2019 Colorado Trip

[TerryD]

Foreword
Back in February a couple buddies of mine from the off-road club I was active in during college contacted me to invite me to tag along on a trip to Colorado with them this year. They were looking at heading out July 13th and as luck would have it, I was able to move a week's vacation to have time off to tag along with them.

They had a list of trails they wanted to run and the Colorado Trail books so we worked out a plan of what everyone would like to do and made a map with the trails and some campsites on it to help us along.

Day 1

We met up at 9am at the Tamarack in Beckley, WV. Everyone gassed up and hit the restroom then we hit the road.



Everything was going pretty smooth till about 6:30pm central time when Adam, who was towing, came over the radio and said he had a problem then pulled over on the side of the interstate just outside of O'Fallon, Il. It turns out his driver's side rear truck tire had come loose and broken two studs off. The decision was made to tighten the other three back up and head on in to O'Fallon where O'Reilly's said they had the lug nuts and another local store had the studs.

I was in "work mode" so the picture taking stopped but we got the parts, ate supper at Sugarfire 64 BBQ and got a hotel room in Collinsville, Il for the night. Our original goal had been Columbia, Mo but fixing the truck was the priority. The Super 8 was nice enough to let us make the repairs in the parking lot, which didn't take very long to get all 5 studs and lug nuts replaced and the truck back on the ground. After showers, we all turned in for the night, hoping to get an early start the next day and hopefully make it into Colorado.

Day 2

Everyone was up and we were on the road by 8am. The St. Louis Gateway Arch had been our goal that morning, but some closed road and one way cobble stone streets put a damper on everyone's enthusiasm and we opted to get back on the road rather than waste another hour making circles down town. A quick stop off at McDonald's for a biscuit, some coffee and restroom breaks at 9am was in order and Adam topped off his truck with his fuel cans to try to get the longest first pull of the day we could.



We managed to make decent time but a lunch stop that drug out a bit meant we didn't make it into Colorado until sun down. 8:43pm mountain time to be precise.



Pushing on, we made it to Flagler Reservoir at 9:55pm and everyone set up camp for the night, had a beer or two and just celebrated our first night camping on the trip. It rained just as we got off the interstate but not enough to make things too damp, just cooled it down nicely for the night. The sky was beautiful and my cell phone doesn't do it justice.



Day 3

The next morning we finally got a good look at our camp site and it was beautiful in the Flagler area. I wish the reservoir was still used but I'm also sure if it was, we couldn't have found a camp site like this anywhere!





Everyone fixed breakfast on my little Coleman white gas single burner stove, broke camp and we were on the road by 8:30am headed to REI in Colorado Springs to get Brett a new pair of shoes. He busted through his old ones the night before setting up camp. One of his tent stakes just sliced the sole apart, but luckily it didn't get his foot.

The plan was to get to the KOA in Cripple Creek, Co where Adam was going to leave his Tundra and trailer for the two weeks they were going to be there and we'd do our laundry and take a shower and decide if we'd stay there for the night or try to make our way somewhere else.

We made it to REI at 10:30am where Brett got his shoes and then we made a fuel stop and headed up 24 for Cripple Creek. Going up the mountain out of Colorado Springs though, Adam's trailer cut down the driver's side front tire. Luckily a vehicle in the left lane saw what was going on and let him cut across to a pull off where we could get the spare on and be back underway in less than 10 min.



From there a stop to stock up at Wal-Mart and get a replacement tire for the trailer took about an hour of our time but we made it to the KOA and decided to stay there for the night to rest up and actually make camp in the daylight.

We were treated to a double rainbow IN camp that evening, grilled up some supper and talked over out plans for the next day a bit.

 

[IM1RU]

Looking forward to the rest of this trip report. Heading to Ouray for year #4 in a few weeks.

 

[Prime]

Looking forward to the rest of this trip report. Heading to Ouray for year #4 in a few weeks.

I really wanted to go this year, but I don't have 4wd at the moment. =(

 

[IM1RU]

I really wanted to go this year, but I don't have 4wd at the moment. =(

We were considering a different area this year because we have literally done every trail in the area (funtreks book) multiple times, but it's just SO DAMN BEAUTIFUL!

 

[TerryD]

Day 4

We packed up camp, signed out of the KOA and were at the start of the Gold Camp Road by 10:30. Everyone aired down since most of the day would be on dirt and we weren't sure about wash board and the like. Everyone opted for slightly higher pressures than what we normally run on the trail in the hopes we would be ok with the dual purpose nature of the trip. I went down to 25 from the 40 I had been running since I was loaded kinda heavy.



I don't think any of us realized that Gold Camp Road is a county road and fairly easily traveled but I must say that some of the sights you see on it are well worth the drive regardless of the fact that it's a nicely maintained dirt road.





