I still have your sliders partially done and sitting on the shelf if you end up in CO. I don't think I ever got to measure for walking around the exhaust.
Build My first '40 and the venture
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OlYellr
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Friday, July 31 — Sacramento to Ely
Friday was basically a driving day. Dave and I left Sacramento around 9:30, with the goal of making some serious progress east. FJ40s and “serious progress” are not necessarily words that naturally belong in the same sentence, but we were optimistic.
We made the first stop in Carson City for some food and beers, which seemed like a reasonable way to prepare for crossing Nevada in the middle of summer. We were close enough to the state capitol that I figured a picture was appropriate ...of the Brewpub naturally. From there, it was Highway 50 and the long haul across Nevada.
Highway 50 is advertised as the “Loneliest Road in America.” I didn’t see much Americana along the way, although that had nothing to do with the fact that we had all the time to look around as we were zipping through at FJ40 speeds. What we did see was plenty of open country, some impressive scenery, and several wildfires burning in the distance.
At one point we stopped for fuel in Austin, Nevada. The pump had a little reminder that we had made it halfway across the Loneliest Road in America, along with the obligatory encouragement to buy some souvenirs proving we had survived it.
As we were leaving town, Austin offered another piece of local information:
“Socially distancing since 1862.”
Given the number of people we had seen, I had absolutely no reason to doubt them.
Speaking of lonely, I think we saw maybe three cars over roughly eight hours — all going the other direction. I assume they were headed toward civilization. We chose the other option.
Eventually we made it to Ely. Coming into town from the west, the first establishment on the right was a 24/7 “massage” business. Decided not to investigate. We still had enough fuel to make it to the other end of town.
The original plan was to push on to Delta, Utah and crash. We weren’t using mapping software, so navigation consisted primarily of watching road signs and occasionally asking ourselves whether we were stil going the right direction. Apparently, one of those methods was more reliable than the other.
We eventually started to question our route about an hour after making a wrong turn. Dave checked his phone and discovered our Guardian Angel had already tried to intervene.
Good thing we were paying attention!
We turned around and eventually made our way back toward Ely. At the time, it felt like a little wasted mileage. Turns out it may have been one of the better navigation errors of the trip. Our original plan was to stay in Delta. Coming back, we discovered that the hotels advertising themselves as being in Delta had a slightly different definition of “in.” The small print apparently meant “within 38 miles of Delta.”
So the wrong turn may have saved us from driving another two hours only to discover we still had another 38 miles to go to find a hotel.
Ely it was. … Again. By then it was dark, and we decided Ely was good enough for the night. Dave and I also noticed flames kicking up from a wildfire not far from the hotel driving in.
After spending the day crossing Nevada in an FJ40 with the heat coming from every direction, sleeping next to an active wildfire somehow didn’t seem like the worst option.. If anything, the wildfire looked like it might provide a little nighttime air conditioning in comparison.
Later that evening Ian sent word that Engineer Pass was finally open and suggested we high-tail it to Lake City for a Sunday run. I told/texted everyone we were going to explore Moab on Saturday.
That seemed like the better plan. Moab was roughly half the distance, we’d never been there, & getting to Lake City would mean covering about 500 miles in a day in YELLR. I wasn’t willing to define “high-tail it” quite that aggressively in a 40 sans A/C. I was willing to explore Moab sans A/C.
Somtimes the wrong turn is actually the right turn. Sometimes it’s just a wrong turn. This one apparently came with a Guardian Angel and better hotel options.
Fact: we slept comfortably knowing there was an active wildfire nearby.
Friday was basically a driving day. Dave and I left Sacramento around 9:30, with the goal of making some serious progress east. FJ40s and “serious progress” are not necessarily words that naturally belong in the same sentence, but we were optimistic.
We made the first stop in Carson City for some food and beers, which seemed like a reasonable way to prepare for crossing Nevada in the middle of summer. We were close enough to the state capitol that I figured a picture was appropriate ...of the Brewpub naturally. From there, it was Highway 50 and the long haul across Nevada.
Highway 50 is advertised as the “Loneliest Road in America.” I didn’t see much Americana along the way, although that had nothing to do with the fact that we had all the time to look around as we were zipping through at FJ40 speeds. What we did see was plenty of open country, some impressive scenery, and several wildfires burning in the distance.
At one point we stopped for fuel in Austin, Nevada. The pump had a little reminder that we had made it halfway across the Loneliest Road in America, along with the obligatory encouragement to buy some souvenirs proving we had survived it.
As we were leaving town, Austin offered another piece of local information:
“Socially distancing since 1862.”
Given the number of people we had seen, I had absolutely no reason to doubt them.
Speaking of lonely, I think we saw maybe three cars over roughly eight hours — all going the other direction. I assume they were headed toward civilization. We chose the other option.
Eventually we made it to Ely. Coming into town from the west, the first establishment on the right was a 24/7 “massage” business. Decided not to investigate. We still had enough fuel to make it to the other end of town.
The original plan was to push on to Delta, Utah and crash. We weren’t using mapping software, so navigation consisted primarily of watching road signs and occasionally asking ourselves whether we were stil going the right direction. Apparently, one of those methods was more reliable than the other.
We eventually started to question our route about an hour after making a wrong turn. Dave checked his phone and discovered our Guardian Angel had already tried to intervene.
Good thing we were paying attention!
We turned around and eventually made our way back toward Ely. At the time, it felt like a little wasted mileage. Turns out it may have been one of the better navigation errors of the trip. Our original plan was to stay in Delta. Coming back, we discovered that the hotels advertising themselves as being in Delta had a slightly different definition of “in.” The small print apparently meant “within 38 miles of Delta.”
So the wrong turn may have saved us from driving another two hours only to discover we still had another 38 miles to go to find a hotel.
Ely it was. … Again. By then it was dark, and we decided Ely was good enough for the night. Dave and I also noticed flames kicking up from a wildfire not far from the hotel driving in.
After spending the day crossing Nevada in an FJ40 with the heat coming from every direction, sleeping next to an active wildfire somehow didn’t seem like the worst option.. If anything, the wildfire looked like it might provide a little nighttime air conditioning in comparison.
