Colorado to Utah Trip

jmedgar

jmedgar

Member
Last week a friend and I headed down to the San Juan Mountains and then over to Moab area. I invited my Dad along on the trip as well and it had been over 10 years since we had spent this much time together. Needless to say it was a amazing trip and I cant wait to do another one. We started out driving from Idaho to Salt Lake to pick my Dad up at the airport. We camped on Antelope Island the first night which had some Bison wandering around and a beautiful sunset. Definitely bring bug spray as the mosquitos were impressively thick!
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We then headed straight to Ouray and started up Poughkeepsie gulch to find a campsite for the night. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the road had some minor technical spots as I expected just a dirt road. We found a great spot at just under 12,000 feet.
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It was bone dry so The Wall was uneventful and both vehicles walked up it with no problems. Overall great scenery and a fun trail.
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We did a bunch of the other passes in that area but I don't remember the names. More of the same, fun roads with great scenery.
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We realized we had enough time left in the day to squeeze in another trail so we headed up towards Stoney Pass then took a left and headed up a great road to a cool mine. The Aspen trees were changing and made for some very pretty roads.
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Day two in the next post...
 
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After a less than wonderful night in a Hostel in Silverton (you get what you pay for) we headed up 550 to Black Bear Pass. There were thunderstoms in the forecast so we hit the trail early and were at the 1-way section by 8am just to be safe. My friend is uncomfortable with heights and has a manual in his Tacoma so he had a more exciting day than me for sure, but overall it was a great road with some unique mental challenges.
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After a quick breakfast in Telluride we headed back over Imogene Pass.
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Towards the end of the pass we came across a rental jeep that had managed to roll on a very easy section. Luckily the ambulance had already arrived and the life-flight flew in right when we arrived. I do not know if there were any serious injuries, but my thoughts go out to the people regardless. We spent the delay picking up glass and other parts.
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Day 3:
After a brutal night camping (some very violent thunderstorms moved through), we packed up camp and headed over Ophir Pass on our way to Utah. Some snow that night made for some extra scenic photos.
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After a quick blast up the highway we headed into the Southern entrance to Canyonlands National Park. We had gotten a backcountry permit to camp at The Devils Kitchen Campground. There were some questions as to the state of the road in, as the thunderstorms had dome some damage. The backcountry ranger told us to give it a shot, and give him a report. There was a ton of standing water and a few deep spots but overall I think it added to the trail as it made a few spots more challenging than they would have normally been.
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A very tight spot for a Tacoma.
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One of the deeper spots. Some people had gone off trail to avoid this so we spent some time smoothing out the tracks and doing our best to restore the damage they had done.
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And finally our campsite for the night.
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Day 4 coming in next post...
 
Love the pics! I'm doing many of the same trails this weekend with my dad as well, looking forward to it.
 
The next morning we headed south to go down and do a short hike on the Joint Trail. Was nice to walk around and see some unique formations. On the way there we had a real tight spot for the Tacoma and a really deep hole cause by the storm damage.
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We finished the Elephant Hill Trail and ended up back on 191 heading north to Moab. We arrived at around 6 and just enough time to squeeze in a Hells Revenge loop before hitting the lottery and finding a campsite off of Sand Flats road on a Saturday night! The next morning we had breakfast in Moab and the headed up to do 7 Mile Rim Trail. I had no idea what to expect but it was a great trail with a ton of variety.
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Thanks for taking a look. It was a great trip and awesome to be able to share it with my Dad. Now time to start planning the next one!
 
Awesome pics. That looks like a pretty cool Tacoma, too. I have one in addition to my Jeep, and love it!
 
Flat Top said:
Love the pics! I'm doing many of the same trails this weekend with my dad as well, looking forward to it.
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Enjoy it!

WJCO said:
Beautiful pics.
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Thank you!

BananaJeep said:
Awesome pics. That looks like a pretty cool Tacoma, too. I have one in addition to my Jeep, and love it!
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Thanks! We started the trip by putting on the new front bumper and a high clearance rear bumper. Pretty darn capable and I was definitely jealous of his RTT

GraniteCrystal said:
Awesome trip! Good to see trees starting to turn colors
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Thanks! Made for some extra scenic views. Such a beautiful area.

blackrubi14 said:
Awesome pics! Looks like y'all had a blast, thanks for sharing! :thumb:
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Thanks! Was a great trip.
 
Great pics that capture the San Juan's this time of year. You're right about the Poughkeepsie Wall, it can be a challenge when wet. Hope the folks in the rental Jeep are OK. :thumb::thumb:and a snap!
 
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