Arriving at Saran Wrap at about 11:30, I decided to bypass it and meet back up with the others on Eagle Rock. They said it was a great trail but were iffy about my odds of making it. We stopped for lunch after we were back in a group and decided to give Eagle Rock a go. We played in the little rock garden at the bottom of the mountain for a minute then headed up the trail.







We made it about a quarter mile or so past the creek crossing and it started raining on us. Adam, in the truggy, pulled up on an obstacle and said he wasn't sure how he felt about going further up the trail at that point. He said he felt like we could all make it, but wasn't sure if it got worse or started raining harder, what we'd be able to do. When the guy in the truggy says "hey, lets turn around", you'll get no argument from me. So back out to Gold Camp Road we came with the plan to hit Colorado Springs and decide where to go from there.

Further down the road, I spotted FR379. It looked mild and uninteresting but after checking the map and seeing that it ties into Eagle Rock up on the mountain, we decided to check it out. If nothing else, maybe we could find a place to camp for the night. Well, it turned out to be a great route. Not overly challenging, though there were a couple places my fear of heights and some washing of the road let to some puckering, but the views we saw were stunning. My pictures don't do it justice again. I need to get a real camera sometime...



Another shower rolled through while we were at this switch back that overlooks Colorado Springs and I managed to get a picture of it going over the city before it ran us all back into our rigs. We continued up the mountain to where it ties in with Eagle Rock, logging 11,300' elevation on my APRS GPS which was the highest we were while I was out there with them.



There was a camp site we checked out on the way up the mountain and it was decided that it would be our home for the night. It rained one more time just as everyone got into camp so we napped in the trucks and waited out the rain. There was a touch of hail in it too.





After it rolled through and camp was setup, supper was in order and everyone turned in for the night.

 

[TerryD]

Day 5

Day 5 started pretty early for me. I was up and moving around at 5am and up at 7am. I drug out my gear and started on my breakfast. Bacon and oatmeal with some instant coffee.



Afterward I cleaned up my stuff and just milled around till everyone else was up. I was packed and ready to go before the rest of them had eaten so I checked APRS for messages and just spent some time rearranging my gear to get my axe and shovel a little more accessible than it had been.

Here's a shot of the mountain in front of where we camped off FR379.



Once everyone was ready to go, we headed back to Gold Camp Road to make our way down to Colorado Springs to stock up a bit, get ice and visit the Garden of the Gods.

This was a neat little earthen bridge on the old rail line.



And a very pretty overlook above Colorado Springs.





We made our way to the Garden of the Gods and rode a lap around it and then headed back to the Visitor's Center. Parking was rough but we finally all found spots and went inside. It was super crowded and we decided to run back to Colorado Mountain Brewery for a bite of lunch and a good cold beer. We all had a flight and I had their fish tacos, which are excellent by the way! Brett bought a growler of their porter/stout and we headed to a nearby Safeway for groceries and ice. From there we went back for another lap around Garden of the Gods.



After that was over, and with everyone about to bake in their rig, we started onto Rampart Range Rd, looking for our campsite for the night. I'm not a fan of heights, so that was a white knuckle trip to the top with a few spots where I thought I was going to have to stop and walk around. Shelf type roads are NOT my happy place.





We finally found Springdale Campground above Woodland Park and stayed there for the night. We were all hot, tired, hungry and so tired of wash board that we were just happy to find a place with a little shade. How do you get wash board going DOWN hill?!?!?!? I've never seen that before. My god that stuff was rough. I was down to 20psi in the tires and had to run over 35mph to smooth the wash board up. We got camp set up, I fixed some tacos and pico de gallo, Brett broke out the growler and we had a great evening at camp. We mulled the maps over and decided that the next day, we were going to make for China Wall. There wasn't much picture taking going on. Just the same it was a good evening around camp.

 

[CHUG]

Great trip and write up.. Nice country.. great photo's.

 

[TerryD]

Great trip and write up.. Nice country.. great photo's.

Thanks! I need to get a real camera and learn to use it. It was hard to get good shots most of the time because we were trying to cover ground.

 

[Brunnie]

It is very easy to get washboards going down hill.... they are caused by people going the other way!!!

Gee whiz, Terry.... You'd never make it out here if you thought Rampart Range road is a shelf road. It is more like a super highway to us. We know where the shelf roads are, Like Shelf Road from Cripple Creek to Canon City, or Phantom Canyon from Victor to Canon City.

OH, and BTW.... I have to deal with those terrific sights and great trails everyday. Don't you feel sorry for me??

 

[TerryD]

It is very easy to get washboards going down hill.... they are caused by people going the other way!!!

Gee whiz, Terry.... You'd never make it out here if you thought Rampart Range road is a shelf road. It is more like a super highway to us. We know where the shelf roads are, Like Shelf Road from Cripple Creek to Canon City, or Phantom Canyon from Victor to Canon City.

