Photos Return from Colorado Colors Run '04

[Brian1]

Return from the Colorado colors run in Salida, CO:

JTX on Tincup pass

This was a great weekend and one that I will remember for a long time to come. The aspens in the higher elevations already had yellow leaves on them. In attendance were:
Brian1
JTX
MrBoyle
-=DaemoN=-
offroader 69 me

Trails:
Saturday
Cottonwood Pass
Tincup Pass
Hancock Pass
Sunday
Mt. Princeton
Iron Chest

Saturday we met in the Wal Mart Parking lot on an overcast day. We headed to the trail around 9 and finally reached the start of Tincup around 11. Tincup was a nice trail with only a few difficult spots. The picture above of JTX was an optional spot where the closest to rolling of the weekend occured. He came out of it no problem however. We headed on to the top of the pass where it was windy and cold. From Tincup we went down into St Elmo and had lunch around 1. From there we headed up to Hancock Pass. This trail was also fun and had a few more harder spots than TinCup. We got confused and found ourselves on the trail to Hancock Lake which had alot more boulders in the trail which made for some fun wheeling. We eventually got back to the main trail and got to the top of the pass where it was sleeting and windy. From there we headed to the nearest town to stop for gas and went back on the pavement to Salida. 9 hours on the trail/road on Saturday.

Sunday we met again in the Wal Mart lot and decided to head to Mt Princeton. This was a long and narrow trail that wound its way through the trees up to the timberline where there was a narrow shelf road to the top. This trail was full of hikers and bikers, with a bunch of good looking ones too . At the top we explored a cabin which was a place for people to spend the night if needed. It had a fire place and was stocked with food and sleeping bags. It had a porch with an excellent view. After we were there for a while we sent Marshall down as a scout since the trail was so narrow, he radioed to us if the trail was clear ahead of us so we didnt have to back up a long ways to let other vehicles pass. We got down from there in about 1 hour and had lunch in the parking area. From there we decided to skip Mt Antero and head straight for Iron Chest, good thing we did. Iron Chest was a blast and was really fun. There was a Jeep Rubicon that was going to join us on the trail but probably around the first 100' of the trail turned around This trail is extremely narrow as some of us came close to breaking off our mirrors on trees and rock walls. There was a grove of yellow aspens we passed through that made for some nice scenery. There were still a few boulders left in the trail on the way to the top, nothing that me and Mike couldnt handle. Once we neared the mine there was a large boulder field where I decided to pull off the trail. Mike continued on the rest of the ~50 yards of the trail clawing his way to the top over rocks bigger than his tires. The others had no problems working their way over the boulder field. At the top we explored some of the area around the old mine. On the way back down we again sent Marshall as a scout to make sure the trail was clear for the rest of us to go down since it was very narrow with very few passing areas. On one switchback DaemoN pulled off and said his radius arm was coming off (SAS). The bracket that bolts to the frame was coming loose and 1 nut was missing. He found a nut, tightened them all up and we were on our way again. After we reached the end around 5PM some went to St Elmo and the rest went back to Salida.

Carnage for the trip includes:
Brian1 - broken window motor/mechanism - my window didnt stay up so I put a vise grip on the track to hold it the entire weekend
MrBoyle - rock rash on driver side rocker
-=DaemoN=- - Radius arm bracket came loose but was tightened up no problem
offroader 69 me - cracked track bar mount
JTX - none that I am aware of except his tupperware kept coming loose and finally fell off on Iron Chest

There are alot more stories but I will let some of the others tell them. I had alot of fun and thanks to those who showed up and made this trip so fun.

A few more pics, the rest are on my 35mm:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brian4x4/satmeet.JPG
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brian4x4/JTX1.JPG
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brian4x4/JTX2.JPG
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brian4x4/JTX3.JPG
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brian4x4/DAEMON.JPG
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brian4x4/MRBOYLE.JPG
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/brian4x4/sunlunch.JPG

 

[Rick]

Looks like a blast! Sorry I missed it

 

[Perry]

Sorry we couldn't make it even with it being in our back yard, but our back yard is big and it would have cost to much money just for gas to get there.
I'm glad everyone had a good time, sorry the weather wasn't any better for you but even in the summer if it's nice you get wind and cold weather up that high.
You should have ran Mt Antero so I would know if we could take the Kia in October. That is one run we are planning but I have a feeling it will get snowed out since it's over 14,000'.

 

[Brian1]

Perry, we were planning on doing it but just ran out of time and we wanted to do Iron Chest more. There was a light dusting of snow on the higher peaks but we didnt really run into any on the trail. Mt Princeton had some very small patches of snow at the top. If the trail is anything like Mt Princeton it wasnt too bad, it was a narrow shelf road above timberline that had rocks that would make the vehicle go side to side. A few of the switchbacks coming down were tight and required some good flex. Both me and Mike lifted some wheels coming down 1 of the switchbacks.

I do think by the time November rolls around there will be too much snow on the trails we did.

