2nd Annual Colorado Jeep-CJ.com Trail Ride

[CJ]

I say start a new thread and ask everyone

You are correct...

 

[Niedhogg]

Man, I'm so disappointed I can't make it this year! And now, especially with the man himself being there too?? With the move to Kansas next year, I have already decided this will be a trip I will never miss again! And if I haven't already sold it by then, my new (and hopefully finished) CJ5, will be what I'm bringing... but even if I do sell it, I'll always have my trusty CJ7 for the trip!

I will envy all of you while you are there...

 

[Tin Medic]

Due to technical difficulties I will be unable to attend the ride. I dropped the 6th cylinder and lost 2nd gear so she's going into my garage for a total drivetrain and wiring harness overhaul.If anyone knoes of a good 258 block thats fairly close and not to pricey please let me know. I am going to due the rebuild myself instead of sending it out.

 

[tarry99]

It's a '64 CJ5 that Dan restored right down to the engine decals. Here's more of his CJ5 from last year's trail ride.
Click this link:Djohnbb62's_CJ5

Busa:
Nice little 64 CJ ............How does that little 4-banger like 9000 ft?? Is he still running the original Carb?
Do you know if he has the High altitude jet package for it?

I still have a 5000 to 10000 needle and also an over 10000 needle for High altitude if he needs them.

 

[mtnwhlr]

Due to technical difficulties I will be unable to attend the ride. I dropped the 6th cylinder and lost 2nd gear so she's going into my garage for a total drivetrain and wiring harness overhaul.If anyone knoes of a good 258 block thats fairly close and not to pricey please let me know. I am going to due the rebuild myself instead of sending it out.

I have a hole motor sitting in my garage. I have never heard it run but the it came out of my Jeep when I bought it and the guy I got it from said it was running but had a motor fire and that is when I bought it and put the motor and all the wireing in it out of my very rusty CJ5. So if you want it let me know.

 

[BusaDave9]

Due to technical difficulties I will be unable to attend the ride.

That's too bad. I hope mtnwhlr can help you out. If either of you get down to SW CO any time let me know and we can go wheeling.

So here's an updated list of who's coming:
CJ
djohnbb62
IOPort51
TheDirtyCJ
and Me

And here's what we'll be doing:

Itinerary

Sunday August 26th: Arrival day. No trail rides are planed. Get checked into your motel in Ouray. (Motel recommendations on the first post). If you have spare time check out the shops or take a walk in Box Canyon. It's a park in the SW corner of town with a paid admission but it's worth it. At 7:00 pm we will meet at O'Brien's Pub at 726 Main St. for dinner, drinks and jeep talk.

Monday August 27th: After breakfast we'll dive right in to show you what four-wheeling in Colorado is like. We will head a few miles south of Ouray and take Lower Engineer Trail. As we leave highway 550 we will lock our hubs, shift into 4WD Low and maybe air down (I have CO2 if you are worried about airing back up). The trail will be rough right from the start. It will be slow going. Lots of rocks and some off camber places where your jeep will tilt to the downhill slope but it really isn't too difficult. There are some obsticales but they all have by-passes. I love this trail. Not easy enough for your grandma but not hard either. You will get the feeling you are getting deep into rugged terrain. Eventually we will rise above the tree line and head up and over Engineer Pass. Here you will feel like you are on top of the world.
We will have to back track a couple of miles. Once we get back to the fork for Lower Engineer Pass road we will turn to the left. Next stop Animas Forks Ghost town. There are several ghost towns around here this is one of my favorites. This Town is at over 11000 feet high in the mountains. It is usually winter this high. It's a beautiful place in the summer but the summer is only a couple of months up this high.
By now we will be thinking about going back to town. We will head back behind Animas forks into California Gulch. (a lot of these places are named after the miner's homes). We will go over California Pass then over Hurrican Pass. We will decend a little before going back up over Corkscrew Pass and down to highway 550. Then we will head back to Ouray.

Lower Engineer Pass Trail
​

Tuesday August 28th: Now things get exciting. Today: Black Bear Pass & Imogene Pass. After Breakfast we will head south on 550 a few miles to Red Mountain Pass. This is the 9th highest paved mountain pass in the US but we have only started our upward travel. This is an easy trail. That is easy UNTIL we start our decent. That's when thing get interesting. This trail gets down right scarry. It's not really hard but we are going down a 5000 foot cliff. If you go off the trail you will fall 1000 feet. If this sounds too scary you can take Ophir Pass to meet us in Telluride.
At the bottom we will be in Telluride. Time for lunch in one of the bars or restaurants. We will head back to Ouray over Imogene Pass. This is a longer trail than Black Bear but it dumps us our right into Ouray.

