DunnyBunny
Member
Cracker Barrel is the best breakfast. And I want your job. Must be nice to just be able to drop everything and take off to do whatever. Maybe one day.
Jeepin' Across America, The Adventure Continues!
- Thread starter NFRs2000NYC
- Start date
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
Trust me, you don't want my job. My career is restaurant management, in NYC. Not exactly a calm job. However, I am in the process of turning my life around. I can't live with this kind of stress. I'm looking to move to a calmer place (Colorado actually), do something I love (probably open up a food joint) and enjoy spending time with my family. I have realized that people in this city in the rat race letting life pass them by are crazy, and I no longer want to be one of them.
joelbarras20
New member
Great post of a great trip look forward to seeing more. Thank for posting it all for us.
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
You bet!:thumb:
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
Our final trail of the day was Porphyry Gulch. This was a tricky one to find. The start of it looked like a runaway truck ramp, and it was off a 50mph road. After a few U-turns, I finally found it.
The road started off pretty mild (a bit rocky) and climbed right away.
Very quickly you can see the elevation gain, since you can see the road you were on 3 minutes ago.
After a while, the road started to get rocky and switchbacky again...and I started to get that feeling...
Out of nowhere, we see this little cabin up on the side of the mountain, all by itself...this person sure likes their privacy.
Most of the non SLR shots were taken by my wife, so I am going to use images I found on google to illustrate my story, since she was too busy freaking out and didn't take any. As we got higher and higher, we got to a section that had a sign which read something along the lines of "motorized vehicle travel not recommended"...I found this kind of weird, since my guidebook did warn me about it being a narrow shelf road, but nothing about "DO NOT DO THIS"...the trail is also rated moderate, not difficult, so I didn't think much of it....wrong again.
This is the view of the "hill." The sign would be to the right of this Xtrerra.
Obviously on this road you cannot turn around, so up I went, and made it just up to about where this Jeep is...maybe a little bit further.
I made it to a point where basically my passenger tires were as far over as they can be before I start damaging the body, and my driver's side tires were literally on the edge. I creeped forward a little bit, and saw that my driver's side tires are now actually only 1/2 on pavement and 1/2 in the air, dangling off a cliff. At this point I made a safety call, and told the wife this isn't happening. My stance is just too damn wide to make it through safely, not to mention, coming back, I wouldn't be able to monitor the cliff side tires. Now for the fun part....backing down this steep, narrow slope. The wife literally turned white and was extremely nervous. She breathed a sigh of relief like I have never heard when we got to the bottom of that switchback.
Im actually glad we didn't make it further. The road apparently gets worse and worse, and it would be impossible to back up on this, so once committed, it's all the way or nothing.
After that, we came back to Telluride just ahead of the sunset, ate dinner, and went to bed. The following morning we are leaving the area and headed to Aspen.
The road started off pretty mild (a bit rocky) and climbed right away.
Very quickly you can see the elevation gain, since you can see the road you were on 3 minutes ago.
After a while, the road started to get rocky and switchbacky again...and I started to get that feeling...
Out of nowhere, we see this little cabin up on the side of the mountain, all by itself...this person sure likes their privacy.
Most of the non SLR shots were taken by my wife, so I am going to use images I found on google to illustrate my story, since she was too busy freaking out and didn't take any. As we got higher and higher, we got to a section that had a sign which read something along the lines of "motorized vehicle travel not recommended"...I found this kind of weird, since my guidebook did warn me about it being a narrow shelf road, but nothing about "DO NOT DO THIS"...the trail is also rated moderate, not difficult, so I didn't think much of it....wrong again.
This is the view of the "hill." The sign would be to the right of this Xtrerra.
Obviously on this road you cannot turn around, so up I went, and made it just up to about where this Jeep is...maybe a little bit further.
I made it to a point where basically my passenger tires were as far over as they can be before I start damaging the body, and my driver's side tires were literally on the edge. I creeped forward a little bit, and saw that my driver's side tires are now actually only 1/2 on pavement and 1/2 in the air, dangling off a cliff. At this point I made a safety call, and told the wife this isn't happening. My stance is just too damn wide to make it through safely, not to mention, coming back, I wouldn't be able to monitor the cliff side tires. Now for the fun part....backing down this steep, narrow slope. The wife literally turned white and was extremely nervous. She breathed a sigh of relief like I have never heard when we got to the bottom of that switchback.
