Getting There

So, Angie & I met up with Kent & John (from London, Ontario), and our friend Stan, his daughter & father (from Highlands Ranch, CO) on Thursday morning, the first day of the event. We decided to caravan from Colorado Springs out to Ouray. We wanted to take the scenic route over the mountains. We also met with a 4 other FJ's in Johnson's Village, just outside Buena Vista, CO.

The views on the way were almost as amazing as our destination: Wilkerson Pass, Buena Vista & the Collegiate Peaks, Monarch Pass, Blue Mesa reservoir, and Owl Creek pass were the highlights. Just after Blue Mesa Reservoir, two of the FJ's went ahead to Montrose, while the rest of us headed over Owl Creek Pass.

Settling In

We arrived in Ouray around 3:30 in the afternoon, ready to stretch our legs. We registered for the event, picked our trail runs for Fri & Sat, and recieved some great swag: a T-shirt, floppy cap, small backpack w/water bladder, a cool tool bag, and a free picture - all from the FJ Trail Teams & The FJ Summit.

After getting settled in our room, it was off to dinner. We went with Kent & John over to dinner. We tried the Main St Restaurant: it was a fairly good for the price. It wasn't award winning dining though. Kent was nice enough to buy Angie & I dinner - as a thanks for showing him the wonderful sights (Thanks Kent!).

The Alpine Loop

We awoke bright and early on Friday morning, ready for our first run. We decided to do Alpine Loop, which is rated a 2 (out of 10) - and is quite long. There were a total of 8 rigs in our group, we were the last to leave that morning. This was good for us, because we wanted to take as many photos as possible and didn't have to worry about another group bumping us.

The Alpine Loop - which consists of Engineer & Cinnamon Passes - is truly amazing. The first few miles of the Engineer Pass trail are the most difficult - basically a 4/10 - so this was a bit of a challenge for Angie & I, but not for Roxy. We made it without any issues at all. After cresting Engineer Pass it becomes a little smoother and the pace picked up some. Near the top of the pass, there is a great pull off that's basically an overlook of the entire range. At over 13,000 feet - this spot is one of the most amazing views you'll find in the Rocky Mountains. Be careful though: the altitude can really start to have negative effects for those not used to it. Kent had already been feeling bad, and it just got worse as we continued to climb. See the side note on altitude here.

After a quick and cold lunch at the top of Engineer (I left the jackets in the room), we were ready to head down to Lake City. At this point, we were about 1/3 of the way through the trip - and it was already after noon. We hit the local gas station in Lake City for a pit stop & to get some snacks, then continued to Cinnamon Pass.

Cinnamon Pass is a much easier ride than Engineer, we passed quite a few passenger cars & mini-vans throughout the trail. The summit is over 12,000 feet - and nearly as impressive as Engineer. While the Alpine Loop is extremely long, it's well worth the time you'll spend. We arrived back in Ouray at about 6pm, tired and ready for some food!

Friday Night

The dinner on Friday was included in our event fee & was provided by the Outlaw Steak House. Angie & I had been to the Outlaw on our previous trip to Ouray, so we were excited to taste that great barbecue again. They served prime rib, chicken wings, and all the sides. The problem was, with over 300 people to feed - it was difficult to keep warm. We waited in the line for a good 30 minutes, and the food - while tasty - was not as warm as we would’ve liked.

After dinner we hung out at the Box Canyon, had a beer & met some great people. We spent most of the time hanging in Matt's room. He and all his friends had come out from Georgia for the Summit. They also had a few videos of their wheeling - which mainly consisted of mud, mud, and more mud. :)

Imogene Pass & Last Dollar Rd

When Sat morning arrived, we were well rested & ready for another trail! This time it was to be Imogene Pass & Ophir Pass. We arrived at the meeting place early & got aired down. We were with another great group, 2 FJ's we were with the day before: Kent's VooDoo & Joe's Ti. We headed out at about 9am, ready for some fun.

