Hi again,
I'm back with even more questions. I've really appreciated how friendly and helpful everyone here as been - so thank you in advance. Here's the background situation: I recently purchased my first Land Cruiser and really first truck/4WD vehicle. I have plenty of practice driving my old Subaru over dirt roads and dodging potholes while being shaken silly on washboards but zero experience driving on more rugged terrain.
Next week my parents are coming to visit me in Colorado and as part of that trip my parents, girlfriend and I are going to spend some time down in the beautiful San Juans. As part of that we really want to drive some of the Alpine Loop Trail. The focus is 100% on seeing the most beautiful high mountain terrain we can find - the rest of the group hasn't seen anything like the San Juans before so I really want to blow their minds. The focus is definitely 0% on pushing our limits (or our vehicles) - the fun is going to be in the sight seeing for this trip so avoiding the most white knuckle areas is a big plus. I want everyone to enjoy it and not spend all afternoon scared to death, you know?
So here are my questions:
Thanks again everyone - I'm very, very excited to drive on these roads finally! They've really been the driving force behind my buying a Land Cruiser in the first place.
I'm back with even more questions. I've really appreciated how friendly and helpful everyone here as been - so thank you in advance. Here's the background situation: I recently purchased my first Land Cruiser and really first truck/4WD vehicle. I have plenty of practice driving my old Subaru over dirt roads and dodging potholes while being shaken silly on washboards but zero experience driving on more rugged terrain.
Next week my parents are coming to visit me in Colorado and as part of that trip my parents, girlfriend and I are going to spend some time down in the beautiful San Juans. As part of that we really want to drive some of the Alpine Loop Trail. The focus is 100% on seeing the most beautiful high mountain terrain we can find - the rest of the group hasn't seen anything like the San Juans before so I really want to blow their minds. The focus is definitely 0% on pushing our limits (or our vehicles) - the fun is going to be in the sight seeing for this trip so avoiding the most white knuckle areas is a big plus. I want everyone to enjoy it and not spend all afternoon scared to death, you know?
So here are my questions:
- I googled off road trail etiquette and found this article that talks about uphill drivers having the right of way. It looks pretty comprehensive but are there any big, non-obvious things I should do/not do in order to be a good fellow citizen on the trail? http://www.drivingline.com/articles/off-road-basics-trail-etiquette/
- People have suggested I 'air down' my tires (285/75/16 K02s) while driving roads like this - is that for comfort or to avoid puncture? Does it really make a difference on the more mild trails down there or is this primarily for rock crawlers in Moab? If it really is important how much air should I let out? I'd prefer to keep them aired up for simplicity's sake unless it's truly important to lower the pressure.
- This is a question for folks who have experience on the Alpine Loop trail - I've highlighted my planned route in yellow. Cinnamon Pass is the only pass we'll do in order to see the American Basin before turning back around. I've also been very sure to avoid Poughkeepsie Gulch! My question is: how does this route look given our goals? Are there other must-see areas that we should do an out and back to get to? The plan is to drive from Silverton to Ouray via these trails and we want to spend some time in Ouray so we're not looking for a 7-8 hour off road trip. Very open to alternative routes between Silverton and Ouray if my planned route isn't ideal for some reason.
Thanks again everyone - I'm very, very excited to drive on these roads finally! They've really been the driving force behind my buying a Land Cruiser in the first place.