Im actually glad we didn't make it further. The road apparently gets worse and worse, and it would be impossible to back up on this, so once committed, it's all the way or nothing.
After that, we came back to Telluride just ahead of the sunset, ate dinner, and went to bed. The following morning we are leaving the area and headed to Aspen.
Last edited:
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
DAY 5
We arrived in Aspen, and wanted to drop off some luggage, so we checked in to our new digs. Although I lugged a metric ton of camping gear, the wife was having too much fun being all bouzhie and wanting nice hotel rooms. So I jumped on hotwire 5 minutes before arriving in Aspen, and snagged a nice room at the Westin (they only use "The W" name in hip and trendy cities) for about $100 bucks. The hotel is actually located in the town of Snowmass, which is 5 miles outside of Aspen. Still a lovely town.
We got here at almost 2 and our "king room" wasn't ready yet. Not wanting to waste more time, I told them to give us whatever, and they gave us 2 queens. It'll do.
We grabbed a quick bite and headed out to the most photographed mountains in North America, the Maroon Bells. Now, if you are planning on visiting the Bells, there is something you should know. The local government only allows people to use their own vehicles BEFORE 9am and AFTER 5pm (unless you have a child that is in a carseat, and a few other exceptions)....between 9 and 5, there is no access to the Bells, and you will be asked to turn around and leave by the Parks service. Between 9 and 5, you must park in Aspen and take a shuttle bus. I also highly recommend that anyone that wants to take a road trip like this purchase the national park pass, which is $80 for the year, but grants you access to all federally run land without paying a fee. Between this trip and the Moab one, it paid for itself twice over.
So, off we went.
Some people enjoy a nice horse and carriage ride on this road, so be careful
Unfortunately, we arrived a bit early (4:25) and needed to kill 35 minutes. I pulled over on the side of the road, near a creek, and relaxed to the sounds of nature. It's nice having a Jeep full of gear.
I didn't have time to order my hammocks before we left on this journey.
I was about to take a nap when the wife informs me that there is a butterfly sitting on a flower. Without much excitement, I grab my SLR, stick on a 70-200, and go shoot it.
After killing all the time necessary, we pass the park entrance and head to the bells. This place really is something, and I am told in the fall it is even more jawdropping (more snow on the peaks and an explosion of orange and yellow foliage glistening off the lake.)
Wildflowers everywhere!
Carbon tripods FTW!
Someone needs one of those Xhibit pics with the "yo dawg, we know you like pictures so we took a picture of you taking a picture."
The bells themselves
Wife shot a quick video showing the scale of the beauty....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmeh5ZpS0zk
The rest of the day we spent relaxing and walking around the town of Aspen
The town is SPOTLESS, and when I say spotless, I mean not a single piece of trash on the ground, no cig butts, NOTHING. Amazing.
There is however this problem...
We had our dinner here...great food, some of the worst service (technically, nonexistent service is a more accurate description) I have ever encountered, and Im a good judge, it's what I do for a living.
After dinner, it was back to the hotel for a night's rest and more sights to see the following day!
We arrived in Aspen, and wanted to drop off some luggage, so we checked in to our new digs. Although I lugged a metric ton of camping gear, the wife was having too much fun being all bouzhie and wanting nice hotel rooms. So I jumped on hotwire 5 minutes before arriving in Aspen, and snagged a nice room at the Westin (they only use "The W" name in hip and trendy cities) for about $100 bucks. The hotel is actually located in the town of Snowmass, which is 5 miles outside of Aspen. Still a lovely town.
We got here at almost 2 and our "king room" wasn't ready yet. Not wanting to waste more time, I told them to give us whatever, and they gave us 2 queens. It'll do.
