The plan for our trip to Colorado was simple: tour the state, taking in as many of the high mountain roads and views as we possibly could. After all, this was my first time really exploring the state in any real capacity, and we had a local Coloradoian with us, so we might as well take advantage of that.
We met up in Wyoming and spent a couple days making our way south - hitting peaks along the Continental Divide - before diving across the border with 14,000 foot peaks in our sights. Through Medicine Bow - Routt National Forest we made our way south past Hahn's Peak to the Agnes Mountains. From there, we headed towards Steamboat Springs, then Radium Springs, and then up into the real mountains. Our first was Cottonwood Peak, which brought us to a cool 11,200 feet - high, but still not Colorado high. That would come as we explored Chihuahua Gluch and the towering mountains that surround it. Add the mining and ghost town remnants, and it was the start of something really special that we indulged in for the next several days - bagging many cool trails (Webster Pass, Red Cone, Radical Hill, and Mosquito Pass) and exploring several cool sights along the way (Champion Mill, the old rail line up Hancock Pass, and more).
And then - on our way to the highest peak yet - Mt. Antero - disaster struck. And not just once; it struck three times! So, sit back and enjoy the story, I know we enjoyed it as it happened!
Exploring Colorado Becomes Redhead Down | #1 - September 15, 2019. It was 2:00pm when I parted ways with Pops in eastern California - our relaxing trip into the Sierras just the start of a 3 week journey for me. The next two weeks would be adventuring to - and then through - Wyoming and Colorado with some of the normal folks - Mike @Digiratus and Monte @Blackdawg (and his dad Steve), and also a new face to me - Brett @Squeaky Penguin. I've been wanting to meet Brett for quite some time now, so I was definitely looking forward to the opportunity. But here I am getting…
Redhead Down #2: WTF, There's a Bat in My Tent! - September 16, 2019. I didn't wait in Rawlins long before Monte @Blackdawg and his dad Steve @woodnick showed up at the gas station across the street. Their trucks fueled up, we said our warm hellos and set about our first task of the trip - buying firewood. It's here - before I even really get into the story - that I have a confession to make. I do this only because it may be my last opportunity - this trip changing the way we approached camp fires all together. I don't like buying bundles of firewood. To me, it just…
Redhead Down #3: We Cross into Colorado - The clear Wyoming skies meant that it was a very cold night. Everything covered in frost - including our pillows and sleeping bags where we'd been breathing on them as we cozied down for warmth - even Monte @Blackdawg came out of his tent in the morning, glad for the warmer temps that the sun beamed down on camp and started to melt the frost away. As we all warmed up in the sun, we set about our usual morning routines - intermixed of course with chatter about what was on tap for the day, and what amazing things we…
Redhead Down #4: Follow Me on the Trail, Not on the 'Gram - Night was chilly but not really cold, validating our move to a lower elevation camp site the evening before, and the sun quickly warmed camp in the morning as it rose over the Agnes Mountains. Happy to be a band of four again, and excited to get underway, we all set about our normal morning tasks, Mike @Digiratus now in what he'd call "good company," since Brett @Squeaky Penguin was also a coffee drinker. We also took the opportunity to add five gallons of fuel to our trucks - or at least, Monte @Blackdawg, Mike and I did - so…
Redhead Down #5: The Race - Everyone was up around about the usual time, our spot in the trees giving us a bit more shade than normal, but also helping to keep the frost at bay during the night. As everyone made breakfast, I headed over and asked Mike @Digiratus one of the strangest questions I think I've ever asked. Did you bring your toothbrush charger? See, for the first time ever, I brought my Sonicare toothbrush, knowing that I'd be away from home for over two weeks, and that my teeth just felt better when I used it. Anyway, it turns out that he had brought his…
Redhead Down #6: Chihuahua, Webster, Red Cone and Radical! - As it seems many of our nights in Colorado were, this one was a cold one. Camped at 10,400', that was probably to be expected, but I didn't expect my packaged of baby wipes to be frozen in the morning, and my morning clean-up wasn't a pleasant experience given that they were. But the elevation did make for a nice sky at sunrise - for that, I was grateful. And, with another day - or morning as it'd turn out - of clear blue skies above, it didn't take long for the sun to warm camp up enough that we all ventured…
Redhead Down #7: The Day We Made a Bench - Without a fire, it was another cold night and I was glad for my Little Hotties, their 8-hour life just long enough to keep my toes toasty until it was time to get up. And - at least for me - toasty toes are a key factor to the rest of my body being warm through the night, so I slept soundly as the surface of the beaver pond we'd parked by froze over night. Of course, as the sun rose to our east - it's warmth streaming down on our camp - we all ventured out of our cocoons…
Redhead Down #8: Exploring the Champion Mill - Having gone to bed late, and camped at the bottom of a valley between two, 13,000' peaks that kept the sun from hitting camp, everyone was up relatively late the next morning. Mostly. I just happened to wake up and look out the tent door when the sun was in that special place below the horizon and lucked out capturing what I think was probably the best - or at least most colorful - sunrise of the trip! But I was then back in the tent for another couple hours, doing my darnedest to keep warm as the cloud cover…
Redhead Down #9: The Last Hour - The day started out like any other. I was up a little before sunrise looking for color, and while there wasn't much, I did get a little splash on the horizon that seemed to mimic the angle of Brett @Squeaky Penguin's GFC. While the clear skies may have minimized the colorful sunrise, they did mean that morning in camp was a rather pleasant affair, the views back towards the Collegiate Peaks a striking way to enjoy the warming sun. And then - just as we were enjoying the peace and tranquility and our trucks and tents were thawing out -…
Redhead Down #10: Dealing with the Fallout - Still unsure exactly what the day would hold, we were up before 9:00am to get an early start on figuring out how to get the Redhead home. As we broke down camp, I happened to notice that if I stood in just the right place, I got a single bar of Internet on my phone, and soon enough we'd done a bunch of research that made us all feel quite a bit better. The Internet is better up here. I was able to download my 1st gen Tacoma parts list and to our surprise, shock towers were a separately orderable…
Rig Review: Whipsaw & Colorado 2019 - What worked and what didn't? - September 30, 2019. It was another whirlwind of trips through August and September, with three more trips and 21 more nights now in the books: The Whipsaw Trail in BC, Canada, a trip with Pops to the California Sierra, and a nearly two-week adventure through Wyoming and Colorado. Of those, the two driving adventures both ended early due to mechanical failure of at least one vehicle on the trip, so without further ado, let's get into what's bound to be a stunning rig review! Seemingly solved from previous Rig Reviews Front ADS Reservoirs Too Close to Tires Unchanged / Still an…