Jeep-CJ.com Colorado Trail Ride

[TheDirtyCJ]

If you're going to bring the family there are lots of other things to do in SW Colorado. After the Trail Ride is over you can take a step back in time and ride an old steam locomotive from Silverton to Durango. It goes through rugged mountains and once you are in Durango you can stay in the Stater Hotel. This is a cool hotel built over a hundred years ago and they still have it filled with antique furniture. Even the bar, restaurant and lobby downstairs all look like they are from the early 1900's.
Check out these links:
Home | Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train
Durango Colorado - The Historic Strater Hotel

Well I think you can count me in. The wife may want to visit family in Durango and I would have to make the drive from there. I remember some hot springs along the way, under a waterfall. I am looking forward to the ride. My wife and I took that narrow gauge railway to Silverton B-4 we married I have it on VHS.

 

[HogBed]

We, wife and I, are VERY interested in coming. Will be coming from Texas and have July 4th through the 17th in vacation already so just need the "details" as far as when, where, what time. Also would need a good safe place to park the tow rig and trailer. Yes, towing the non-airconditioned CJ7 in July. As far as sleeping - camping or hotel is good for us. We would more than likely come up before the 11th and meet yall wherever.

 

[BusaDave9]

Date change for the
Jeep-CJ.com Colorado Trail Ride.
It will be from
July 17th to 22nd
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The reason for the date change is an event that has booked up a Ouray Motel.
We will use Ouray Colorado as our base location. We will be pulling into town Sunday July 17th. No trail rides or events will be planed for that day although we may meet up for dinner or drinks that evening. At the very least call me to let me know you made it into town and will be ready to hit the trails Monday morning. Please PM me with your cell number. It is also recommended that you bring a CB radio. That is how we will communicate on the trails.
Here are a couple of motels in Ouray that you can book your reservations at:

The Rivers Edge Motel 866-739-4987

Ouray Hotel | BEST WESTERN PLUS Twin Peaks Lodge & Hot Springs | Ouray, Colorado 800-207-2700 or 970-325-4427

Both of the above motels can accommodate parking for a truck and trailer.

I am hoping to take us all on the Alpine Loop from Ouray to Lake City. It is a beautiful four wheel drive trail but it takes 8 hours round trip. I don't think it will be practical to do the loop all in one day. I would like the trail rides to be at a leisure pace with side routes also planned. That way if we have unexpected delays such as mechanical problems we can skip the side routes and get back to town.

Monday morning I plan on us leaving Ouray and staying in Lake City Monday evening. We could stay here at The Matterhorn Motel - Lake City, Colorado [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]970[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]944-2210[/FONT]
That would entail bringing a change of clothes with you in addition to your lunch. Would that be acceptable? Anyone bringing a family in a CJ won't have much room for luggage. Those of us without a family have extra storage room. Another option would be to drive part way to Lake City and then make a U Turn and come back on the same trail If we go all the way to Lake City we can come back on another trail.
The thing I like about four wheeling in this area is you can go from town to town on four wheel trails without retracing your path. There are literally hundreds of miles of off road trails near the towns of Ouray, Silverton, Telluride and Lake City. We can easily have several days of trail rides, rarely seeing the same places twice.

If everyone is game we can tackle Black Bear pass on Wednesday, then head back to Ouray by way of Imogene pass.

 

[JR74CJ5]

:drool: I would love to see this... But...

My CJ wont be ready by the time for this trip... And about 1k miles away...

So... Hopefully by next year, if it's a option then...



~ JR

 

[elwood blues]

Yeah, that sounds like an absolutely awesome trip and I would love to go. But it's something like 1700 miles from here, 2 days by CJ. Hope you all have fun and take lots of pictures.

 

[BusaDave9]

Make your motel reservations NOW!
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Motels are filling up fast. I just found out that there will be a big gathering of FJ's towards the end of our Trail Ride. FJSummit 2011 National Meet For that reason we will be having a trail ride on Sunday July 17th. We can meet in Ouray Saturday July 16th. If you won't be getting into Ouray until Sunday the 17th that will be fine too. We will be back in Ouray that evening. Anyone planing on coming please PM me.

Once again the
Jeep-CJ.com Colorado Trail Ride.
It will be from
July 16th to 22nd​

 

[djohnbb62]

HI Dave

I thought you were going to spend the night in Lake City.
Dan

 

[BusaDave9]

Yes we will spend one night in Lake City but most nights will be spent in Ouray.
Here is the schedule:

Saturday July 16th we meet in Ouray
Sunday July 17 - Corkscrew Pass, Hurricane Pass, Animas Forks Ghost Town
Monday July 18 - BlackBear to Telluride and back over Imogene Pass
Tuesday July 19 - Kendall Mt and dinner in the town of Silverton
Wednesday July 20 - Cinnamon Pass (Alpine Loop) to Lake City
Thursday July 21 - Engineer Pass (Alpine Loop) back to Ouray
Friday July 22 - To be decided

All these trials will be passable in a stock CJ. I am planning this as something the whole family will enjoy but I am looking for feedback. PM me if you are coming. On Friday we could take some more challenging trails such as Poughkeepsie Gulch. Or if the consensus is for the mild, scenic trails then there are countless other trials we could take.

If someone arrives a day or 2 late we will still be able to meet up. Just let me know your plans.