We grabbed a quick bite and headed out to the most photographed mountains in North America, the Maroon Bells. Now, if you are planning on visiting the Bells, there is something you should know. The local government only allows people to use their own vehicles BEFORE 9am and AFTER 5pm (unless you have a child that is in a carseat, and a few other exceptions)....between 9 and 5, there is no access to the Bells, and you will be asked to turn around and leave by the Parks service. Between 9 and 5, you must park in Aspen and take a shuttle bus. I also highly recommend that anyone that wants to take a road trip like this purchase the national park pass, which is $80 for the year, but grants you access to all federally run land without paying a fee. Between this trip and the Moab one, it paid for itself twice over.
So, off we went.
Some people enjoy a nice horse and carriage ride on this road, so be careful
Unfortunately, we arrived a bit early (4:25) and needed to kill 35 minutes. I pulled over on the side of the road, near a creek, and relaxed to the sounds of nature. It's nice having a Jeep full of gear.
I didn't have time to order my hammocks before we left on this journey.
I was about to take a nap when the wife informs me that there is a butterfly sitting on a flower. Without much excitement, I grab my SLR, stick on a 70-200, and go shoot it.
After killing all the time necessary, we pass the park entrance and head to the bells. This place really is something, and I am told in the fall it is even more jawdropping (more snow on the peaks and an explosion of orange and yellow foliage glistening off the lake.)
Wildflowers everywhere!
Carbon tripods FTW!
Someone needs one of those Xhibit pics with the "yo dawg, we know you like pictures so we took a picture of you taking a picture."
The bells themselves
Wife shot a quick video showing the scale of the beauty....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmeh5ZpS0zk
The rest of the day we spent relaxing and walking around the town of Aspen
The town is SPOTLESS, and when I say spotless, I mean not a single piece of trash on the ground, no cig butts, NOTHING. Amazing.
There is however this problem...
We had our dinner here...great food, some of the worst service (technically, nonexistent service is a more accurate description) I have ever encountered, and Im a good judge, it's what I do for a living.
After dinner, it was back to the hotel for a night's rest and more sights to see the following day!
Tackerdown
Banned
Wow I forgot all about you doing this trip. Glad I found it . That looks like a trip of a life time. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet at Rausch creek and hear about it.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using WAYALIFE mobile app
Sent from my SPH-L720 using WAYALIFE mobile app
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
DAY 6
We got up this morning, on our way to Vail for the night. However, before that, we decided to do something a bit more physical, and decided to do the hike to hanging lake. Now, Im not what anyone would call a seasoned hiker, not to mention, this hike is pretty physically demanding (large elevation gain) over rocks, and at a decent elevation, and even after almost a week of being up in the mountains, the lack of oxygen did hit us sea level dwellers a bit.
The hike is basically over terrain like this,
My wife has a bum knee (ACL surgery a few years ago) and a small problem with her foot, so we had to take it very slowly.
I filled up two water 1L water bottles with Colorado's finest
Goin up!
Under attack again...
Finally, after 1.8 miles, we arrived at hanging lake.
Really a beautiful sight to behold. The color of the water is incredible.
Remember the two 1L bottles of water I filled up? This gave me a chance to use my new toy, something I recommend any outdoorsman to have in their arsenal..
It's a Steripen. It is a UV light that purifies water and makes it safe to drink, essentially rendering any bacteria or virus harmless. It's $60 on amazon, and on a single set of decent AA rechargables, it will purify 400L of water (45 seconds per liter.) Worth every penny. Remember, this PURIFIES water, it doesn't filter it. If the water is nasty, this will make it safe to drink, but it will still taste like sh!t.
The rest of the day we spent relaxing in Vail village.
We got up this morning, on our way to Vail for the night. However, before that, we decided to do something a bit more physical, and decided to do the hike to hanging lake. Now, Im not what anyone would call a seasoned hiker, not to mention, this hike is pretty physically demanding (large elevation gain) over rocks, and at a decent elevation, and even after almost a week of being up in the mountains, the lack of oxygen did hit us sea level dwellers a bit.
The hike is basically over terrain like this,
My wife has a bum knee (ACL surgery a few years ago) and a small problem with her foot, so we had to take it very slowly.
