charger and I are headed back towards Pueblo. My Dodge pal drove straight through to Pueblo while I took a detour through the Sand Dunes onto Medano Pass then on home.

What the Duck is going on in Pagosa Springs?


About 45 seconds after the duck picture was taken something came out of nowhere and took out my windshield. Not sure what it was but the mark looks like a possible golf ball? This scared the hell out of me as it sounded like a gunshot.


Good ole Sand Dunes on a rainy Friday evening

[DirtyLarry]

Packing up Saturday morning from our last camp spot of the week at the Sand Dunes side of Medano Pass


We counted 12 water crossings along Medano Pass. I remember years past where there where only a couple. Glad to see it as we sure need the water around here!



Kind of funny, but my co-pilot for this trip was actually my mother in-law. Sounds odd but my wife isn’t into the outdoors thing nor is my FIL but she loves riding along with the boys and spending a week on the trail. Here I teased her to get out and take a picture of me going through the water and bam! She jumped out barefoot with the camera in hand. She is a lot more adventurous than her daughter!




Here is a lame water crossing video along Medano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU...yer_detailpage

Corner of Medano Pass and Hwy 69 near Westcliffe. Last time airing up before I drop her off in Canon City and head home to Pueblo. A lot of stuff going on in this picture. Airing up tires, transferring fuel from the RH Aux tank to the main LH tank, draining the water tanks and filling our bellies. Vacation is over





This is the SPOT GPS summary of where all we went in 7 days. The total miles ran was 1,555. I purchased 158.6 gallons of fuel during the trip (including the fill up before I leave Pueblo at the beginning) but came home with one tank filled all the way up to the gas cap (approx. 16/17 gallons) plus there were 5 gallons of fuel still in the Sceptor fuel can as well as about 4 or 5 gallons left in the Aux tank, which leaves me with the approximate fuel used at around 132.6 (figuring I came home with 20 gallons left in the truck). All that said, the big bastid came in at 11.727 MPG for the entire trip. I don’t think that is too dang bad for a truck weighing over 8,000 lbs propelled by a 425 HP big block. Heck, my stock 2001 Silverado with an 8.1L gets the same mileage and doesn’t have near the power or as fun to drive.



Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

[snj8198]

it's always enjoyable to read about your excursions Larry. Looks like fun. I'm slowly making my way down to your area. Im wheeling Jackson Hole WY area currrently.

[Billhilly]

Like Steve says, always fun reading about your travels. ExPo looks like it was a blast. Imogene Pass looks incredible. Simply nothing like it down here. One day. Hows the camper holding up? How many nights you spent in it now?

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by snj8198

it's always enjoyable to read about your excursions Larry. Looks like fun. I'm slowly making my way down to your area. Im wheeling Jackson Hole WY area currrently.

Cool! Are you really coming this far south? Give me a holler if you do.

Originally Posted by Billhilly

Like Steve says, always fun reading about your travels. ExPo looks like it was a blast. Imogene Pass looks incredible. Simply nothing like it down here. One day. Hows the camper holding up? How many nights you spent in it now?

Thanks Billhilly! Expo was a blast. Here are picture from that trip.

The camper is holding up very well so far. In a year and a half since I’ve had it I already have about 30 to 35 nights in it. It has been on 3 rough long distance trips to Utah and Arizona (about 8,000 miles total) as well as several fishing trips to the local Colorado Mountains around here with no major structural issues. The only issues at the moment is the water heater doesn’t like to stay running for more than 5 minutes and the sink drain is leaking under the sink, which I am going to visit the builder in a few weeks to address. I’ve also come to the determination I need to start shopping for a higher amperage alternator. 124 AMPS doesn’t cut it for more than 5 days, especially when running slow speeds on the trail. So far so good though!

[OldCreek]

I was wondering when your next trip/update was. Thanks!

I guess the windshield was one of those things that had to happen...you didn't mention any on the trail carnage!

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by OldCreek

I was wondering when your next trip/update was. Thanks!

I guess the windshield was one of those things that had to happen...you didn't mention any on the trail carnage!

Yeah, fortunately, no trail carnage this trip other than some new scrapes to the 14 bolt axle housing and slightly rearranging the shape of the diff cover yet again.

As mentioned earlier, the only real damage recently was on the May trip where AA bolts pulled the threads out of their adapter on the Toroweep trail. One bolt fell out while the other got jammed in place which held it together until I hit the hardware store on the way home. Not sure if the trans mount fastening was a poor design by AA or if the engine over torqued it. The 8.1L has recently eaten two sets of engine mounts as well where I finallly had to install Engergy Suspension engine mounts. Guess it is not just the Cummins guys that deal with engine over torque carnage.

The bolt in the foreground is the one that got jammed while the one in the back ground fell out. In this picture I threw in a new bolt from the bolt bin I carry in the camper but it kept falling out as well being the threads were whipped out. I nursed this issue for 2 days until we got to Kanab, UT.


I reworked this entire set up when I got home from that trip with longer bolts, steel tubing (an old SBC alternator spacer) and prevailing torque nuts on top along with a flat bracket to keep the nuts from digging into the aluminum housing. So far so good.