Later that evening Ian sent word that Engineer Pass was finally open and suggested we high-tail it to Lake City for a Sunday run. I told/texted everyone we were going to explore Moab on Saturday.
That seemed like the better plan. Moab was roughly half the distance, we’d never been there, & getting to Lake City would mean covering about 500 miles in a day in YELLR. I wasn’t willing to define “high-tail it” quite that aggressively in a 40 sans A/C. I was willing to explore Moab sans A/C.
Somtimes the wrong turn is actually the right turn. Sometimes it’s just a wrong turn. This one apparently came with a Guardian Angel and better hotel options.
Fact: we slept comfortably knowing there was an active wildfire nearby.
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OlYellr
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Saturday, August 1 — Moab
Since we had decided to bail on Engineer Pass, the next step was to explore Moab. Of course, the best way to begin that plan was to drive across Utah in 100-plus degree heat.
We stopped at Mom’s for lunch because, well, it’s Mom’s. There wasn’t really a decision to make. If you’re driving through Utah, and Mom’s is there, you stop.
The place has apparently been around long enough and done something right, because there was a National Geographic feature inside. Took a couple pictures, and continued east.
After several more hours of hot Utah pavement, we finally made it to Moab. Since I do the National Park Passport thing, Arches National Park was on the list. I needed the stamp.
Dave, however, discovered something more interesting: there is a four-wheel-drive-only section on the backside of the park. That seemed like a better use of our afternoon - if you didn’t already have heat-stroke, then make it happen.
We headed up and in.
For the most part, the road was pretty easy. There were a couple of places that required a little more attention — maybe three to five sections that I would classify as “spicy” to get out and walk (It was just us and wanted to make sure before committing YELLR).
As we were looking at the line, a white Chevy Traverse pulled up behind us.
This immediately concerned me. I walked back and suggested to the driver that he might want to reconsider. He got out and walked back up with us to take a look. He then went back to the Traverse, talked it over with his girlfriend, and came back with his decision.
Apparently, since my lift was bigger than his lift, he decided tucked his tail in and left. There may have been an innuendo in there somewhere.
Anyway, I was relieved. The alternatives wren’t particularly appealing. I either needed to leave before he attempted it so I wouldn’t have to witness what happened, or watch him try it, get stuck, and then spend the next several hours helping recover a vehicle that probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Neither sounded like a great way to spend the afternoon. Once the Traverse was safely headed the other direction, we continued.
Since we had decided to bail on Engineer Pass, the next step was to explore Moab. Of course, the best way to begin that plan was to drive across Utah in 100-plus degree heat.
We stopped at Mom’s for lunch because, well, it’s Mom’s. There wasn’t really a decision to make. If you’re driving through Utah, and Mom’s is there, you stop.
The place has apparently been around long enough and done something right, because there was a National Geographic feature inside. Took a couple pictures, and continued east.
After several more hours of hot Utah pavement, we finally made it to Moab. Since I do the National Park Passport thing, Arches National Park was on the list. I needed the stamp.
Dave, however, discovered something more interesting: there is a four-wheel-drive-only section on the backside of the park. That seemed like a better use of our afternoon - if you didn’t already have heat-stroke, then make it happen.
We headed up and in.
For the most part, the road was pretty easy. There were a couple of places that required a little more attention — maybe three to five sections that I would classify as “spicy” to get out and walk (It was just us and wanted to make sure before committing YELLR).
As we were looking at the line, a white Chevy Traverse pulled up behind us.
This immediately concerned me. I walked back and suggested to the driver that he might want to reconsider. He got out and walked back up with us to take a look. He then went back to the Traverse, talked it over with his girlfriend, and came back with his decision.
Apparently, since my lift was bigger than his lift, he decided tucked his tail in and left. There may have been an innuendo in there somewhere.
Anyway, I was relieved. The alternatives wren’t particularly appealing. I either needed to leave before he attempted it so I wouldn’t have to witness what happened, or watch him try it, get stuck, and then spend the next several hours helping recover a vehicle that probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Neither sounded like a great way to spend the afternoon. Once the Traverse was safely headed the other direction, we continued.
OlYellr
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Saturday, August 1 — Moab Cont.
The backside of the park was worth it. The road was mostly straightforward with enough rocks, sand, and uneven sections to keep things interesting, and the views were obviously the reason we were there.
We got to see the arches from a completely different perspective, and YELLR got to do what YELLR apparently thinks it was built to do.
Dave also got behind the wheel. This was his inaugural FJ40 four-wheel-drive experience — actually, his first real Land Cruiser wheeling experience. He started with a few spicy turns that weren’t quite the big ones I’d already taken us through, but after getting a feel for YELLR, his confidence came up quickly. More about that in another day log.
He had a good time bouncing through the sand and over the rocks. YELLR approved.
We took our time, stopped for pictures, and enjoyed seeing the backside of the park. Nothing particularly dramatic — just a good trail, some beautiful country, and a 40-year-old Land Cruiser doing what it does.
There is also a video from some of the trail sections that I’ll post along with this.
And then there was the heat. It was stupid hot. At some point late in the afternoon we stopped for fuel, and YELLR apparently needed to relieve some of the pressure been building all day. It only seemed to happen when it was really, really hot (Video - happened only when driving several hours in 100+ heat).
I figured I’ll address that later. We flop in Moab. More exploring in the morning too and then work our way toward Colorado sometime Sunday.
After the day’s drive and trail time, we had dinner at Moab Brewery, checked into the hotel, and crashed.
It had been a long day. And a hot one. But so far, Moab was worth the detour.
The backside of the park was worth it. The road was mostly straightforward with enough rocks, sand, and uneven sections to keep things interesting, and the views were obviously the reason we were there.
We got to see the arches from a completely different perspective, and YELLR got to do what YELLR apparently thinks it was built to do.
Dave also got behind the wheel. This was his inaugural FJ40 four-wheel-drive experience — actually, his first real Land Cruiser wheeling experience. He started with a few spicy turns that weren’t quite the big ones I’d already taken us through, but after getting a feel for YELLR, his confidence came up quickly. More about that in another day log.