Black Bear Pass with Telluride in the background
​

Wednesday August 29th: Today we will take Browns Gulch trail. This is a high altitude trail that runs above highway 550. It is not difficult but it is beautiful. We will be able to see the highway far below us (yes the one that is the 9th highest highway in the US). We will get back on the highway for a short distance near Silverton. Then we will head back up a 4x4 trail to Clear Lake. After that we will have dinner at a Siverton Restaurant.

Clear Lake
​

Thursday August 30th: I didn't want to do this trail too early in the week in case someone broke something. But today's the day for Poughkeepsie Gulch.

If you are not up to it I can point you to another route to meet us at the top. Poughkeepsie Gulch is a difficult trail and it's mainly because of the obstacle at the top. If it's too much for you then you can be winched up.

Poughkeepsie Gulch
​

Friday August 31st: We will head to Bear Town Site. Up above Bear Town site we will go to Kite Lake.

Kite Lake above Bear Town Site
​

Saturday Sept. 1st: Travel day to get back home.

​

 

[TheDirtyCJ]

Man o man I'm stoked to go! sorry that tinmedic cant go, but as for me I am ready! I'm bringing all my photo equipment and my T3i for HD movies. Also I have the Warn dual-force winch so I'v got air to spare for inflation. I'm also bringing a mechanic along so...... Lets get ready to rumble!!

 

[TheDirtyCJ]

I just want to add a very big THANK YOU to BusaDave9! You have put a lot of thought and effort in to this trip and it shines through. I look forward to being your guest and hearing your tales of Jeep conquests from past years! That reminds me, I need to break out my John Denver CD's

 

[oldjeeplady]

Gee, wish I could go to CO. :drool: No way for that to happen right now (I'm still too sick), and my CJ' are, well, not ready, but maybe someday. Are women allowed along? - (I am a happily married OLD jeep lady - we are in our 25th year ) I learned to drive in West Virginia. My Dad told me if you can drive there, you can drive anywhere, 'cause if you fall off the road, you fall down the mountain..... And yes the voices IO speaks of, I have heard them........

Maybe Old Dog and Petescj could meet me along the way, and we could ride together. We have a "huge" new car hauler that could fit at least 2 CJ's, and maybe mine in the bed of the "Dually" (cannot hurt to dream....)

 

[tarry99]

That's too bad. I hope mtnwhlr can help you out. If either of you get down to SW CO any time let me know and we can go wheeling.

So here's an updated list of who's coming:
CJ
djohnbb62
IOPort51
TheDirtyCJ
and Me

And here's what we'll be doing:


Busa,
Job well done!
Your photo's of Southern Colorado are spectacular! Spent a lot of time hunting North of there between 70 & 40 but never ventured that far South. I'm definitely envious of all that's attending.
Keep the photo's coming and thanks for the great job your doing!

​

 

[BusaDave9]

I just want to add a very big THANK YOU to BusaDave9! You have put a lot of thought and effort in to this trip and it shines through. I look forward to being your guest and hearing your tales of Jeep conquests from past years! That reminds me, I need to break out my John Denver CD's

Don't thank me yet. Wait to see how the trail ride goes.
For all we know I might get us all lost in the mountains, never to be heard from again.






Just kidding. I know these trails pretty good. There shouldn't be any problem.

 

[mtnwhlr]

Don't thank me yet. Wait to see how the trail ride goes.
For all we know I might get us all lost in the mountains.

And get eatean by Mountian Lions

 

[BusaDave9]

Make your motel reservations NOW!
If you can't get a room let me know. I can help.
I can't wait.

 

[TheDirtyCJ]

Make your motel reservations NOW!
If you can't get a room let me know. I can help.
I can't wait.

I made them last week, large room w/kitchen at the Rivers
Edge.

 

[IOPort51]

18 more days.

 

[BusaDave9]

18 more days.

Sounds like you are counting your travel days.
The first trail ride will be 3 weeks from today.

​

:grinjeep:

 

[BusaDave9]

2 weeks from today we will all be meeting in Ouray

 

[CJ]

Woo!

 

[IOPort51]

everything that absolutely positively has to be done is done.

will be working on radios and spare tires this week and checking all the nuts and bolts next weekend with a bit of highway speed towing.

 

[TheDirtyCJ]

everything that absolutely positively has to be done is done.

will be working on radios and spare tires this week and checking all the nuts and bolts next weekend with a bit of highway speed towing.

I will be checking my trailer. I have already made sure the Jeep is running right and tight! This past week I replaced my old gas tank with a 21 gallon and put on Rugged Ridge heavy duty Tie rods and drag link kit. Gonna finish it with Skyjacker steering dampener today. This time in 2 weeks we'll be running a mile high! Man I can barely contain myself!