After the quick drive up toward Yankee Boy Basin, we made the left onto the Imogene Pass trail. We were immediately greeted with an optional water crossing - optional, yeah right! Angie was driving first, so she gave it a little gas & plowed right through the nearly 24" of water - AWESOME! The first half of Imogene was a BLAST there were plenty of decent rocks, water crossings, and puddles to keep us entertained. The views were magnificent as well - this area of Colorado is truly amazing.

By the time we got to the top of Imogene, the 1 1/2 days of trail riding were starting to show. As we headed down toward Telluride, we noticed skiers on the opposite ridge - yes - skier's in July. The problem was that they all parked right on the trail, leaving VERY little room for our FJ's to turn in a few spots. We eventually made it through the 20 or so Jeeps, trucks, and Subaru's & stopped for a break about halfway down the mountain. By this time, Kent's altitude sickness had really become a problem - he was barely able to safely drive. The problem was that John, his friend - didn't drive a manual well enough to get down the mountain.

Even though I'd never driven a manual off-road, I offered to drive Kent's truck down to Telluride - so we could get him some medical attention. John hopped in with Angie & I took over the VooDoo. We were led down by Josh, who was our trail leader for the day. We moved down the mountain pretty quickly, so we didn't get many photos of our descent. We arrived in Telluride a little after 3pm, and began the search for medical treatment.

Kent got checked out by the local doc in Telluride, and after some fluid and medication - he was feeling a little better. John said he could drive back to Ouray, so Angie & I headed back as well. We decided to take Last Dollar Rd, which is basically a dirt road through the mountains from Telluride to Ridgway. It went pretty quickly, and was very scenic (especially on the Telluride side).

Saturday Night

We arrived back in Ouray just in time for the 6pm dinner. It was sponsored by the FJ Trail Teams, and they really did a good job. It was pulled pork barbeque with all the trimmings. It was hot & delicious - I managed to stuff myself quite well :) By the time dinner was over, the raffle was just about to start.

Everyone received a free ticket with their event fee, but we purchased an additional 5 - just for good measure. I was REALLY surprised at all the great stuff the Summit Team was able to score for the raffle: Bumpers, sliders, Inchworm gears, GPS's, etc., etc. - they really did a good job. As it turns out, I didn't buy enough tickets. Yep - after almost 3 hours of looking at our tickets - we came away empty handed. It's too bad - now I have to go buy all my mods.

We were beat, so we hit the hay a little earlier on Saturday. We weren't looking forward to the long drive home, but we definitely could not wait for the group photo at 9am on Sunday.

Last Day In Ouray

Another benefit of the event fee was free breakfast at a mine on Sunday. We met up with Stan & family at the Bachelor-Syracuse mine for a free hearty breakfast. We didn’t get to the tour because we didn’t want to miss the photo op.

We arrived at about 10 minutes before nine at the lot where the group photo was planned. We ended up in the 3^rd to last row, so our FJ didn’t stand out much in the crowd. Still, it was a very cool experience. Over 100 FJ Cruiser’s in one photo – very neat. The photo came out OK, I’m told they may sell framed versions to help fund next years event.

Well, that took care of the official event. Angie & I invited Stan & Mike to run with us up to Yankee Boy Basin, since we didn’t make it up the day before. We wanted to checkout Yankee Boy on our last trip to Ouray, but there was still tons of snow. So we made our way up the trail again – it turned out to be not that exciting. Mostly because by the time we arrived, there were at least 10 other vehicles & about 30 or more people hanging around. That kind of crowd can make the scenery not so scenic.

So, since we didn’t spend any time at Yankee Boy, we decided to hit the first half of Imogene again. With the water crossings, water falls, & fun trail, we really wanted to make sure Stan & Mike got a chance to check it out. We made it up to the cabin area of Imogene pretty quickly, got a group photo, and headed back down to Ouray.

It was lunch time, so we strolled down main street in Ouray & ended up at the Gold Belt Bar & Grill for a quick bite. We all ordered & decided to eat outside, since it was such a wonderful day. After airing up, we headed north out of town – concluding our FJ Summit trip.