Oh, and lost a head light on the May trip down to Toroweep as well. Can’t find a matching headlight either so it looks like I need to order a pair.

[ryanroo]

I saw Mosesburb cruise through Downtown Durango i think friday the 6th, i didnt realize that you were in the area as well DirtyLarry. makes me wish i had my jeep in proper functioning trail condition. oh well.

sweet pics

Ryan

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

I saw Mosesburb cruise through Downtown Durango i think friday the 6th, i didnt realize that you were in the area as well DirtyLarry. makes me wish i had my jeep in proper functioning trail condition. oh well.

sweet pics

Ryan

Yeah, we left Mosesburb in Silverton Friday afternoon and he spent one additional night in either Silverton or Durango while we headed towards the Sand Dunes. It would have been fun to run into other forum members while we were out and about.

[snj8198]

Cool! Are you really coming this far south? Give me a holler if you do.

Quite possibly. I'm on a job hunting safari through a few states and I figured i would have some fun with it. I am staying in Jackson WY longer than anticipated negotiating a job offer. So far I've hit MT, ID and WY. I plan to hit CO, UT and NV but if I get a good enough offer I will end my journey early and high tail it home for a move. I have ran a handful or more of MT and ID trails routed and written by Willy Worthy and its been a blast.

I'll give you a heads up if I make it to your area.

[DirtyLarry]

Sounds good Steve. Let me know.

Well, bigassgas got a new windshield yesterday

[Billhilly]

Good to hear the camper is holding up. Well worth all the planning and effort.
My kids (well now teenage girls!) think I'm crazy designing my camper (on Sketchup) while the K25 still isn't anywhere near done. Gotta have long term plans!
We had a Swiss couple and their young (18 month old) daughter stop in here a couple of times this year. They had driven here from Switzerland in their old Landrover (yes they had had some mechanical issues!) and as they passed through here heading south they had already clocked up 21000km! They did 8000km on our couple of islands before heading to Oz. Serious k's living in a Landrover huh!
We had an opportunity earlier in the year to get away (school holidays). We ended up flying down to the South Island and renting a Camper Van (yes I was acutely embarrassed!) and did a loop around the South West of the Island. Ended up doing just over 2500km in 13 days and had a blast. A precursor of things to come I hope, just next time in four wheel drive!

[MikeS.]

Great trip report, thanks for sharing it.

How much water did you carry and were you able to resupply while in the back country?
Posted via Mobile Device

[DirtyLarry]

Cool story Billhilly. Member 1leglance is actually in Australia now touring around. Send him a PM, maybe you two can met up. I think it would be a blast even if it was in a rental campervan!

MikeS,

There is an 8 gallon tank inside the camper and I carry an extra 5 gallons on the rear bumper in the blue Reliance jug. That water is for cooking, showering, making coffee and doing dishes. We also carry a case or two of water, case of beer, Gatorade, Cokes, etc. Refilling the water tanks isn’t usually a problem at City Market in Moab or one of the Marina’s along Lake Powell. I’ve been known to pull into a RV park and borrow their water too. The biggest PITA is getting the water from the blue jug into the camper as the fill hole is way up high. I just bought a hand pump at Harbor Freight to try on the next trip. Holding 5 gallons of water over your head gets heavy!

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Looks like fun as usual DL. Thanks for the pics and trip report. I always enjoy your post, you do a very good job.

[snm95ls]

That looks like a helluva trip.

Thanks for sharing!

[duallyjams]

great to see enjoying your ride & sharing it with us

[rambler]

amazing pictures,,,, I would love to take a truck on a trail like that someday, but my wife is much more adventurous than yours and would come along,,, I dont think she would slow down on some of those corners ...

[Prerunner1982]

Larry thanks for posting, I enjoy your adventures a lot.

I have done Black Bear years ago with my Dad in his CJ7. I love the trails around SW Colorado. Also you drove right by my Dad's place just west of Pagosa on hwy 160. And I would imagine you are correct on the golf ball theory.

[justcuz]

I was just in some of the same areas a week earlier than you guys. Not off road though, we had 3 couples in my 2000 Suburban.

Expedition Portal Magazine did an article about Hole in the Rock Trail.

I also bought a book at the Navajo Bridge Gift shop about Everett Ruess a young man who hiked the area and disappeared in 1934. Very interesting reading about his explorations back in the early 30's.

We went to Arches,Moab, Page, took the train to Silverton, drove through the Navajo Nation etc. Hot during our trip too. Hiked down to Horseshoe Bend and it was 113 degrees!

Sounds like a great trip and I definately want to do some trips in the trails in the San Juan Mountains. You think my 73 3/4 ton Burb with 3" of lift and 33's would do most of the established trails in the San Juans?

Oh and P.S. My mother in law (before she hurt her back) was more adventuresome than my wife in many ways. There is less of an age difference between her and I (11 years) than my wife and I (13 Years). Yes I married a young woman!

[justcuz]

Correction;
Overland Journal Magazine, Expedition Portal is a website.

[fishmunger]

wow, NICE PICTURES!

Looks like you had an epic time. You, your rig, and your photo journalism skillz are DIALED.

Really enjoyed it. Hope I can have an adventure like that one day!

KEEP GOIN!

[tylervalo]

I'm in love with your truck!