Independence on Blanca

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I'm leaving longmont by around 3, should put me around the springs by 5 ish. Perhaps we can convoy? And I totally forgot to grab my splitting maul, or chainsaw or even my handsaw for that matter. = fail.
 
Want to meet up at Love's off exit 132A around 5? Gives me a chance to get there, take on fuel for both vehicles as well. Take exit 132A and then the first right onto Bandley Drive.

I'll be trailering, but either you or Ryan can set the pace. Not sure how fast ya'll plan on going.
 
Sorry this trip report hasn't gotten out sooner. Busy week. The trip was fantastic! Turn out was Brian "Mr. Moose", Reed "Smoking Rocks" and myself, along with three friends of mine as passengers. We were rolling up the trail from the valley right at 8:30 and managed to get in front of the only other large group (about 2 heavily modified jeeps, a scout, and a Bronco). They came up behind us at each major obstacle but since the three 80's made quick work of the trail they didn't have to wait long. We were all surprised when we reached Lake Como by 10:45! And quickly snagged the promo campsite on the south side of the lake by the old cabin. Most of the vehicle traffic came up to fish and we all wished we had poles as we watched others snagging trout left and right. Trail damage up consisted of my exhaust resonator getting crushed in on Jaws 3 and somehow Reed broke a front turn signal lens. Brian's rear air locker got progressively worse throughout the trip but that was a pre-existing condition. I went around to the other rigs looking to borrow a hack saw to cut off my mostly blocked tail pipe and one of the jeeps had an onboard inverter and an angle grinder so he offered to take a birds mouth notch out before the resonator so I could retain the rear hanger that is built into it. Atfer that we attacked the steps up from the lake inlet that weren't as muddy as last August but still wet. And attack it we did. After quite a few attempts and different lines with Brian not letting me give up we all powered over the mess of tree roots and muddy boulders, removing what was left of my plastic bumper wings, bounced up Jaws 4, met some locals that built a "tug" (an 85 mini truck with a VW beetle body), and continued to the top by blue lake to enjoy the sun for an hour or so. By the time we got back to camp and finished dinner it started to rain, then sleet, then hail for an hour. Re-kindled the fire for a while and then turned in for the night. No signs of the nuisance bear that everyone was talking about. 4am was too early for a long walk to Reed and Brian, but the other three and myself made the summit of Blanca by about 9:15. coming back down, we were grateful to see a couple of nice looking Cruisers waiting just above tree line with snacks. Saved our tired knees the last mile or so back to camp. Brian said the last section was significantly harder the second day with all the rain the night before. After lunch, breaking camp, and a little Independance day celebration, we hit the trail at 1:45. Downhill trip went smoothly till Jaws 1. I managed to slide off my desired line over the middle section of the rock rib and got turtled on my undercarriage. Brian tried to winch me back up from the rear but I got sandwiched inbetween the obstacle and that large Boulder above it. Trying to go forward again put me in a very tippy position that I couldn't really feel but drew some wide eyed comments from the rest of the group. I stood on the brake while Reed flipped around below. With winch cables front and rear and a strap attached to the luggage rack and held by my friends (not sure how much it would have done but it felt right) we got the cruiser over in one piece. At the air up I looked for additional damage. Saw a sizable dent in the rear driveshaft. After saying goodbyes and hitting the pavement I discovered the problem. We could not go more than 55 without a mind-numbing vibration and roar from the rear. I flagged down Brian at the gas station in Fort Garland and called Reed. Thankfully they were (somewhat) familiar with the 7 pin mod for a center diff lock, and with a loaner switch from Brian we converted it to front wheel drive for a very rainy and windy sprint home just in time for fireworks with the family. Thanks guys for the challenge and support! Thanks to Justin for the spare switch and resonator! And shout out to Drive Line Service (on Sierra Madre downtown) for the great looking rebuilt shaft. Time for numbers and a winch!!!!!!!
 
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Sunrise between Ellingwood and Blanca
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Lake Como is in the dark patch of trees in the valley below. I could actually make out the red dot that was my Cruiser at camp.
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Coming down Jaws 2
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how I should have gone down Jaws 1
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How I ended up
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Didn't get any good shots of the predicament I ended up in a few minutes later, but everyone was preoccupied with getting me out. This is the best one but it doesn't show the large hole lurking just under my passenger front tire.
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Thanks for the write up and pics.
 
Love the picture of Reed's 80 flexing on jaws 1. Are your sway bars off? Never understood why guys with 80's don't have front sway bar disconnects, and throw that rear sway bar away.
 
black95 said:
Love the picture of Reed's 80 flexing on jaws 1. Are your sway bars off? Never understood why guys with 80's don't have front sway bar disconnects, and throw that rear sway bar away.
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It gets really tippy feeling with a lift and no rear bar on it. I've done it, and corners can get a little sketchy. And since front disconnects aren't mass produced, most don't run them.
 
I have some picts I'll put up later today. I tossed my sway bars when I bought my truck, it can get tippy if I'm driving like a 17 year old but for the most part its ok.

Ryan got in a real hairy spot coming down Jaws 1, I think some of the blame is on me for spotting him into a crap line. Regardless I had to hook up to his front driver side recovery point and pull him over it. At one point his diver side tire was a good 5-6 feet off the ground and there was a moment where I was genuinely worried that he was going to roll off.
 
Oh and there was additional trail damage;

I lost all my hub caps (oh no), my passenger rear quarter panel took a good hit by the tree on the outside of Jaws 4 on the second trip up, immediately after getting to the top of Jaws 4 I strength tested my front pumpkin by smashing it directly into an immovable object (bus sized rock) at a solid 5mph (pretty violent from the drivers seat) and my passenger slider got hit so hard somewhere along the trail that it's kinked and now makes contact with the rear door when opening it.

I think all of our sliders got a pretty good thrashing. It was also fairly entertaining to watch the progression of bumper removal that Ryans truck underwent.

My land cruiser still amazes me that it is able to drive home comfortably for 5 hrs after being thrashed on all weekend. If my cruiser was my girlfriend I'd be locked up for domestic violence.

I had a lot of fun guys, thanks for making the journey.
 
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