Trip report: 7 days, 1,555 miles & 132.5 gallons of fuel use around Southern Utah and

[Larry]

Didn’t really see a good place for trip reports so I figured I’d add it to this section.

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 a friend we met at the Expo and tootled around Southern Utah then worked our way into the four corners are then on up towards the Ouray/Telluride area. I believe Nick is a member here although not sure of his screen name but I am sure many of you will recognize his sweet Cummins powered Suburban.

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

We met up in Valley of the Gods late Saturday afternoon.

Fancy new shower arrangement

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 and there is one nasty spot 20 some miles in on that main trail that is too sketchy for full-size rigs to try to pass so again this year, we stopped and spent the night at the scary spot then headed towards Moab the next day.

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!

More later………..

 

[RED MONSTER 4X4]

fantastic thread!!!!
love this!

 

[Larry]

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. The truck still had a Dana 70 rear axle in it to boot plus the front and rear driveshafts were laying in the cab.

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

Nick's Sub

This one was taken with GoPro Hero 2. Beware, long video!

 

[Larry]

Ah, oh.....how do you get YouTubes to play here?

 

[RED MONSTER 4X4]

i would just direct link rather than embed.

 

[Larry]

i would just direct link rather than embed.

10-4 ... Thanks!

 

[ashman]

awesome!! good to see guys actually getting out and enjoying their projects.

 

[Larry]

After Hole In The Rock we peddled up to Moab for day while Nick 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. This friend has a well build Dodge Ram Charger. After lunch in Durango we headed towards Ouray and camped at the foot of Imogene Pass.

The ever famious Imogene Pass. Too damn many people up there for my tastes. The pass is like a friggen highway with all the clowns on ATV's and rental Jeeps. I have no interest of going back to this area. I prefer the solitary of the desert much more than the over populated CO high country anyday!

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

Imogene Videos: Video 1 Video 2

More.....

 

[Big Ray]

epic awesome beautiful country...I just HAVE to go there before I die...

 

[Larry]

After Imogene Nick 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

As I mentioned, Corkscrew has some pretty hairy switch backs. GoPro doesn’t service justice to how steep things really are or the true speed you are really traveling (GoPro gives the illusion you are traveling much faster than the vehicle really is) but you can tell by the growl of the 8.1L these spots are pretty dang steep. My sphincter was pinching holes in the seat on a few occasions!

Corkscrew Gulch Video 1 Video 2

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 to camp one more night 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

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. Nice to see the water flowing over there!

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 the outdoors and staring to like the weeklong off-roading trips a bit too much. She is quite the good spotter on the trail too! This is her second year traveling with me and my buddies. Last year we did the Canyonlands White Rim trail together.

Here I teased her to get out and take a picture of me going through the water and bam! She quickly 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

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 left 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.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

 

[y5mgisi]

Thanks for sharing! Looks like an amazing trip!

 

[jt512]

Thanks for sharing! Looks like an amazing trip!

Agreed also, soo jealous of the areas you guys have "nearby"

 

[K5dreamer]

Thanks so much for sharing, its been so long since ive even been camping, let alone wheeling, god this is a reminder of how much I miss it.

 

[Big Ray]

Cool stuff!

Good to know that I'm not the only one here that likes to do this kind of 'wheeling! I actually have a new unit of measurement for such trips: photos per gallon...

Of course, you realize that they will want to take your 'hardcore wheeler' card back after trips like this - particularly after you haven't broken anything

this kind of stuff is exactly why I wanted to get into 4 wheeling when I was a kid! (teenager)...

 

[Deuling]

SOOO COOL!!!

You have one of my favorite rigs of all time. It is perfect

 

[magik235]

Outstanding adventure and pictures.

 

[solvire]

nice!

Thanks for sharing!
This is one of the main reasons i am building a wheeler.
Amazing pictures.

That and for the zombie apocalypse but thats for another time.

 

[ChadRay13]

I love the rig and the expedition style trips. It's what I hope to be able to to one day.

 

[Larry]

Thanks guys! As you can see, hardcore wheeling is not what I am in to. We are more into long distance off-road trips that take a person away from civilization for days at time without seeing a sole on the trail. Even at that we often get into hairy spots out in the boonies where a stock 4x4 should not go and have to break out the winches. We’ve also had our fair share of breakages and carnage out in the back country of Utah and Arizona over the years but nothing we couldn’t fix to get back to the nearest town. Some of the trails in Canyonlands are 6 to 8 hours long to the nearest highway then another hour or so to the nearest town. We carry a SPOT personal messenger in case we get into any big issues and need to call for help. The trip to the Ouray/Telluride area last week was a good reminder why I would rather go trail ride in the UT/AZ/NV/CA desert backcountry than the CO mountains. Too damn many idiots on ATV’s and Jeeps in the CO mountains!

Since 2009 this truck has ran over 10,000 miles to, from and around the back roads of Arizona and Utah. Below are some of the picture links from past trips.

May 2012

July 2011

July 2010

July 2009


Next May planning on a trip to Death Valley and the Mojave Road after OX13.

 

[miniwally]

Cool stuff!



Of course, you realize that they will want to take your 'man card' card back after words like this

Fix it for ya

there is one nasty spot 20 some miles in on that main trail that is too sketchy for full-size rigs to try to pass


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

It's not that bad at all, I took a 95 F250 Extended cab long bed up and down that like five times. 4" lift and 35" tires.

That's a nice spot to camp though.

I would probably pick a different time of year to do that trip but those are all really nice areas to go.