He had a good time bouncing through the sand and over the rocks. YELLR approved.
We took our time, stopped for pictures, and enjoyed seeing the backside of the park. Nothing particularly dramatic — just a good trail, some beautiful country, and a 40-year-old Land Cruiser doing what it does.
There is also a video from some of the trail sections that I’ll post along with this.
And then there was the heat. It was stupid hot. At some point late in the afternoon we stopped for fuel, and YELLR apparently needed to relieve some of the pressure been building all day. It only seemed to happen when it was really, really hot (Video - happened only when driving several hours in 100+ heat).
I figured I’ll address that later. We flop in Moab. More exploring in the morning too and then work our way toward Colorado sometime Sunday.
After the day’s drive and trail time, we had dinner at Moab Brewery, checked into the hotel, and crashed.
It had been a long day. And a hot one. But so far, Moab was worth the detour.
OlYellr
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Sunday, August 2 — More Moab and Off to Colorado
We woke up Sunday to a warm welcome from the Moab weather.By “warm welcome,” I mean an oven.
Dave and I sat outside for breakfast, looked over the maps, excited we weren’t done with Moab yet. We would head north for a bit, pick up Onion Creek Trail, and work our way toward Colorado. The plan was roughly 45 miles of backcountry roads, probably five hours or so, before eventually getting back to civilization.
At least that was the plan.
We drove north out of Moab along the Colorado River, which was a great way to start the morning. The canyon scenery was impressive, and the first several miles were easy and beautiful.
Then you drop down into the backcountry and basically commit.
Onion Creek is rated as a moderate four-wheel-drive trail between Highway 128 and Highway 141. It wasn’t particularly technical, but it was remote enough that I wasn’t interested in creating a problem we couldn’t solve ourselves.
We aired down and headed in.
The landscape was completely different from what we’d seen the day before around Arches. We were deeper into the canyon country now, following the creek and working our way through a series of increasingly remote sections.
There was a stock Bronco on the trail, and a few other people actually stopped and asked if they could take pictures of YELLR.
Apparently cleans up well when out in the wild.
There were some more technical sections, but nothing where I felt the need to get out and walk the line. I’d rate it easier than Yankee Boy Basin in Ouray. Mostly it was just a matter of picking a line, keeping YELLR moving, and enjoying the scenery.
We did not have to make one decision that involved sacrificing a little paint. Unlike the Arches ride teh day before (forgot to mention at a few point I could either take a line and brush some vegetation or take the other line and get pretty tippy. YELLR picked up a few more trail souvenirs on the driver’s side noticed).
Since we were out there by ourselves, in the middle of nowhere, in 106-degree heat, we decided paint was cheaper than tipping over and dealing with that.
The rest of the trail was pretty much just hydration, tunes, and scenery.
We’d stop periodically to prevent dehydration, which was less of a suggestion and more of a requirement. Fortunately, by this point in the trip we had developed a very effective protocol.
The 45 miles took us about five hours, which is actually a pretty good pace for YELLR.
Eventually we got back to cell service and civilization. We started making up some time on the highway toward Telluride, although “making up time” in a 40 is still a relative concept.
We stopped in Telluride at Brown Dog Pizza for some food and the stops required hydration. Brown Dog and a Yuppie Brew seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate making it out of the desert without heat stroke.
The pizza was really good. Highly recommend it if you’re in the area.
While we were there, I got a message from @RevISK . Paul’s steering box had given up. @RevISK said he would be able to get off Engineer Pass, but the route down would be via Mineral Creek. That got my attention and was able to call and talk to him.
We finished up in Telluride and headed toward the KOA. Once we got checked in, I found out Ian had made it off the Pass and caught up with @solomrus , @Greyota , @solomkor , and @Franks 86 HJ61
from the NE crew as well.
There was still enough daylight left that I decided to do a little YELLR tinkering.
I’d been getting a small backfire when downshifting from fourth to third. Nothing dramatic — more like those little snaps you could make as a kid by throwing something hard onto the sidewalk. Not loud, not rapid, just an occasional little pop.
So, naturally, I decided it was a good time to adjust the carburetor.
I leaned the air/fuel mixture about a quarter turn in. Set toming, and RPMs.
A perfectly reasonable thing to do late in the day, after driving 45 miles of backcountry roads in 106-degree heat then driving to CO, because what could possibly go wrong?
We woke up Sunday to a warm welcome from the Moab weather.By “warm welcome,” I mean an oven.
Dave and I sat outside for breakfast, looked over the maps, excited we weren’t done with Moab yet. We would head north for a bit, pick up Onion Creek Trail, and work our way toward Colorado. The plan was roughly 45 miles of backcountry roads, probably five hours or so, before eventually getting back to civilization.
At least that was the plan.
We drove north out of Moab along the Colorado River, which was a great way to start the morning. The canyon scenery was impressive, and the first several miles were easy and beautiful.
Then you drop down into the backcountry and basically commit.
Onion Creek is rated as a moderate four-wheel-drive trail between Highway 128 and Highway 141. It wasn’t particularly technical, but it was remote enough that I wasn’t interested in creating a problem we couldn’t solve ourselves.
We aired down and headed in.
The landscape was completely different from what we’d seen the day before around Arches. We were deeper into the canyon country now, following the creek and working our way through a series of increasingly remote sections.
There was a stock Bronco on the trail, and a few other people actually stopped and asked if they could take pictures of YELLR.
Apparently cleans up well when out in the wild.
There were some more technical sections, but nothing where I felt the need to get out and walk the line. I’d rate it easier than Yankee Boy Basin in Ouray. Mostly it was just a matter of picking a line, keeping YELLR moving, and enjoying the scenery.
We did not have to make one decision that involved sacrificing a little paint. Unlike the Arches ride teh day before (forgot to mention at a few point I could either take a line and brush some vegetation or take the other line and get pretty tippy. YELLR picked up a few more trail souvenirs on the driver’s side noticed).
Since we were out there by ourselves, in the middle of nowhere, in 106-degree heat, we decided paint was cheaper than tipping over and dealing with that.
The rest of the trail was pretty much just hydration, tunes, and scenery.
