Lake Como Road Report

[adkinsadam1]

My dad and I drove up Lake Como Road to climb Blanca Peak last weekend. Here is the report.

Well, I made it up to about 10,600 feet. Very rough! Shear ground clearance is the name of the game on that one. The skid plates definitely took a beating. The one under the gas tank got bent in all the way to the tank in a couple places. But, for the most part, there were no issues. Except, we bent the tailpipe and that now hangs loose, but we fixed it with an extra long bolt! We made it up far enough to climb Blanca Peak that day and it was very fun. Our stock 4runner made it higher on that road than anyone else we saw that day (we were parked the farthest up it), even past jeeps and modified pickups. Here are a few pics (below). The one of our car in wilderness is where we parked and the dark one was the drive back (VERY intimidating driving that road in the dark on night!!!)

 

[gaterose]

Awesome! I was reading your other thread earlier where you asked whether anyone thought you could do it. I was hoping you'd try it. Its always nice to see a stock vehicle be pushed to show what it can do.

edit: like your sig, "Fact: Bears eat beets... Bears. Beets. Battle Star Galactica."

 

[adkinsadam1]

But! Overall it was a very good experience, and we are going up Argentine Pass this weekend hopefully to see some of the fall color. Comments are welcome!

 

[Climb14er]

You did very well as I parked in the same spot in my 4 x 4 Toyota pickup which was a tough vehicle.

For the record, I would never take my V8 2007 Sport 4Runner up that road!

I've been up that road countless times: three Little Bear summits inc the NW Face, two Little Bear to Blanca traverses (both ways), six Blanca summits inc. two in the winter and two Ellingwood summits inc the SW ridge which is a great route.

The Lake Como road is one of the toughest in the state and is truly hard on one's vehicles!

 

[Jed]

Stock tires and you didn't pop one?

 

[leftyguns21]

<----impressed. good job

 

[adkinsadam1]

The stock tires are BFG Radial Long Trail tires. Certainly not off-road tires, but not street tires. They've probably got a little more protection. But how easy is it to pop these kinds of tires anyways?

 

[Jed]

The stock tires are BFG Radial Long Trail tires. Certainly not off-road tires, but not street tires. They've probably got a little more protection. But how easy is it to pop these kinds of tires anyways?

Actually, those are street tires, in every sense. They don't have any kind of extra protection...don't let the name fool you. It's really easy to pop a tire like that if you're driving offroad, especially if you puncture the sidewall.