I filled up two water 1L water bottles with Colorado's finest
Goin up!
Under attack again...
Finally, after 1.8 miles, we arrived at hanging lake.
Really a beautiful sight to behold. The color of the water is incredible.
Remember the two 1L bottles of water I filled up? This gave me a chance to use my new toy, something I recommend any outdoorsman to have in their arsenal..
It's a Steripen. It is a UV light that purifies water and makes it safe to drink, essentially rendering any bacteria or virus harmless. It's $60 on amazon, and on a single set of decent AA rechargables, it will purify 400L of water (45 seconds per liter.) Worth every penny. Remember, this PURIFIES water, it doesn't filter it. If the water is nasty, this will make it safe to drink, but it will still taste like sh!t.
The rest of the day we spent relaxing in Vail village.
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
DAY 7, the final day.
The last day we had a lot of driving to do, so we only had one stop. The stop was Mt. Evans, which is the highest drivable point in the entire North America.
This road is paved, so anyone can go there.
In the clouds
And that my friends is the end of the trip. The following morning I dropped the wife off at Denver international, and hit the lonely road back home. This trip was a tad bittersweet for me, since this is the last adventure this Jeep is going on. In the next month or so I will be trading it in for a 2014 Rubicon, but nevertheless, we had some good times. I urge you guys to take a road trip at least for one of your vacations. Doesn't matter what car you have, how far away you want to go. Don't plan too much, just pick a direction, and hit the open road, there are a lot of amazing things to see in this great country of ours that many never get to see, and it's all in their own backyard. Until next time, maybe I'll see some of you guys on the road during my travels.
The last day we had a lot of driving to do, so we only had one stop. The stop was Mt. Evans, which is the highest drivable point in the entire North America.
This road is paved, so anyone can go there.
In the clouds
And that my friends is the end of the trip. The following morning I dropped the wife off at Denver international, and hit the lonely road back home. This trip was a tad bittersweet for me, since this is the last adventure this Jeep is going on. In the next month or so I will be trading it in for a 2014 Rubicon, but nevertheless, we had some good times. I urge you guys to take a road trip at least for one of your vacations. Doesn't matter what car you have, how far away you want to go. Don't plan too much, just pick a direction, and hit the open road, there are a lot of amazing things to see in this great country of ours that many never get to see, and it's all in their own backyard. Until next time, maybe I'll see some of you guys on the road during my travels.
OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
This is amazing!
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
It was definitely worth the grueling hike.
ssgp2
Member
For UV light to be effective, you need water that does not contain suspended particles or colour.
Anything that will block the UV light will diminish it's ability to kill bacteria.
Love your thread, the pictures and video are awesome. I definitely need to do something like this.
Safe travel back home.
Anything that will block the UV light will diminish it's ability to kill bacteria.
Love your thread, the pictures and video are awesome. I definitely need to do something like this.
Safe travel back home.
DAY 6
Remember the two 1L bottles of water I filled up? This gave me a chance to use my new toy, something I recommend any outdoorsman to have in their arsenal..
It's a Steripen. It is a UV light that purifies water and makes it safe to drink, essentially rendering any bacteria or virus harmless. It's $60 on amazon, and on a single set of decent AA rechargables, it will purify 400L of water (45 seconds per liter.) Worth every penny. Remember, this PURIFIES water, it doesn't filter it. If the water is nasty, this will make it safe to drink, but it will still taste like sh!t.
The rest of the day we spent relaxing in Vail village.
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
Definitely don't do blackbear alone. Best of luck and be careful.
NFRs2000NYC
Caught the Bug
Interesting, I didn't know that. I got the water from a 3' deep flowing collection pool so it was literally crystal clear but I definitely appreciate your advice. Truly.
pvanweelden
New member
Thanks for the awesome Pics! Safe travel back home!
Beautiful pictures. We will be in Telluride for two weeks in September. Can't wait to get back and try out the new lift and tires. Did you do Poughkeepsie? I didn't see any pics from that trail. We got to The Wall last year and it started raining and then sleeting and no one was around so we chose not to try it alone that day. Hopefully this year.