We’d stop periodically to prevent dehydration, which was less of a suggestion and more of a requirement. Fortunately, by this point in the trip we had developed a very effective protocol.
The 45 miles took us about five hours, which is actually a pretty good pace for YELLR.
Eventually we got back to cell service and civilization. We started making up some time on the highway toward Telluride, although “making up time” in a 40 is still a relative concept.
We stopped in Telluride at Brown Dog Pizza for some food and the stops required hydration. Brown Dog and a Yuppie Brew seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate making it out of the desert without heat stroke.
The pizza was really good. Highly recommend it if you’re in the area.
While we were there, I got a message from @RevISK . Paul’s steering box had given up. @RevISK said he would be able to get off Engineer Pass, but the route down would be via Mineral Creek. That got my attention and was able to call and talk to him.
We finished up in Telluride and headed toward the KOA. Once we got checked in, I found out Ian had made it off the Pass and caught up with @solomrus , @Greyota , @solomkor , and @Franks 86 HJ61
from the NE crew as well.
There was still enough daylight left that I decided to do a little YELLR tinkering.
I’d been getting a small backfire when downshifting from fourth to third. Nothing dramatic — more like those little snaps you could make as a kid by throwing something hard onto the sidewalk. Not loud, not rapid, just an occasional little pop.
So, naturally, I decided it was a good time to adjust the carburetor.
I leaned the air/fuel mixture about a quarter turn in. Set toming, and RPMs.
A perfectly reasonable thing to do late in the day, after driving 45 miles of backcountry roads in 106-degree heat then driving to CO, because what could possibly go wrong?
Epic…. 
@OlYellr one thing that always amazed me, was taking what I needed as a transportation vehicle while living in Northern Vermont and using it as remarkable Off-Road excavator. We would run into the rivers and logging trails, Beaver dams and back roads and it would do every bit of what I asked from it. I couldn't imagine taking a vehicle like that which I really needed for transportation and pounding it through rocks and mud and then getting on the super highways and driving 8-9 hours thru 4 states reliably with all the other vehicles on the road and intermingling and driving. your trip is another testament to superior quality and amazing determination. It shows the true quality of the well-built machine it is and your own dedication. I am freakin’ impressed!!!
OlYellr
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I appreciate that, but I should probably disclose one of the secrets to YELLR making it through all this...
In the Avengers, Tony Stark could always fall back on, “We have a Hulk.” I have a Russ.
My secret weapon is a combination of an unhealthy determination to get YELLR as mechanically sorted as possible, an apparent inability to stop buying parts I think I might need, and Russ — who has an uncanny ability to look at whatever
I’ve done and either fix the mess or make my solution considerably better.So maybe it isn’t just Toyota quality and determination. Maybe it’s having the right friends when the determination gets ahead of the mechanical ability.
Either way thanks for the complement! But is is a team effort. Apparently that combination works.
EDIT: And also this forum. Lots of people who watch and follow - I read and copy their efforts (& struggles for some reason).
Last edited:
OlYellr
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Monday, August 3 — Yankee Boy, Sydney Basin and the Timing Light I Left at Camp
Monday started with the usual initial briefs, followed by a check of the Trail Lead Board. I was listed for Yankee Boy Basin.My preference when leading to get progressively harder as the week goes on. Nobody asked me. Well, technically they did.
I also checked in with Ian to see what was happening with Paul and the steering box situation. With that sorted for the moment, I decided we’d run Yankee Boy Basin and then drop back down and work our way over to Sydney Basin, which is still one of my favorite spots.
There were some new faces in the group along with some familiar ones from Omaha and last year’s SAS. Bruno and his family were there again, along with that blue FJ45 of his that I really like. We headed out around 9.
Yankee Boy didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of the right kind of bumps and a few spicy sections, but nothing particularly terrible. Mostly it was a long, steady climb that gave everyone a chance to remember what it feels like to actually drive a trail.
The scenery certainly didn’t disappoint either, so we stopped for the obligatory glamour shots.
YELLR, however, was better suited for the glamour shot portions of the day. Yeller ran like crap.
No power getting started. I had made some timing and carb adjustments the night before, going from 9 to 12 degrees on the timing and leaning the air/fuel mixture a little to address that small backfire I had been getting under load, setting idle
Then I remembered the important part. I had left the timing light back at camp. Because apparently I had so much confidence in my mechanical abilities that I decided I no longer needed the tool specifically designed to tell me whether I had the timing right.
On the way back down Yankee Boy photo session, I bumped the RPM up a little to keep YELLR from wanting to stall.
Lesson learned.Bring all the tools all the time. Or, more accurately, bring all the tools all the time (except apparently I won’.
Monday started with the usual initial briefs, followed by a check of the Trail Lead Board. I was listed for Yankee Boy Basin.My preference when leading to get progressively harder as the week goes on. Nobody asked me. Well, technically they did.
I also checked in with Ian to see what was happening with Paul and the steering box situation. With that sorted for the moment, I decided we’d run Yankee Boy Basin and then drop back down and work our way over to Sydney Basin, which is still one of my favorite spots.
There were some new faces in the group along with some familiar ones from Omaha and last year’s SAS. Bruno and his family were there again, along with that blue FJ45 of his that I really like. We headed out around 9.
Yankee Boy didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of the right kind of bumps and a few spicy sections, but nothing particularly terrible. Mostly it was a long, steady climb that gave everyone a chance to remember what it feels like to actually drive a trail.
The scenery certainly didn’t disappoint either, so we stopped for the obligatory glamour shots.
YELLR, however, was better suited for the glamour shot portions of the day. Yeller ran like crap.
No power getting started. I had made some timing and carb adjustments the night before, going from 9 to 12 degrees on the timing and leaning the air/fuel mixture a little to address that small backfire I had been getting under load, setting idle
Then I remembered the important part. I had left the timing light back at camp. Because apparently I had so much confidence in my mechanical abilities that I decided I no longer needed the tool specifically designed to tell me whether I had the timing right.
On the way back down Yankee Boy photo session, I bumped the RPM up a little to keep YELLR from wanting to stall.
Lesson learned.Bring all the tools all the time. Or, more accurately, bring all the tools all the time (except apparently I won’.
