Ouray, CO in late June 2014

[Miguelon]

As you can see, the weather was about perfect

Nice rig!

 

[ARC]

My wife and I will be making our last trip to the San Juan's for the year 9/20-9/23. No specific plans made yet, but Imogene, Poughkeepsie, and Black Bear are on my list. Anyone is welcome to come for one day or all. I will post our plans as we make them here:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/off-r...-colorado-eastern-utah-meet-up-bs-thread.html

 

[trocks]

Do us a favor and edit your post above and insert some page returns between the photos so we don't have to have a 60" monitor to read this thread. :faint2: Thanks!

Hey buddy....sorry about that and for taking so long to fix. I could not fix the issue so I just deleted that post and pics. Looks like Miguelon's also need to be fixed or deleted to bring the thread back to normal size. Funny thing I added the 2nd set the same way as the first which did not do that.

 

[trocks]

Nice rig!

Thank you...you too man!

 

[Miguelon]

Indeed, Ouray has a special place in my heart! We stayed at the Old Victorian Inn which was Awesome! Cannot wait to get back out there however the 32 hour, 3 day drive to and from Florida is tough. We will plan to do a "road trip" with an extended Ouray / Silverton stop next year so we can take longer to get out and back.

FYI: We actually liked Silverton better than Ouray so may use that as a base camp next time. Better prices on food / eating, gifts, and more. To even eat a basic burger or pizza in Ouray they are committing robbery IMO...perhpas I am just cheap but wow! If we had known, we would have booked a hotel with a kitchen and made most of our own meals...oh well.

For those interested, The Saloon in the Old Western had GREAT food and decent pricing considering the quality which was top shelf. This was our favorite eating spot in Ouray. Also the Cimarron up in Ridgeway had great food and fantastic service. We tried a few others in Ouray and the food was not good in regards to the cost.

Ouray Vacation Rentals is the way to go. We booked a 2 bedroom cabin with a private stream. It was in the mountains for about 1100 for the week. We had a full kitchen and laundry room.

 

[boyfester]

Beautiful pictures! Were you able to come into a town during each day to fill up or did you have to take extra gas cans?

 

[ur2ez22]

Beautiful pictures! Were you able to come into a town during each day to fill up or did you have to take extra gas cans?

Not sure what the Op did, but nearly every trail up there pretty much takes you from one town up and over a mountain pass and into another town. I went in July and we never had a need for extra gas, plenty of stations you'll be close to. a lot of the fun my wife and I had was checking out a new town each day, trying the mom and pop restaurants, etc. and then we either stayed in a campground near that town or in a hotel.

 

[GeneralClortho]

Fun video. They look like a fun group no matter what they drive. After thinking it over and based on the obstacles before and after where those people were stuck, we decided they must have come from Animas Forks. If you came up from Animas Forks to Cinnamon Pass and down to that spot, there are no real obstacles to hang up a 4x2 which is what the Ford Explorer was.

I don't believe they could have gotten that far coming up from Lake City. There are some 4x4 only spots just below where they were stuck. Unless someone winched them back over that ledge, they must have driven down to Lake City. It would have been rough, but doable. Many of us tried to offer help, but they refused all offers. They were not there two days later so I guess they got cold and hungry. They didn't look like they'd passed up very many meals in their life.

We saw this Prius parked at the fork below the first outhouse at Animas Forks. We're always amazed at what people drive up there from Silverton. Scary at times. It makes you want to stay on the harder trails just to stay away form them. That strategy doesn't always work, like the Subaru wagon we saw half way up Mineral Creek in a heavy downpour one year. Dang! :crazy:

Whoh! I think I went though Animas Forks on that exact day because I saw that Prius parked there on the way up and thought "Huh?"

I saw some Toyota folks running the Alpine Loop and was longing for my FJ. I was in my RAM and decided against running the whole loop as I had a passenger with back trouble. Did you happen to remember seeing this truck? We had my big German Shepherd with us.

 

[ToyotaDoodz]

Beautiful pictures! Were you able to come into a town during each day to fill up or did you have to take extra gas cans?

Thanks! No need for gas cans. We stayed in Ouray and would gas up every morning in Ridgeway. The gas was significantly cheaper to pay for the few miles round trip out of the way.

I always start every wheeling day with a full tank. You never know. My 5th Gen has a better range than my 4th Gen did. Even on the all day Alpine Loop or the round trip run up to Crested Butte, we never came back with less than 3/8ths of a tank and it was usually closer to 1/2. That's non-stop wheeling from 7am to ~5pm.

 

[ToyotaDoodz]

Whoh! I think I went though Animas Forks on that exact day because I saw that Prius parked there on the way up and thought "Huh?"

I saw some Toyota folks running the Alpine Loop and was longing for my FJ. I was in my RAM and decided against running the whole loop as I had a passenger with back trouble. Did you happen to remember seeing this truck? We had my big German Shepherd with us.

LOL, small world.

Sorry, I don't remember seeing the truck, but the Forks was pretty crowded when we went through. I had my all my attention on unleashed wild kids, pets, and people running to be first at the bathrooms.

 

[TxRig13]

A trip I will definitely be planning for the wife and I once my 4runner is ready. Awesome pictures!

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Great trek report and lovely scenery. Thank you.

 

[b407driver]

Exactly my thinking (Limited 'things' I don't need allow the TEP to perform the function(s) I need as a landscape/nature photographer!

Here's what I'm currently driving (til I find the right '14 TEP):
View attachment 125385

Great truck, but just not what I need to get me into those backcountry locations!

Something looks weird about that sky.

 

[Sean K.]

This is a group of "civilians" that got hung up coming down from Cinnamon pass. The guy in the while mall runner Jeep led them over the pass from Animas Forks. At the top of this switch back is a 5 foot tall vertical ledge (next to the canvas back Jeep coming up) that they could not get back over. It was apparently too difficult for them to go down towards American Basin so they were just sitting there and would not accept any help from anyone. There were not there two days later. The dark vehicle is a Ford Explorer 4x2, both with Colorado plates.

I've been going to that area every summer since I was 14.....I've seen people cruising the Alpine Loop in Honda Accords and all sorts of two wheel drive cars. To be honest, the roads in the area are really good except for the occasional mud hole. The only trail in the area that even has what I'd call an actual obstacle on it is Poughkeepsie Gulch.

 

[RonJR]

I've been going to that area every summer since I was 14.....I've seen people cruising the Alpine Loop in Honda Accords and all sorts of two wheel drive cars. To be honest, the roads in the area are really good except for the occasional mud hole. The only trail in the area that even has what I'd call an actual obstacle on it is Poughkeepsie Gulch.

I agree. I'm not sure what is meant by a "5 foot tall vertical ledge" on Cinnamon Pass. I've been over it both directions in a 2wd F100 pickup and barely spun a wheel. Sure didn't see any obstacle like that.

 

[Sean K.]

I agree. I'm not sure what is meant by a "5 foot tall vertical ledge" on Cinnamon Pass. I've been over it both directions in a 2wd F100 pickup and barely spun a wheel. Sure didn't see any obstacle like that.

Personally, I wish the county/NFS would stop maintaining the roads up there and let them get really challenging.