Events/Trails 10th Annual 100s in the Hills! *Silverton, Colorado July 22 - 27 2020*

[paflytyer]

Pretty impressed with the group that made it to Silverton. They rolled HARD every single day this week. Awesome stuff.

Now.... who's up for writing a story about this for Toyota Trails? Email me at editor@tlca.org or PM me on here.

 

[geanes]

My son and I had a blast!

Thanks @geanes for making Black Bear seem like a simple drive through the mountains.

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So EXCITED we got the chance to do Black Bear and so happy you were able to join us! It was fantastic watching you handle that tough trail. You did amazing! Don't forget Connor @DirtDawg who led the spotting on the steps. He and Andrew's experience on Black Bear was invaluable. They were calling back to us from their trail-breaking group to give us heads ups on the various "changes" and "unique" lines that had cropped up this season on BB.

 

[atnolan94]

So EXCITED we got the chance to do Black Bear and so happy you were able to join us! It was fantastic watching you handle that tough trail. You did amazing! Don't forget Connor @DirtDawg who led the spotting on the steps. He and Andrew's experience on Black Bear was invaluable. They were calling back to us from their trail-breaking group to give us heads ups on the various "changes" and "unique" lines that had cropped up this season on BB.

Ditto y’all did great...not gona lie we were worried about that group but everyone stayed cool and drove the hell out of it.

 

[AustinJoe]

So EXCITED we got the chance to do Black Bear and so happy you were able to join us! It was fantastic watching you handle that tough trail. You did amazing! Don't forget Connor @DirtDawg who led the spotting on the steps. He and Andrew's experience on Black Bear was invaluable. They were calling back to us from their trail-breaking group to give us heads ups on the various "changes" and "unique" lines that had cropped up this season on BB.

Ok, so I am kicking myself a bit reading these messages. I was there, Man! Camped with @geanes and @geanesr on Thursday night after driving in from two weeks in the Gore Range. Then it started raining, and raining, and raining. I was dry and warm (43 degrees out) in my Tepui and faired much better than Gary Sr. (maybe @geanes wants to share that story? ). However, I think I managed an hour of sleep that night and woke up feeling terrible. The weather forecast called for rain for the rest of my allotted time in Silverton and I just couldn't face the peril. It was much too perilous after already being on the road for two weeks so I packed up my wet stuff and headed for home and family. Passed the group assembling at the Conoco around 8:15 Friday morning and hit the throttle. Didn't stop until San Angelo, TX (765 miles). Woke up and hit another 185 miles and was home. Another compelling factor is that I plan to be back in the area for the week of Labor Day. Hopefully, the weather will be a bit drier. My biggest regret is not getting the opportunity to learn from @geanes and @DirtDawg on the big passes in challenging conditions. This was my first big trip with the "new" rig. Covered 2826 miles over 15 days. Still amazed at how comfortably this thing can eat up the highway miles (892 on the longest day) and then immediately turn into a mountain goat. I'm already planning the next trip and will make a few adjustments based on what I learned this trip (like maybe bring a few Ambien for the nights I can't sleep.)

 

[geanes]

@AustinJoe .... just means you and I need to make a trip back up in September and knock a bunch of the passes out

 

[AustinJoe]

Ok, so I am kicking myself a bit reading these messages. I was there, Man! Camped with @geanes and @geanesr on Thursday night after driving in from two weeks in the Gore Range. Then it started raining, and raining, and raining. I was dry and warm (43 degrees out) in my Tepui and faired much better than Gary Sr. (maybe @geanes wants to share that story? ). However, I think I managed an hour of sleep that night and woke up feeling terrible. The weather forecast called for rain for the rest of my allotted time in Silverton and I just couldn't face the peril. It was much too perilous after already being on the road for two weeks so I packed up my wet stuff and headed for home and family. Passed the group assembling at the Conoco around 8:15 Friday morning and hit the throttle. Didn't stop until San Angelo, TX (765 miles). Woke up and hit another 185 miles and was home. Another compelling factor is that I plan to be back in the area for the week of Labor Day. Hopefully, the weather will be a bit drier. My biggest regret is not getting the opportunity to learn from @geanes and @DirtDawg on the big passes in challenging conditions. This was my first big trip with the "new" rig. Covered 2826 miles over 15 days. Still amazed at how comfortably this thing can eat up the highway miles (892 on the longest day) and then immediately turn into a mountain goat. I'm already planning the next trip and will make a few adjustments based on what I learned this trip (like maybe bring a few Ambien for the nights I can't sleep.)

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Here are some pics from the Gore Range. McAlister Gulch Loop.

