Enthusiast III
So, been a month since our 16 day trip out West, but we made it back.
Started of camping in Cotopaxi, CO and then driving the super scenic route to Ouray, CO to start our trip on Engineer Pass. We did manage to find a few more clearance issues on the 37s, so had to do a quick trailside "fix" and get back on the road. We then hit up California Pass, and Clear Lake, where we managed to find some spectacular views, hail, and a lot of altitude sickness camping at 12,000ft+. Day 3 we hit up Black Bear Pass and got held up buy a big group of unexperienced Jeepers more worried about scratching their wheels than the trail or huge line of people forming behind them. Imogene pass was later that day, and then we ran up to Rimrocker to lead into Moab. Sadly, Rimrocker got boring very quickly so we hopped off it and took the Highway to Moab to get onto Lockhart Basin. At this point, we did not know that literally the day before we arrived, Moab had flooded and many of the trails had been damaged or washed out beyond recognition. Lockhart Basin was a challenge, and we were solo driving the trail without any spotters the entire trip. I'm not sure if Lockhart is typically as challenging (or easy to get lost off trail for a half mile or so) but it wiped me and my wife out, so we got a hotel to relax, shower up, and get some food and minor repairs done to the Sequoia. Next up was Top of the World. A friend of mine (who went in a big group) had mentioned taking the "easier" way up Top of the World and not to take the harder side down without a spotter. Sadly, I had zero data while we were on trail, and kind of took the hard way up. We made it fine, but did managed to crush a trailing arm bracket on the frame, and smash the factory transfer case "skid". We spent the night up on Top of the World, and were met with another bout of hail (it seems to follow us on the prettiest of views). Following this, we decided to remove the harder trails off our original plan and spend a bit more time relaxing. We hit up Long and Day Canyon after this, and camped right next to Whitbeck Rock outside of Canyonlands NPS. Considering the flood, we decided to stop by the Ranger station at Canyonlands the next morning to see about conditions. They warned us that only experts should be driving the trail, to which we assured them that we would be more than capable in our rig. With our White Rim reservation a day away, we decided to look around for a few fun and more laid back trails with nice camping spots. Gemini Bridges fit the bill perfectly, so we headed on over and found another great camping spot. We finally made it to White Rim, but while the views were amazing and the trail not all that torn up (or at least not enough that we really noticed) we decided to ignore our reservation and run White Rim in a day. Even with a 3 hour break, we managed it easily and then headed on home.
I've still got a few things to address on the truck, but overall she handled perfectly on all the trails it ran and without any major break downs or issues (I sheared a skid plate bolt, and that was about it).
Started of camping in Cotopaxi, CO and then driving the super scenic route to Ouray, CO to start our trip on Engineer Pass. We did manage to find a few more clearance issues on the 37s, so had to do a quick trailside "fix" and get back on the road. We then hit up California Pass, and Clear Lake, where we managed to find some spectacular views, hail, and a lot of altitude sickness camping at 12,000ft+. Day 3 we hit up Black Bear Pass and got held up buy a big group of unexperienced Jeepers more worried about scratching their wheels than the trail or huge line of people forming behind them. Imogene pass was later that day, and then we ran up to Rimrocker to lead into Moab. Sadly, Rimrocker got boring very quickly so we hopped off it and took the Highway to Moab to get onto Lockhart Basin. At this point, we did not know that literally the day before we arrived, Moab had flooded and many of the trails had been damaged or washed out beyond recognition. Lockhart Basin was a challenge, and we were solo driving the trail without any spotters the entire trip. I'm not sure if Lockhart is typically as challenging (or easy to get lost off trail for a half mile or so) but it wiped me and my wife out, so we got a hotel to relax, shower up, and get some food and minor repairs done to the Sequoia. Next up was Top of the World. A friend of mine (who went in a big group) had mentioned taking the "easier" way up Top of the World and not to take the harder side down without a spotter. Sadly, I had zero data while we were on trail, and kind of took the hard way up. We made it fine, but did managed to crush a trailing arm bracket on the frame, and smash the factory transfer case "skid". We spent the night up on Top of the World, and were met with another bout of hail (it seems to follow us on the prettiest of views). Following this, we decided to remove the harder trails off our original plan and spend a bit more time relaxing. We hit up Long and Day Canyon after this, and camped right next to Whitbeck Rock outside of Canyonlands NPS. Considering the flood, we decided to stop by the Ranger station at Canyonlands the next morning to see about conditions. They warned us that only experts should be driving the trail, to which we assured them that we would be more than capable in our rig. With our White Rim reservation a day away, we decided to look around for a few fun and more laid back trails with nice camping spots. Gemini Bridges fit the bill perfectly, so we headed on over and found another great camping spot. We finally made it to White Rim, but while the views were amazing and the trail not all that torn up (or at least not enough that we really noticed) we decided to ignore our reservation and run White Rim in a day. Even with a 3 hour break, we managed it easily and then headed on home.
I've still got a few things to address on the truck, but overall she handled perfectly on all the trails it ran and without any major break downs or issues (I sheared a skid plate bolt, and that was about it).
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