Dirtco
New member
I thought that was you, I was heading out to run Holy Cross. I think you were towing a boat, were you going fishing?
Dirtco's 1999 4Runner Build
- Thread starter Dirtco
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I thought that was you, I was heading out to run Holy Cross. I think you were towing a boat, were you going fishing?
habanero
Senior Member
Man! When it rains it pours some days.
My yellow top is currently 3 1/2 years old with no problems. It is just the house battery, but it did spend last winter helping me limp the 9 year old red top along on the colder days. I know Optima's reputation's not there any more, but am still hopeful enough to have bought a red top again this past spring.
Your battery tie-down looks just as marvelous as everything else you've done.
My yellow top is currently 3 1/2 years old with no problems. It is just the house battery, but it did spend last winter helping me limp the 9 year old red top along on the colder days. I know Optima's reputation's not there any more, but am still hopeful enough to have bought a red top again this past spring.
Your battery tie-down looks just as marvelous as everything else you've done.
Dirtco
New member
Last Saturday I went and ran one of my favorite trails, Holy Cross.
The plan was to meet up with Aaron ( [MENTION=63986]Volcom[/MENTION] ) and his kids Saturday morning near the trailhead, as they were camping in the area. I always take Shrine Pass over to the town of Red Cliff, then make the short drive to the trailhead. It’s quicker than taking the interstate, and I’ll take dirt any day over pavement.
Airing down at the beginning of Shrine Pass I could see a light dusting of snow on the higher peaks.
We started up the trail mid-morning with no other rigs in site. We had missed the peak of the leaves changing by a week, but there were still sections here and there.
We made it up to the second obstacle in near record time, it was great having no traffic on the trail! We both made quick work of the harder left line and continued up towards French Creek.
The plan was to meet up with Aaron ( [MENTION=63986]Volcom[/MENTION] ) and his kids Saturday morning near the trailhead, as they were camping in the area. I always take Shrine Pass over to the town of Red Cliff, then make the short drive to the trailhead. It’s quicker than taking the interstate, and I’ll take dirt any day over pavement.
Airing down at the beginning of Shrine Pass I could see a light dusting of snow on the higher peaks.
We started up the trail mid-morning with no other rigs in site. We had missed the peak of the leaves changing by a week, but there were still sections here and there.
We made it up to the second obstacle in near record time, it was great having no traffic on the trail! We both made quick work of the harder left line and continued up towards French Creek.
Dirtco
New member
We continued up towards French Creek, passing a bull moose along the way. At the creek I decided to give my old right line a shot, I never thought a full bodied IFS rig would be able to take that line (well, at least without a struggle) but there was nobody else on the trail and it seemed like a good time to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised when I drove it first try. I’ll post up video when I get the footage from Aaron.
From there we continued up to whats left of the city.
From there we continued up to whats left of the city.
Dirtco
New member
Man! When it rains it pours some days.
My yellow top is currently 3 1/2 years old with no problems. It is just the house battery, but it did spend last winter helping me limp the 9 year old red top along on the colder days. I know Optima's reputation's not there any more, but am still hopeful enough to have bought a red top again this past spring.
Your battery tie-down looks just as marvelous as everything else you've done.
Isn't that the truth!
I originally went with the Die Hard Platinum because like you said, Optima's reputation wasn't what it used to be. It's good to hear that your Yellow Top is still hanging in there, I spend way too much time on the trail alone to risk a subpar battery.
Thanks for the compliment on the battery holder!
SnowLizard
New member
I'm a repeat customer, or pic horder, I really am enjoy'n this build. makes me wish I had a welder.
Fishwerks
New member
Yeah floated the Colorado. Looks like Holy Cross was a good time!
Dirtco
New member
In the past year or two I have developed a real interest in expedition style trips, I have always loved exploring but you can only explore so much in your own area before you need to push further. Having a wife and a two year old daughter, plus a full time job makes it hard to do an “Expedition Overland” style trip, but there are a ton of trails and dirt roads in Colorado (and the neighboring states) that are just begging to be discovered and explored.
While researching and mapping the Kokopelli Trail (outside Moab) I realized it’s not a trail at all, but a combination of trails and dirt roads that form a route. The concept isn’t new, it’s been around forever, but it’s become almost a game or scavenger hunt to me. Just like you used to pretend that the floor was lava as a kid, my new lava is pavement!