Ok, so I am kicking myself a bit reading these messages. I was there, Man! Camped with @geanes and @geanesr on Thursday night after driving in from two weeks in the Gore Range. Then it started raining, and raining, and raining. I was dry and warm (43 degrees out) in my Tepui and faired much better than Gary Sr. (maybe @geanes wants to share that story? ). However, I think I managed an hour of sleep that night and woke up feeling terrible. The weather forecast called for rain for the rest of my allotted time in Silverton and I just couldn't face the peril. It was much too perilous after already being on the road for two weeks so I packed up my wet stuff and headed for home and family. Passed the group assembling at the Conoco around 8:15 Friday morning and hit the throttle. Didn't stop until San Angelo, TX (765 miles). Woke up and hit another 185 miles and was home. Another compelling factor is that I plan to be back in the area for the week of Labor Day. Hopefully, the weather will be a bit drier. My biggest regret is not getting the opportunity to learn from @geanes and @DirtDawg on the big passes in challenging conditions. This was my first big trip with the "new" rig. Covered 2826 miles over 15 days. Still amazed at how comfortably this thing can eat up the highway miles (892 on the longest day) and then immediately turn into a mountain goat. I'm already planning the next trip and will make a few adjustments based on what I learned this trip (like maybe bring a few Ambien for the nights I can't sleep.)

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Here are some pics from McAlister Gulch Loop in the Gore Range [ youtube ]<iframe width="1280" height="721" src="July 17, 2020 - YouTube" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>[ /youtube ] <iframe width="1280" height="721" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/smL23pXlrHE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>View attachment 2385397View attachment 2385399View attachment 2385400Events/Trails - 10th Annual 100s in the Hills! *Silverton, Colorado July 22 - 27 2020*

@AustinJoe .... just means you and I need to make a trip back up in September and knock a bunch of the passes out

@geanes, book it! I will already be in Steamboat for Labor Day weekend. Maybe we could hit it right after that (7th-?)? Or later in the month? I plan to leave my truck up there this next trip. For real this time. Decided it best to drive it home this time so I can get the damage from the Vail accident fixed. Dude backed into me in the Vail parking lot. Bummer...

 

[jLB]

Some of my son's pictures:

 

[jLB]

One of my son's favorite 100 series that he saw on the trip

 

[jLB]

 

[geanes]

@jLB .... your son is an EXCELLENT photographer. He's got talent! The RiverRock Green LX he liked is Connor's (@DirtDawg). Your son and I agree on that being one SWEET looking rig.

 

[jLB]

@jLB .... your son is an EXCELLENT photographer. He's got talent! The RiverRock Green LX he liked is Connor's (@DirtDawg). Your son and I agree on that being one SWEET looking rig.

Well, it might have something to do with my son owning a 2000 LC in RiverRock Green

 

[wyattroa]

Man I wanted to head out there. Ill be there next year for it though. Looks like so many headed out to it anyways.

 

[2001LC]

WOW, what a great core group and pic's!

 

[CORunner]

Random request on the Reddit Overland sub from a guy who was just on Silverton/Ouray and his daughter lost her favorite stuffed sloth (copied from Reddit).........




Bring Slothy Home!

OK, this is going to be a long shot. We went to Ouray/Silverton Colorado this last weekend and it was amazing. We camped for 3 nights and had a blast driving around those amazing trails.
My 5 year old daughter though left her beloved stuffed sloth here (very near Ironton / 550 end of corkscrew gulch). I tried to put a pin in the very tree where I think she left it hanging. [Here are some pictures of when slothy went to work with me for your reference]

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I know this is a long shot and asking a lot, but is anyone out there or going soon who could pick it up and mail it to me? She went everywhere with that thing, and she really is heartbroken when we realized we had left it behind, it would mean the world to her to have it back. I can of course refund shipping. Now is your chance to be the hero to the daughter of some random internet stranger!

 

[AustinJoe]

Random request on the Reddit Overland sub from a guy who was just on Silverton/Ouray and his daughter lost her favorite stuffed sloth (copied from Reddit).........




Bring Slothy Home!

OK, this is going to be a long shot. We went to Ouray/Silverton Colorado this last weekend and it was amazing. We camped for 3 nights and had a blast driving around those amazing trails.
My 5 year old daughter though left her beloved stuffed sloth here (very near Ironton / 550 end of corkscrew gulch). I tried to put a pin in the very tree where I think she left it hanging. [Here are some pictures of when slothy went to work with me for your reference]

<br>()<br>
I know this is a long shot and asking a lot, but is anyone out there or going soon who could pick it up and mail it to me? She went everywhere with that thing, and she really is heartbroken when we realized we had left it behind, it would mean the world to her to have it back. I can of course refund shipping. Now is your chance to be the hero to the daughter of some random internet stranger!

SAVE SLOTHY!!!!!!

 

[Steve Curl]

SAVE SLOTHY!!!!!!

I swear to god, if this forum can't get this damn sloth back, I will have lost all faith in humanity!

 

[abuck99]

Maybe we can find a “replacement”, roll it in a little dirt and call it good?