OlYellr
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- #1,511
Monday, August 3 — Yankee Boy, Sydney Basin Cont.
We headed back up to Sydney Basin. There’s a section on the backside of Sydney that drops down through some fun bumps and rocks. Last year, Bruno pretty much bombed his way through it.
Rus, Korbin, Bruno and I decided we’d give it a go. The intimidating part is standing at the top looking down at it. The fun part is coming back up.
All four of us made it. Yellr on 3 wheels (I bombed is bit more than I needed but didn’t want to stall).
Then, because apparently we hadn’t made enough questionable decisions for one day, we got to the top of Sydney and found some mud.Bruno and I decided our rigs needed to be properly dirty.
Bruno’s FJ45 was especially enthusiastic. He had some goodies in the back that he apparently forgot to secure against the possibility of a little mud. Fortunately, they were at least tucked into some totes, so we didn’t completely convert his cargo area into a mud bath.
We spent some time taking pictures, admiring the scenery, and generally enjoying the fact that the trucks were now appropriately trail-dirty. By about 3:00, we’d had enough. We headed back down, fueled up, stopped in town for some provisions, and made our way back to camp.
Dave and I talked through the next steps with YELLR. My first thought was to change only one thing rather than continuing the my traditional mechanic’s approach of changing three things at once and then trying to figure out which one actually helped.
The RPM were still a little high, but not terribly so. I ended up making two adjustments, with the primary change being the air/fuel mixture. I didn’t quite put it back where it had been before the whole experiment, but got where I thought it should be and dialed the RPM back down. We’ll see what that does.
Ian had also located a replacement steering box and said it should be at camp tomorrow. So at least somebody’s mechanical problems were progressing.
Dinner that night was at Frank’s camp. Breakfast for dinner. Perfect. Rus made some excellent eggs and bacon, Frank made pancakes along with Don Julio. It was solid.
I had intended to make it back over to Ian’s later to sit around and BS for a while. That didn’t happen. Too much “syrup” with them cakes.
We headed back up to Sydney Basin. There’s a section on the backside of Sydney that drops down through some fun bumps and rocks. Last year, Bruno pretty much bombed his way through it.
Rus, Korbin, Bruno and I decided we’d give it a go. The intimidating part is standing at the top looking down at it. The fun part is coming back up.
All four of us made it. Yellr on 3 wheels (I bombed is bit more than I needed but didn’t want to stall).
Then, because apparently we hadn’t made enough questionable decisions for one day, we got to the top of Sydney and found some mud.Bruno and I decided our rigs needed to be properly dirty.
Bruno’s FJ45 was especially enthusiastic. He had some goodies in the back that he apparently forgot to secure against the possibility of a little mud. Fortunately, they were at least tucked into some totes, so we didn’t completely convert his cargo area into a mud bath.
We spent some time taking pictures, admiring the scenery, and generally enjoying the fact that the trucks were now appropriately trail-dirty. By about 3:00, we’d had enough. We headed back down, fueled up, stopped in town for some provisions, and made our way back to camp.
Dave and I talked through the next steps with YELLR. My first thought was to change only one thing rather than continuing the my traditional mechanic’s approach of changing three things at once and then trying to figure out which one actually helped.
The RPM were still a little high, but not terribly so. I ended up making two adjustments, with the primary change being the air/fuel mixture. I didn’t quite put it back where it had been before the whole experiment, but got where I thought it should be and dialed the RPM back down. We’ll see what that does.
Ian had also located a replacement steering box and said it should be at camp tomorrow. So at least somebody’s mechanical problems were progressing.
Dinner that night was at Frank’s camp. Breakfast for dinner. Perfect. Rus made some excellent eggs and bacon, Frank made pancakes along with Don Julio. It was solid.
I had intended to make it back over to Ian’s later to sit around and BS for a while. That didn’t happen. Too much “syrup” with them cakes.
OlYellr
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #1,512
Tuesday, August 4 — Corkscrew & Tacos
Tuesday started with the usual routine: coffee, checking in, and thinking about heading out. Eventually.
I tend to have a slightly different departure philosophy than most people at SAS. There is a lot to be said for letting the crowd get out ahead of you. Fewer people on the trail, fewer people in front of you, and fewer people on the radio telling you what they had for breakfast.
We lined up for Corkscrew Pass, Hurricane Pass and California Pass, with the plan to assess the time from there since the group picture was scheduled for later that afternoon. As we were leaving the KOA, I noticed a red Land Cruiser pulled over with lights behind it. There were several other Land Cruisers around it.
My immediate thought was, there is no way in hell a diesel Land Cruiser was pulled over for speeding.
We continued on. At Corkscrew we pulled over, aired down and started up. Dave was driving YELLR and I was riding shotgun, mostly calling out lines if needed. Corkscrew is pretty straightforward, so there wasn’t much for me to say. I generally keep my radio chatter pretty low anyway. There are already enough people on the radio giving everyone else their complete life story. I don’t need to add to the programming.
We made it about halfway up and stopped at a pullout with a bathroom. Everyone caught up, took a break, and then we let a group of motorcycles head up the rest of the pass. They didn’t exactly ease their way up. They absolutely booked it. Dust everywhere. So we decided to let the dust settle, so to speak, before following them.
We started back up through the hairpins and switchbacks, and I could hear some chatter down the trail about Frank and Rus, both in their diesels, having some issues. Maybe shifting. Maybe finding the right gear. Then came the call. Frank heard a clunk. And now he had no power.
I grabbed one of my spare radios and headed down the mountain. Well, headed is probably generous. I was jogging down loose gravel, which resulted in a couple of unplanned slides but fortunately no additional mechanical failures.
When I got to Frank, he was trying to back down a little to let some Jeeps get by. He was sitting at a bad angle, though, and I told him not to back up any farther. We were getting close to turning a broken Land Cruiser into a tipped-over broken Land Cruiser. I called Al, who was in his 80, and had him come down with a winch. We got Frank straightened out (no winching - just a lot of pushing an HJ61 up a mountain pass to get straightened) and started working our way backing down toward the restroom area.