There has been a lot of interest in Black Bear Pass. On the other hand there has also been a lot of trepidation regarding that pass. If you are unsure about going over Black Bear, please join us for the Sunday trail ride. It will help you decide about Black Bear. Don't get me wrong, Sunday will be a mild ride. But it will also be one of the best days. We will spent a lot of time high above the tree line. You must bring a camera. We will go over Corkscrew Pass and as soon as we come back down to the tree line we will climb back up to Hurricane pass. Then we will descend to Animas Forks Ghost Town. This is a cool ghost town at 12,600 feet I am always amazed that they built a town up that high in the mountains and people stayed there all winter. It was a mining town. I guess that explains that. On the way back to Ouray we will be taking Lower Engineer Pass Trail (also known as Mineral Creek Trail). This is a very rocky, bumpy trail. Once again a stock CJ can easily make it.

Please make your reservations now. Most nights will be spent in Ouray. I plan on staying here The Rivers Edge Motel but there are other places in town.

then on July 20th we will be in Lake City. Make one night reservation here: The Matterhorn Motel - Lake City, Colorado
On the 21st we will be taking a separate trail (still considered the Alpine Loop) back to Ouray.

One last note regarding Black Bear Pass. This is not as bad as it sounds. This trail is not a difficult technical trail but it is scary for the acrophobes. If people really don't want to take Black Bear Pass there is an alternate route. We could take Ophir Pass to get to Telluride.

 

[IOPort51]

On Tuesday night will someone try the mountain oysters in Silverton?? I just diddn't have the balls for it.

 

[bmflyfish]

On Tuesday night will someone try the mountain oysters in Silverton?? I just diddn't have the balls for it.[/QUOTE

That is a good one!!!

 

[BusaDave9]

On Tuesday night will someone try the mountain oysters in Silverton?? I just diddn't have the balls for it.

I will buy mountain oysters for anyone that wants them. (I don't think I will be out much money)

 

[CJ]

I will buy mountain oysters for anyone that wants them. (I don't think I will be out much money)

They are not bad (seriously). The gross factor is what kills ya! The taste works. That and the little submarine dudes...

 

[Scottys84]

If this is going to happen in 2012, I will absolutely plan on it. This year will be a no-go for me as I don't have the Jeep ready and no vacation time available for that week.
I didn't see it mentioned, but as a suggestion, the Ouray KOA campground is fantastic for those camping. I've stayed there 3 times and will without hesitation stay there again. Great facilities and a lot of room for tow rigs/trailers.
Scott

 

[BusaDave9]

Ouray KOA campground is fantastic for those camping. I've stayed there 3 times and will without hesitation stay there again. Great facilities and a lot of room for tow rigs/trailers.
Scott

Thanks for the suggestion Scottys84. I have never stayed there. I usually throw a tent in my CJ and stop anywhere in the mountains to camp. That's not going to work very well for this trip. It will be nice if everyone can stay in or very near Ouray (we have one night in Lake City).
Too bad you can't make it Scott. According to the poll there have been 16 people interested in meeting up for this trail ride but only 3 have committed.
Make your reservations now. If you can't find a place to stay PM me and I can help.

 

[BusaDave9]

I had a lot of interest in the beginning. I only have 3 jeeps that have committed but it's still on. We will meet in Ouray this Saturday at 6:00 at O'Brien's Pub 726 Main Street.

restaurants ouray co - Google Maps

 

[ak81jeep]

well just joined and no time to plan it out. but next year it`ll be on my radar. looking forward to the trip report. :yj:

 

[JR74CJ5]

looking forward to the trip report.

x 2

 

[BusaDave9]

I don't think there will be a next year. It sounded like there was a lot of interest in this year's trail ride but so far it has just been me, myself and I going on the Jeep-CJ.com trail ride. This morning I am meeting up with djohnbb62 and we will be going over Engineer Pass on the Alpine Loop. Tonight we will be staying in Lake City. Then tomorrow we will be taking Cinnamon Pass to Silverton.

 

[JR74CJ5]

I don't think there will be a next year. It sounded like there was a lot of interest in this year's trail ride but so far it has just been me, myself and I going on the Jeep-CJ.com trail ride.

I would have loved to make it Dave... I am hoping to one day have my CJ reliable enough, or have a trailer / truck reliable enough to have made it that way.

You're the man for trying to start it up though!!

 

[BusaDave9]

Wednesday I met up with Dan, I mean djohnbb62, for the trail ride. He brought his wife Denise with him. Denise is a sweet, likeable gal.

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I knew Dan had a 1964 CJ5 but I did not expect it to be in such predestine shape. This is the kind of jeep most people would spend a lot of time bragging about. Since Dan hasn't bragged about his Jeep on Jeep-CJ.com I thought I would sidetrack the thread to show you Dan's '64 CJ5 . He bought it for under $2000 and has restored it back to factory.
When Dan first brought it home it was in terrible shape. It had evidence of being rolled, the floorboards were rusted out and it needed a lot of work to get it road worthy. Dan rebuilt the Overdrive unit and the Transfer Case .
Here's what it looks like now:

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The PO cut the wire harness and spliced wires together at the firewall. To redo it right Dan had a lot of rewiring to do.

​

Everything was neat and done correctly.
Dan's CJ has the F Head Hurricane engine.

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During the restoration Dan brought the engine back to looking like it was in 1964. Notice he even found factory labels for the oil filter housing.

​

This is a jeep to be proud of. What I really like is that Dan uses it for what it was intended for, taking it on trails. Dan didn't build it to look at it in his garage. Jeep trails were named for CJs like this '64. There were no Land Cruisers or even Broncos when this CJ5 was manufactured.

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Photos and details of our trail ride will follow.