My new house I bought a year ago has proved to be the perfect staging area, I can leave my driveway and be on dirt in less than a 1/4 mile! Last spring I mapped out a three day loop through central Colorado, but I had to cancel the trip due to the rear axle housing being bent. I’ve made a few adjustments to the route to get rid of some pavement, but for the most part it’s ready to run.
While researching and mapping the Kokopelli Trail (outside Moab) I realized it’s not a trail at all, but a combination of trails and dirt roads that form a route. The concept isn’t new, it’s been around forever, but it’s become almost a game or scavenger hunt to me. Just like you used to pretend that the floor was lava as a kid, my new lava is pavement!
My new house I bought a year ago has proved to be the perfect staging area, I can leave my driveway and be on dirt in less than a 1/4 mile! Last spring I mapped out a three day loop through central Colorado, but I had to cancel the trip due to the rear axle housing being bent. I’ve made a few adjustments to the route to get rid of some pavement, but for the most part it’s ready to run.
Dirtco
New member
So I started looking at other trails and this time I headed north, there is a vast network of dirt roads in northern Colorado but a lot of them have been closed, or they are private property. You can study paper maps, and the internet, but until you actually run them you don’t know what to expect. Nobody wants to struggle with route finding on the first day of a multi-day trip, so I went out and explored the area.
My goal was to get to the summit of Rabbit Ears Pass; I had previously ran the first couple sections, so I hopped on the road where those trails left off and started down the dirt road that seemed promising on maps. It ended all too soon at a fresh closure, while backtracking out of the trail I ran into a guy on a BMW dirt touring bike. We compared trail notes and GPS tracks and found another promising route, what seemed like an overly complicated route turned out to be quite easy. All the other trails had been closed and there was really only one way through. After about 45-50 miles of dirt I hit the summit of Rabbit Ears.
My 4Runner trying to blend in with the vegetation at a huge meadow along the way
Rabbit Ears Mountain in the distance
At the summit
My goal was to get to the summit of Rabbit Ears Pass; I had previously ran the first couple sections, so I hopped on the road where those trails left off and started down the dirt road that seemed promising on maps. It ended all too soon at a fresh closure, while backtracking out of the trail I ran into a guy on a BMW dirt touring bike. We compared trail notes and GPS tracks and found another promising route, what seemed like an overly complicated route turned out to be quite easy. All the other trails had been closed and there was really only one way through. After about 45-50 miles of dirt I hit the summit of Rabbit Ears.
My 4Runner trying to blend in with the vegetation at a huge meadow along the way
Rabbit Ears Mountain in the distance
At the summit
BigFishAllDay
New member
Send me the dates that you're looking at for next year as soon as you know, and I'll do my best to get some vacation and make it happen.
I've got some routes in the San Juans that would get you 100+ miles on all dirt pretty easily if you want to come south next summer.
I've got some routes in the San Juans that would get you 100+ miles on all dirt pretty easily if you want to come south next summer.
Dirtco
New member
So when can I bring my truck by so we can cut my fenders to fit my tires?
Very clean work as always. Ive seen your stuff on YT in the past.
Haha, it's going to be a while! I have more than enough projects to keep me busy for a while!
I was mostly joking but you motivated me to cut my sheet metal rather than get the body lift. For that I thank you. Build on brotha!
Dirtco
New member
Sounds good Nick, I was planning on sending something out a little earlier this year, so I'll let you know. I have also been playing around with the route a little.
That sounds like fun, I have never explored that area of the state. I will see how my schedule looks this summer and go from there.
Dirtco
New member
The following weekend I headed west. There’s an area I have wanted to check out for several years, and this seemed like a good time to explore the area and familiarize myself with the basic road system.
On the way I saw a couple side trails, there was one that caught my attention so I detoured to check it out. I went through a couple campsites and continued down the trail where it started to get narrow, following an old creek bed.
All too soon the trail ended with a single ATV trail heading up the hill from the creek bed. It could have been a fun trail had it kept going, but it was obvious that’s where the trail ended so I turned around and headed back to the main road.
On the way I saw a couple side trails, there was one that caught my attention so I detoured to check it out. I went through a couple campsites and continued down the trail where it started to get narrow, following an old creek bed.
All too soon the trail ended with a single ATV trail heading up the hill from the creek bed. It could have been a fun trail had it kept going, but it was obvious that’s where the trail ended so I turned around and headed back to the main road.
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