I radioed up to Dave to continue taking the rest of the group up - he is now Trail Leader. There was a pullout at the top of the pass, so he could finish the route and keep everyone moving. Dave had the Garmin with all the trails already marked, so I gave him the plan: continue through California Pass, drop down toward Silverton, and take the highway back to the KOA. He should have plenty of time to make it back for the group picture.
He also wasn’t exactly new to off-roading. He had a Jeep in high school and used to Baja around North Carolina, so he could find his way around a mountain without me holding his hand.
Meanwhile, Rus, Al and I stayed with Frank. We eventually determined he’d apparently broken something in the rear axle. He had heard the snap and then lost power to the rear wheels. It took some time to get him pointed in the right direction. Rus drove Frank’s rig, I took Rus’s Cruiser and blazed a path in front, and Al brought up the rear. Slowly, we worked our way down.
We were still out of cell service when we got back to the staging area, so we ate sandwiches Frank had brought. Eventually Al and Frank headed out to find cell service and arrange a tow and repairs. Rus and I stayed behind. At some point, this had officially stopped being a trail ride and become a logistics exercise.
We eventually decided we’d done enough for the day and headed back toward camp. Nobody had seen the rest of the group come up from Silverton, so we figured we’d better get back. noticed a delivery truck pulling into the KOA. I stopped at the office to see if Ian’s steering box had arrived. It hadn’t. So we went over to Ian’s camp.Turns out Ian had already received the steering box.There was also another part there for Cody, who was stranded on top of Engineer Pass and needed it.
So while Ian and Rus went to work replacing Ian’s steering box, I assumed the important position of confiscating Ian’s beer and providing technical supervision.
I offered several valuable observations, including:
“Yep.”
“What’s the torque spec for that?”
And the occasional look of judgment.
Ian’s steering box was replaced in time for the pictures. To be clear, this was accomplished despite my help, not because of it. I was there for moral support, beer consumption and quality control.
We lined up, did the group photos, which is always a bit of a process. Getting that many Land Cruisers, people and various interpretations of “line up here” into one picture takes some time. While we were waiting, Dave and I ran into @Tank5 , who was one of the rigs I had seen pulled over that morning. I asked him what happened.
He laughed and said to the effect, “You won’t believe it.”
I said, “No way. Speeding?”
“Nope. We got pulled over for going too slow.”
Too slow. That was too good to keep to ourselves, so we started pulling other people over from our trail group that day to hear the story. “Why did they pull you over?”
After, we went to Ridgway for tacos. Ian joined us, which made it a proper ending to the day.
It was a long day. But that’s SAS. You start out going wheeling and end up fixing somebody’s Land Cruiser, helping somebody else get off a mountain, volunteering to delivering parts, taking group pictures and eating tacos, drinking Ian’s beer.
Pretty normal Tuesday.
Tuesday started with the usual routine: coffee, checking in, and thinking about heading out. Eventually.
I tend to have a slightly different departure philosophy than most people at SAS. There is a lot to be said for letting the crowd get out ahead of you. Fewer people on the trail, fewer people in front of you, and fewer people on the radio telling you what they had for breakfast.
We lined up for Corkscrew Pass, Hurricane Pass and California Pass, with the plan to assess the time from there since the group picture was scheduled for later that afternoon. As we were leaving the KOA, I noticed a red Land Cruiser pulled over with lights behind it. There were several other Land Cruisers around it.
My immediate thought was, there is no way in hell a diesel Land Cruiser was pulled over for speeding.
We continued on. At Corkscrew we pulled over, aired down and started up. Dave was driving YELLR and I was riding shotgun, mostly calling out lines if needed. Corkscrew is pretty straightforward, so there wasn’t much for me to say. I generally keep my radio chatter pretty low anyway. There are already enough people on the radio giving everyone else their complete life story. I don’t need to add to the programming.
We made it about halfway up and stopped at a pullout with a bathroom. Everyone caught up, took a break, and then we let a group of motorcycles head up the rest of the pass. They didn’t exactly ease their way up. They absolutely booked it. Dust everywhere. So we decided to let the dust settle, so to speak, before following them.
We started back up through the hairpins and switchbacks, and I could hear some chatter down the trail about Frank and Rus, both in their diesels, having some issues. Maybe shifting. Maybe finding the right gear. Then came the call. Frank heard a clunk. And now he had no power.
I grabbed one of my spare radios and headed down the mountain. Well, headed is probably generous. I was jogging down loose gravel, which resulted in a couple of unplanned slides but fortunately no additional mechanical failures.
When I got to Frank, he was trying to back down a little to let some Jeeps get by. He was sitting at a bad angle, though, and I told him not to back up any farther. We were getting close to turning a broken Land Cruiser into a tipped-over broken Land Cruiser. I called Al, who was in his 80, and had him come down with a winch. We got Frank straightened out (no winching - just a lot of pushing an HJ61 up a mountain pass to get straightened) and started working our way backing down toward the restroom area.
I radioed up to Dave to continue taking the rest of the group up - he is now Trail Leader. There was a pullout at the top of the pass, so he could finish the route and keep everyone moving. Dave had the Garmin with all the trails already marked, so I gave him the plan: continue through California Pass, drop down toward Silverton, and take the highway back to the KOA. He should have plenty of time to make it back for the group picture.
He also wasn’t exactly new to off-roading. He had a Jeep in high school and used to Baja around North Carolina, so he could find his way around a mountain without me holding his hand.
Meanwhile, Rus, Al and I stayed with Frank. We eventually determined he’d apparently broken something in the rear axle. He had heard the snap and then lost power to the rear wheels. It took some time to get him pointed in the right direction. Rus drove Frank’s rig, I took Rus’s Cruiser and blazed a path in front, and Al brought up the rear. Slowly, we worked our way down.
We were still out of cell service when we got back to the staging area, so we ate sandwiches Frank had brought. Eventually Al and Frank headed out to find cell service and arrange a tow and repairs. Rus and I stayed behind. At some point, this had officially stopped being a trail ride and become a logistics exercise.