Seriously- make an old time “wanted” poster with a REWARD and give it out to the two UTV rental outfits in Silverton. This could turn into a new kind of San Juans poker run or treasure hunt

 

[AustinJoe]

Here are a couple of videos from McAllister Gulch in the White River National Forrest near Vail. My son likes to ride in the truck to the top and then bomb down on his mountain bike. Smart kid! I didn't catch any of the technical stuff on video. I was too busy "white-knuckling" it!

[youtube]smL23pXlrHE[/youtube]
[youtube]nbYAF3Q-x3g[/youtube]
[youtube]KmCmul8NFD0[/youtube]

OK, I officially suck at posting videos here. not sure what I am doing wrong.

 

[abuck99]

Here are a couple of videos from McAllister Gulch in the White River National Forrest near Vail. My son likes to ride in the truck to the top and then bomb down on his mountain bike. Smart kid! I didn't catch any of the technical stuff on video. I was too busy "white-knuckling" it!

[youtube]smL23pXlrHE[/youtube]
[youtube]nbYAF3Q-x3g[/youtube]
[youtube]KmCmul8NFD0[/youtube]

OK, I officially suck at posting videos here. not sure what I am doing wrong.

Cool stuff- you should share the story you told us about your 4 hr Vail offroad trail experience.....

 

[AustinJoe]

Cool stuff- you should share the story you told us about your 4 hr Vail offroad trail experience.....

You mean 4 hours "of" off-road experience (hah)!

Anyway, instead of prattling on with my tales let me provide some useful information about this trail in case anyone wants to check it out for themselves. The mountains of the Gore Range are quite different from the San Juan’s. Not as dramatic or as jagged, but still very beautiful in their own way. In addition, the trail starts at Camp Hale which was the original training ground for the 10th Mountain Division in their effort t to defeat the Nazis in the Alps. There are some very cool historical sites along the trail if you are into that sort of thing (I am). Camp Hale is just south of Red Cliff, CO which is perched on a ledge high up the Eagle River Gorge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cliff_Bridge). Camp Hale is an easy drive from either the Vail Valley to the North or from Leadville to the South (20-minute drive from either side roughly).

In Charles Wells' book, "Guide to Colorado Back Roads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trails", he rates McAllister Gulch as a "Red-Difficult" trail. However, he only covers the McAllister Gulch up and back section (CR 708). We drove the "full loop" starting at Camp Hale, we took CR702 to the top of Ptarmigan Pass, then CR747 from Ptarmigan Pass off the backside of Resolution Mountain until CR747 intersects with CR708 down near Red Cliff, and then CR708 up over Resolution Mountain again and back down to Camp Hale. Here is my tracking data from Gaia GaiaGPS - McCalister Gulch Loop (7/15/20, 11:58:35AM). You do two climbs and two descents of around 2600 feet each. The part in the "back" on CR747 where you run into the Wearyman Creek section gets wet and very tight. In fact, in one section it was so tight that a mountain biker who had caught up to me had to follow me for a few hundred feet before he had enough room to get around. Great guy from Red Cliff who happened to grow up in the very suburb of Austin, TX where we currently live (small world). He took the videos of us crossing Wearyman Creek. Now I have a new friend in Red Cliff!

CR702 is a very easy scenic drive up the mountain tp Ptarmigan Pass. Things get interesting about halfway down CR747 and then all the way to the descent on CR708 back to Camp Hale. You drop down from above the tree line at Ptarmigan Pass to an immediate very on-camber berm, then work your way through ever-tightening forest tracks and creek beds, and then back up steep moderately rocky switchback climbs up to the top of Resolution Mountain. We ran into a sheepherder at the top (~11,800 feet) who was camping and watching a flock of sheep. At almost 12K feet! Crazy. We chatted with him to make sure he was all good and to make sure we were not heading for disaster. The descent to Camp Hale contains one crux section where you make a step descent between two large rocks while making a sharp left turn. Then you are home free. I ran into a local professional Jeep guide at the start of the trail who suggested that my truck could make the loop and then ran into him again as we were finishing and he seemed shocked that we actually made it. I kind of was too as I foolishly took his advice and drove off into the unknown, solo, and without adequate comms. Oh well, we survived the trip and I learned A LOT about the capabilities of these trucks. These damn things are amazing. I still cannot believe you can knock out 800 plus highway miles in a single day, with ease, and then cross just about any pass in the state. You can’t do that in a Jeep! I hope someone will check out this trail. It's a good time. I will definitely hit it again when I am in the area. It will be more fun the next time because I won't feel like I am driving my family off the edge of the earth.

For the record, I drive a '98 LX on 35" Falken Wildpeak M/Ts, OME springs, Icon Stage 2 shocks, 2.5-inch lift, NItro center diff low range kit (awesome!), no front or rear lockers, with a Tepui on the roof. There are some low tree sections where Aspens had fallen across the trail, but the Tepui showed no signs of wear.