My wife and I just got back from vacation in Durango, CO. We did some of the typical touristy stuff and some off-roading. Most of the more technical trails in the area were still closed due to heavy snow this past winter and now heavy snowmelt. Black Bear, Imogene, and Ophir Passes were all closed and Engineer Pass was closed the day we were going to go up it because of a snowslide. We were able to do Stoney Pass and Corkscrew Pass as well as some other roads that got us into the backcountry. The snowmelt made Corkscrew much more difficult. A couple of times I thought I was going to pinch a hole in my seat. We also went up Yankee Boy Basin, which was not hard at all, but it did provide some good pictures of waterfalls and marmots. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmyKgvHhd2Y

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Very nice.

nice pictures. looks like you had a blast

JAHBLESSINGS wrote:nice pictures. looks like you had a blast

Yes we did. It is sooo nice up there. 70s-80s in the day, cooling off to the 40s at night. We came home to 100* and lots of humidity. I've only been up there during the winter time, so this was a treat. My wife and I are actually talking about moving up there. She has a couple more semesters in school then we can look a little more seriously.

Nice!!!!!

Size on the wheel and tire combo?

How was the camping? Planning on mostly tent/car camping on our trip.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

hmatiak wrote:Size on the wheel and tire combo?

How was the camping? Planning on mostly tent/car camping on our trip.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

I've got 16x8 wheels with 285/75-16 Revo 2 tires. I always heard about the sharp rocks up there, so I was concerned that my old stock General Grabber AWs would not survive the trip. I also like the extra sidewall on the 16" rims as opposed to the stock 17".

The camping was great. We only camped one night on our way up there and then stayed in a timeshare for a week in Durango. It was our first experience camping out in an area where the wildlife could eat you. It took me a few days to talk my wife into it. She was still a little worried when she saw we were the only ones there with a tent and everybody else were in campers and motorhomes. The beautiful scenery quickly overcame her fears.

It sounds like you have a very nice trip planned, also. Take plenty of pics and share the experience with us.

richardekirby wrote:

hmatiak wrote:Size on the wheel and tire combo?

How was the camping? Planning on mostly tent/car camping on our trip.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

I've got 16x8 wheels with 285/75-16 Revo 2 tires. I always heard about the sharp rocks up there, so I was concerned that my old stock General Grabber AWs would not survive the trip. I also like the extra sidewall on the 16" rims as opposed to the stock 17".

The camping was great. We only camped one night on our way up there and then stayed in a timeshare for a week in Durango. It was our first experience camping out in an area where the wildlife could eat you. It took me a few days to talk my wife into it. She was still a little worried when she saw we were the only ones there with a tent and everybody else were in campers and motorhomes. The beautiful scenery quickly overcame her fears.

It sounds like you have a very nice trip planned, also. Take plenty of pics and share the experience with us.

Any issues with rubbing? How much did your mileage suffer (MPG)? Still looks like the stock suspension, right?

If it was up to me we would camp all 7 or so days, but the wife says she would rather not. We are pretty avid campers, so i cant wait.

Yeah, I'm still stock. I've had a little rubbing on the front right during turns. I think its mostly caused by removing the front airdam. Without it, the bottom of the inner fender is not as stabilized and gets into the tire. I need to get under there and get that fixed.

Mileage fell off a little, but I was expecting that. The entire time we were in Colorado, we averaged about 15.2 mpg. I did not think it was that bad since I was loaded down, going up and down mountains, and using lower octane fuel. On the way home after getting into flatter terrain and better fuel, it improved to 17.5 mpg. That was still loaded down and running about 80 mph.

We prefer camping too. We left a day early so we could experience camping in that climate. While we were out wheeling, we carried our camp gear just in case we found a place we wanted to stay, but ended up making our way back to town each evening. The hot tub and king bed was nice after a long day. This was the view from the hot tub.

I hope you had fun. Excellent videos. It's a bummer you couldn't get to all the trails you wanted to due to snow. Come back to CO again. Next time let me know you're in my neighborhood. I'd love to run a few trails with you.

IcedTeasley wrote:I hope you had fun. Excellent videos. It's a bummer you couldn't get to all the trails you wanted to due to snow. Come back to CO again. Next time let me know you're in my neighborhood. I'd love to run a few trails with you.

I'm already looking forward to getting up there again. This time it will be late August or September, so the the trails should be better.

My wife will be done with school around the middle of next year and we are looking at moving to the Durango or Pagosa Springs area. That would be sweet. I'm tired of 100* temps.

That wouldnt happen to be up near the silverton area would it? A couple of family friends and I went out there this summer to the All 4 fun Jeep and 4x4 event. It was loads of fun and it really is an awesome part of the country.

DickBush wrote:That wouldnt happen to be up near the silverton area would it? A couple of family friends and I went out there this summer to the All 4 fun Jeep and 4x4 event. It was loads of fun and it really is an awesome part of the country.

Most of the pics were taken in and around Silverton. The ones of the old mining town were a couple miles north of there in Animas Forks. It is some beautiful country.

Do you have any pics of your trip? We would like to see them if you do.

richardekirby wrote:

DickBush wrote:That wouldnt happen to be up near the silverton area would it? A couple of family friends and I went out there this summer to the All 4 fun Jeep and 4x4 event. It was loads of fun and it really is an awesome part of the country.

Most of the pics were taken in and around Silverton. The ones of the old mining town were a couple miles north of there in Animas Forks. It is some beautiful country.

Do you have any pics of your trip? We would like to see them if you do.

Nice. We took plenty but i dont have any of my own. Ill see if i can get any up here though. How about that road coming into silverton from durango though? we took that in an eighteen wheeler hauling six jeeps at 11:00 at night.......intense. Glad you had a great trip though. I know ours was a once in a lifetime deal.