We eventually decided we’d done enough for the day and headed back toward camp. Nobody had seen the rest of the group come up from Silverton, so we figured we’d better get back. noticed a delivery truck pulling into the KOA. I stopped at the office to see if Ian’s steering box had arrived. It hadn’t. So we went over to Ian’s camp.Turns out Ian had already received the steering box.There was also another part there for Cody, who was stranded on top of Engineer Pass and needed it.
So while Ian and Rus went to work replacing Ian’s steering box, I assumed the important position of confiscating Ian’s beer and providing technical supervision.
I offered several valuable observations, including:
“Yep.”
“What’s the torque spec for that?”
And the occasional look of judgment.
Ian’s steering box was replaced in time for the pictures. To be clear, this was accomplished despite my help, not because of it. I was there for moral support, beer consumption and quality control.
We lined up, did the group photos, which is always a bit of a process. Getting that many Land Cruisers, people and various interpretations of “line up here” into one picture takes some time. While we were waiting, Dave and I ran into @Tank5 , who was one of the rigs I had seen pulled over that morning. I asked him what happened.
He laughed and said to the effect, “You won’t believe it.”
I said, “No way. Speeding?”
“Nope. We got pulled over for going too slow.”
Too slow. That was too good to keep to ourselves, so we started pulling other people over from our trail group that day to hear the story. “Why did they pull you over?”
After, we went to Ridgway for tacos. Ian joined us, which made it a proper ending to the day.
It was a long day. But that’s SAS. You start out going wheeling and end up fixing somebody’s Land Cruiser, helping somebody else get off a mountain, volunteering to delivering parts, taking group pictures and eating tacos, drinking Ian’s beer.
Pretty normal Tuesday.
RevISK
SILVER Star
awww shucks...
RevISK
SILVER Star
Ditcherman
SILVER Star
*complains about people talking on the radio about what they had for breakfast then proceeds to give us pictures of what he had for supper
Seriously though, you should write a book, this is great!
Seriously though, you should write a book, this is great!
OlYellr
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #1,517
Wednesday, August 5 — Engineer Pass
Wednesday started with the usual routine: wander around camp, see what was happening, and eventually figure out what we were going to do.
This time, @RevISK was back together with Paul, so we decided to get some trail time together. The plan was Corkscrew, through Hurricane and California Pass, then up Engineer. The only catch was the raffle that evening. So we had a deadline. Which, as everyone knows, is exactly what you want when driving old Land Cruisers up a mountain.
Frank was also back in camp. After a little drama involving the tow company and the sheriff, his truck had been recovered and was getting fixed at Rusty Nail. I believe it even made its way back to camp by Rusty Nail. Pretty impressive delivery service, really.
We headed up Corkscrew, which was nice because not everyone had gotten to experience it eyesterday. Ian was leading, I was toward the back, and I ended up behind Lee and his converted 70 Series fire truck. It’s a pretty good-looking rig. It’s also a diesel.
So naturally I spent part of the trail staring directly into a cloud of diesel smoke and wondering how I had somehow managed to get behind a diesel on a trail.
The trip up was pretty routine. We weren’t trying to set any records; we were just trying to make enough time to get to Engineer and still get back down before the raffle.
We made it to Engineer Pass, got out, enjoyed the scenery and took some pictures. Ian flew the drone around for a bit, which gave us some good views of the whole group and the surrounding mountains.At that point, we decided there was no reason to rush. We weren’t going farther up Engineer, so we took our time heading down toward Mineral Creek.
We also took a few little detours off the main trail to explore. That’s one of the fun things about having some time and not being in a hurry — sometimes the best part is seeing where that little road actually goes.
Eventually we got back onto the main trail and came across a big mud puddle.
Naturally, I drove through it. Because clean Land Cruisers are suspicious in my book.
@RevISK got some great shots as we bounced through. @solomrus and @solomkor got in on it too. Unfortunately, the mud wasn’t satisfied with just making the trucks look better. It got into some electrical connections. Yellr sputter just a bit and recovered. @solomkor , not so fast in comparison,
@solomrus had some issues as we started down, pulled over and we figured some water had gotten behind the alternator and into some of the connections. One of his batteries was also running hot. (Can’t remember high or low side)
Of course, nobody had contact cleaner. Because why would we? We got Korbin running good again and threw it back in Ian’s rig.
@solomrus asked me again what WD stands for as were were waiting for Korbin to come back up with it. I knew he’d told me before. I also knew I couldn’t remember. “Water displacement,” he reminded me. Right. I meant to say that.
While we were sitting there, a group of Jeeps came down along and stopped and asked if we needed anything. Rus asked if they happened to have any contact cleaner or anything similar. They did. Of course they did. The Jeep guys bailed us out.
Then we noticed their Jeep was smoking as the trail lead popped his hood and started to check the dipstick. Turns out he were leaking oil underneath . The dipstick and was below low, so I gave him quarts to get the level back where it needed to be, plus extra to get him down the trail.
So, in the span of about five minutes, the Land Cruisers were helping the Jeeps and the Jeeps were helping the Land Cruisers.
@solomkor summed it up pretty well: “Jeep people on the outside, Toyota on the inside.” That seemed about right.
We headed down Mineral Creek toward the KOA, which was basically the last leg of the day’s adventure. Nothing particularly dramatic. Just some Land Cruisers, a few Jeeps, some mud, some electrical troubleshooting, a little roadside parts exchange and enough trail time to make the day worthwhile.
Pretty routine Wednesday.
Wednesday started with the usual routine: wander around camp, see what was happening, and eventually figure out what we were going to do.
This time, @RevISK was back together with Paul, so we decided to get some trail time together. The plan was Corkscrew, through Hurricane and California Pass, then up Engineer. The only catch was the raffle that evening. So we had a deadline. Which, as everyone knows, is exactly what you want when driving old Land Cruisers up a mountain.
Frank was also back in camp. After a little drama involving the tow company and the sheriff, his truck had been recovered and was getting fixed at Rusty Nail. I believe it even made its way back to camp by Rusty Nail. Pretty impressive delivery service, really.
We headed up Corkscrew, which was nice because not everyone had gotten to experience it eyesterday. Ian was leading, I was toward the back, and I ended up behind Lee and his converted 70 Series fire truck. It’s a pretty good-looking rig. It’s also a diesel.