OH, and BTW.... I have to deal with those terrific sights and great trails everyday. Don't you feel sorry for me??

Hate it for you man, my condolences!

I just can't deal with the height dude. I'd walk up it but anxiety gets me driving and it's just a personal demon. There are spots here that are like that but there's enough trees to stop a roll that i'm not as concerned.

Anyways, glad you're ok with them. I followed a van out the steep part of Gold Camp that was sliding in curves and I was horrified for him.

 

[Brunnie]

I followed a van out the steep part of Gold Camp that was sliding in curves and I was horrified for him.

I think I know where you are talking about, and that is actually Old Stage Road, but it can get tricky when the gravel disentigrates and turns into "marbles".

 

[WhitePro4]

Great write up and pics! Thnx

 

[IM1RU]

@TerryD Next time you are out here driving on our western washboard roads, try airing down a bit more. I know it doesn't seem like much but going to 17 from 20 is huge. If it's going to be even remotely rocky I run 15.

Nice shots BTW, great trip report.

And ya, as @Brunnie said, that aint' no shelf road. Black Bear pass?..... Now that's a shelf road.... That can make even the most experienced guys have a brown seat mod.

 

[TerryD]

@TerryD Next time you are out here driving on our western washboard roads, try airing down a bit more. I know it doesn't seem like much but going to 17 from 20 is huge. If it's going to be even remotely rocky I run 15.

Nice shots BTW, great trip report.

And ya, as @Brunnie said, that aint' no shelf road. Black Bear pass?..... Now that's a shelf road.... That can make even the most experienced guys have a brown seat mod.

I'll give it a go next time! We had all decided to stick to about 20 since we were doing mixed trail/highway and could always go lower if needed. Luckily that was the worst we encountered wash board wise and we were clear of it soon.

Y'all can keep those real shelf roads then! I like valleys and gullies!

 

[Brunnie]

I like valleys and gullies!

Ya know... my GF says the same thing. She trusts my driving but once in a while she doubts my sanity!

And next time out here.... let me know. I'll wheel with you on some nice trails.

 

[TerryD]

Ya know... my GF says the same thing. She trusts my driving but once in a while she doubts my sanity!

And next time out here.... let me know. I'll wheel with you on some nice trails.

Sure will! I don't know when it'll be yet. We're talking about a family trip sometime.

 

[TerryD]

I need to finish this sometime. I've been trying to stay busy around the house as we're coming up on fall quick and winter is just around the corner.

 

[13ADVX]

very cool. I can't wait to visit colorado again.

 

[TerryD]

Finally getting some more done to this thread.

The next morning we got up and made breakfast and kinda made a plan for the day. We had decided on China Wall being our next destination and wanted to actually get there and set camp early and just rest for the evening.



We hit the trail head, aired down, and got started. The first bit was just a dirt road but the first thing we ran into was a hill side section with a big rock sticking out on the bank side. I picked a bad line and wound up in a spot where everyone thought pulling the winch line to help keep my front end down was the best thing to do. So I finally got to use my winch. No one got any pictures of that situation but we were through pretty quick and on to the rest of the trail.



There are some amazing views out there and we stopped for a bit to check the map. It looked like there was some camping down by the creek so we pushed on down that way. We came upon what was marked at "China Wall" on the map and Brett and Krantz took a shot at it. On his first try, Krantz picked up a tire and pegged the clutch to roll back off that line. He's geared so low he has to jerk the truck into neutral when he does things like that because it'll spin the clutch disc so fast, it'll throw the friction material off the clutch plate.



Next was Brett and his JKU just walked right up. He was almost too fast for me to get any pictures of him.



I just skipped trying. After seeing them go up, I didn't think I had the articulation to do it without having a locker. We all lined up and snapped a few pictures on top with the mountains in the background.



From there we made our way down to the creek and set up camp to rest for the evening. Everyone was ready for some rest. The boys finally got to do some fishing but really didn't catch much. I also set my camp shower bottle out in the sun to warm up and used it to clean up some before supper. Brett had been skeptical of it at first but when I came walking back into camp from my shower, he made mention of giving it a try later. I had set my water bottle out to warm up as well, so I told him to fill it up and have at it. He was impressed but said he'd probably want a 2 gallon sprayer vs my 1 gallon.



Later that night, we wheeled back out to the top of China Wall to see the sky in the dark. It was amazing out there but I don't have a camera that's capable of taking pictures of the night sky.

That night I slept in my hammock. I thought I'd be ok with just my wool blanket but it soon got too cold to deal with that so I grabbed my sleeping bag for the rest of the night. That was much better! Here's a shot of the view I woke up to the next day.



As usual I was up first so I got my stuff packed up and started loading while the others were waking up. We managed to break camp and be going before the bugs got too bad.