 

[mrboyle]

I got home around 1 P.M. today. What a great weekend and want to again thank everyone that attended. This was the first trip out after my 700R4 conversion and other than a linkage issue with my transfer case (causing it to pop out of low range) it worked excellent. I love the crawl ratio and the best part is the ability to just put it in low and let the gearing do the work while going down hill.
Other than the rain/sleet Saturday was uneventful, just a nice day, some fun trails and awesome views.
Sunday was a little more exciting and intimidating at the same time. The narrowness of the shelf roads, combined with the rocks (the trails in the area are covered with softball to basketball sized rocks) made navagating the trails very interesting.
Iron Chest was the icing on the cake. Even though the bolder field that used to define the trail has been cleared, the trail is still challenging (especially on bald 31" tires). I had the honor of lead on the trail and was the first to attempt the rock garden at the top. I didn't think I had a chance to make it through, but with a little rock stacking on the first rock pile and some excellent spotting I banged my way through. I was stoked to say the least. Comming back down I did manage to scrape the driver side of my X down a rock. My rock sliders didn't prevent it from leaving a nice scrape down the rocker pannel (no biggie). I did't take a whole lot of pictures, but I'll try to get them uploaded tomarrow.

 

[rino351]

I just got home tonight from Florida, got delayed cause of Frances-- what a weak storm!! Looks like you guys had fun.

 

[Premier]

Awesome.

 

[JTX]

I got home around 7ish. We didnt leave till around 2 because my brakes decided they were done for. I changed them while my Dad was fishing at the lake lol. Other then that i had a great weekend! I had a great time on all the trails. Iron Chest was by far my favorite(Even though Mike showed us all up!) : ). I will try to get some pics up soon. Thanks again to everyone who came.

Oh ya! F Pizza Hut!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[offroader_69_me]

well it was a great weekend even though I missed Saturday, had to work, Princeton was amazing, WAY the hell up there! Then Iron Chest was fun, it was great to see old friends and make new ones, even if they do keep you out until 2:30 in the morning and take you to the twilight zone for dinner, well as we all laughed about, this morning was the same! It took me over 2 hrs to find a place willing to weld my frame for me, the first place had a welder but refused, then asked me to leave when I asked to rent their welder and do it myself. Tried about 10 different places most of which were closed, two open did not have welders. finally Big O had a older guy more than willing to do it, took him about 15 minutes did an EXCELLENT job, and said well son give me $15 so I gave him $30 and argued about it a few minutes then was on my way! I did Medano Pass on the way home, added about 3 hours on to the drive but was well worth it, GORGEOUS scenery just enough challenge to keep you moving and came out at the Sand Dunes National Monument, it was another great Explorer trip, I will post pics when I get a chance!
Marshall

 

[mrboyle]

Marshall, Glad you made it home.

 

[Brian1]

Cool Marshall, glad you got it fixed. Where was the Big O? Sounds like a trip to the Sand dunes area should be in the works

 

[offroader_69_me]

thanks guys, Big O was about 3/4 mile out of town on hwy 50 great people!

 

[-=DaemoN=-]

Thanks for putting up with my pet ninja turtle (Joel) and I. We got back in ABQ at 2pm, a little quicker than friday's drive up to Salida.

Saturday was a beautiful trail ride that we don't see in southern arizona trails. I was tired on sunday but the narrow trails by the cliffs got my attention and the rock garden topped it off. It was a great trip and hope to do it again.

I'll have some pics uploaded as soon as I can and maybe some videos if I can find a site to upload it.

even if they do keep you out until 2:30 in the morning and take you to the twilight zone for dinner,

*noted* Do not visit 2/3's of the bars and have dinner at pizza hut.

 

[GJarrett]

Looks like you guys had a great time. I wish I lived closer and was employed with some extra spending money

 

[mrboyle]

I know everyone is waiting for me to post my pictures Unfortunatley my photo site is jacked up again and won't let me upload my pictures. I'll try again tomarrow, if not I won't get another chance until Sunday at the earliest.

 

[Premier]

Your elite.. upload them here.

 

[Perry]

It took me over 2 hrs to find a place willing to weld my frame for me, the first place had a welder but refused, then asked me to leave when I asked to rent their welder and do it myself.
Marshall

Marshall, was it because they didn't want to do it or did you scare them??? Anyone from southern Colorado area might scare me too if you know what I mean.

Glad everyone had a good time, like I said before I sure wish we could have afforded to go. I love wheeling those high mountains because you can see forever up there.
At least I have a job now so hopefully we can save up for the next time.

 

[Brett]

Hey Guys,

Sorry I missed you last week. I was up there Wednesday and Thursday before labor day weekend. I did snap some pics...

Started off at the town of St. Elmo. I have some old pics of this town before it burned down 2 years ago. Or check the Colorado Colors Run 1999 for some other pics of this town....

 

[Brett]

Top of Tin Cup pass. Actually my truck stalled out right here and it took a little bit to get it restarted.... Not a good place for your fuel pump to start acting up if you know what I mean

 

[Brett]

Mirror Lake... Enough Said. Best kept fishing spot in the state.