So naturally I spent part of the trail staring directly into a cloud of diesel smoke and wondering how I had somehow managed to get behind a diesel on a trail.
The trip up was pretty routine. We weren’t trying to set any records; we were just trying to make enough time to get to Engineer and still get back down before the raffle.
We made it to Engineer Pass, got out, enjoyed the scenery and took some pictures. Ian flew the drone around for a bit, which gave us some good views of the whole group and the surrounding mountains.At that point, we decided there was no reason to rush. We weren’t going farther up Engineer, so we took our time heading down toward Mineral Creek.
We also took a few little detours off the main trail to explore. That’s one of the fun things about having some time and not being in a hurry — sometimes the best part is seeing where that little road actually goes.
Eventually we got back onto the main trail and came across a big mud puddle.
Naturally, I drove through it. Because clean Land Cruisers are suspicious in my book.
@RevISK got some great shots as we bounced through. @solomrus and @solomkor got in on it too. Unfortunately, the mud wasn’t satisfied with just making the trucks look better. It got into some electrical connections. Yellr sputter just a bit and recovered. @solomkor , not so fast in comparison,
@solomrus had some issues as we started down, pulled over and we figured some water had gotten behind the alternator and into some of the connections. One of his batteries was also running hot. (Can’t remember high or low side)
Of course, nobody had contact cleaner. Because why would we? We got Korbin running good again and threw it back in Ian’s rig.
@solomrus asked me again what WD stands for as were were waiting for Korbin to come back up with it. I knew he’d told me before. I also knew I couldn’t remember. “Water displacement,” he reminded me. Right. I meant to say that.
While we were sitting there, a group of Jeeps came down along and stopped and asked if we needed anything. Rus asked if they happened to have any contact cleaner or anything similar. They did. Of course they did. The Jeep guys bailed us out.
Then we noticed their Jeep was smoking as the trail lead popped his hood and started to check the dipstick. Turns out he were leaking oil underneath . The dipstick and was below low, so I gave him quarts to get the level back where it needed to be, plus extra to get him down the trail.
So, in the span of about five minutes, the Land Cruisers were helping the Jeeps and the Jeeps were helping the Land Cruisers.
@solomkor summed it up pretty well: “Jeep people on the outside, Toyota on the inside.” That seemed about right.
We headed down Mineral Creek toward the KOA, which was basically the last leg of the day’s adventure. Nothing particularly dramatic. Just some Land Cruisers, a few Jeeps, some mud, some electrical troubleshooting, a little roadside parts exchange and enough trail time to make the day worthwhile.
Pretty routine Wednesday.
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OlYellr
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #1,518
Thursday, August 6, 2026 Imogene, Lock them Hubs, and Turn Yourself Around
By now you probably know the morning routine. Wake up, make coffee, & wander. Eventually we decide we should probably go wheeling. Thursday was Imogene. @RevISK was leading one group and I was leading another, so it was the usual morning camp activity getting ready to go, which apparently includes normal pre-trail things like replacing all the brake fluid in a rig.We headed out, aired down and Dave was driving Yellr today. I was riding shotgun and calling lines or spotting where needed. A few times I would start calling lines, get everyone moving, and then hop in @solomrus rig. Work my way through the section again, get everyone moving, and then do it all over again.
At one point, someone who shall remain unnamed continued having a little trouble getting up the mroe difficult sections. I started wondering what was going on and asked them to check their front hubs to make sure they were locked. Sure enough, they weren’t. Once the hubs were locked, things got considerably easier. To be fair, the driving was pretty damn impressive. They had made it a surprisingly long way up Imogene without four-wheel drive. I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or concerned.
We eventually made it to the top, where we ran into Ian, Cody, Casey and some others. We hung out for a while, ate some sandwiches and enjoyed the views before starting back down. The trip down was actually more challenging, mostly because of the traffic coming up from the Telluride side. There were enough vehicles coming the other direction that it took some patience. I could hear Ian on the radio calling out traffic here and traffic there and helping us anticipate the impending congestion.With Jeeps coming up and not a lot of room to share the mountain,Yellr and one of them apparently had a brief disagreement over available real estate.Apparently Yellr decided to mark his territory. Jeep now has a long reminder of the encounter. Good boy.
Once we got down to Telluride, Dave and I were a little ahead of the rest of the group. We didn’t even bother airing back up. We parked and headed straight for the gondola, rode up to the ski village and found a brewery. We grabbed some food, had a beer and settled into the shade. Eventually the rest of the Nebraska crew made their way up, so we had some more drinks, ate, listened to live music, BS'ed, and did some quality people watching. Basically, a very different kind of trail day.
Eventually it was time to head back down. We grabbed some coffee, rode the gondola back and got to the garage to air up. That’s when I noticed something. My hose bag was still in Yellr's winch (kind of). Somehow we had aired down that morning and never put the hose bag back in before heading up Imogene. Somehow, it made it all the way to the top and back down. Pure luck.
After we aired up, Dave and I decided we’d earned some relaxation for the week and headed to the Hippie Dippy Hot Springs (Clothing Optional). It was actually really relaxing, although a little like the Hokey Pokey. You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out, you put your left foot in ..... . Except there were naked men, so I decided to turn myself around. Problem solved. After spending the week driving a non-power-steering FJ40 through the mountains, sitting in a hot spring was exactly what I needed. I could close my eyes, relax my shoulders and let everything rest for a while.
Ian had apparently been trying to call me, but the Hippie Dippy has a no-electronics/no-phone policy. So while Ian was trying to find me, I was completely unreachable, sitting in a hot spring and doing my part to support the local economy.
Eventually I headed back to camp at @RevISK urging. Apparently I had one last thing to do before calling it a night: I finally got my hands on the FJ40 Relay Briefcase. I had been hoping for years that I’d get the opportunity to carry it, and now I finally did. The idea is that at some point, somewhere, at some completely undetermined location, I’ll hand it off to the next person and the briefcase will keep making its way through the Land Cruiser community. I have no idea when or where that will happen, which is kind of the point.
We started packing up, saying some goodbyes and getting things ready for the morning. Friday would be the start of the trip back toward California, with one last trail before pointing west.
