On January 31, the Colorado Full Size Jeep Association met at Club Workshop, a local business that rents out time on really cool machinery. They have CNC machines, welders, an auto lift, exhaust gas analyzer, a laser engraver, embroidery machine, and lots more I'm forgetting.

Club Workshop was kind enough to host the CFSJA for the afternoon as we explored the shop, got a quick welding demo, and all around had a heck of a good time with a fantastic turnout. Here are some pics. More pics: click here.


In case you were wondering, TC has been holding together ok. Something is wrong with the heater and I'm slowly digging into that problem. The choke is a bit too rich with this atypically warm CO winter. The battery has run down a couple times.

Fall's starting to take over the high country now, cool overcast days blowing in while the heat of summer fights to hold on.

The chill brings back exciting memories of my first days arriving in Colorado, of my first hunt last year, of leaves blowing along the streets, and Halloween around the corner. Pumpkins, soup, and fiery golden mountains.

Wheeling is great in the last days of summer. While the heat suffocates the city, the mountains are crisp in the 60's and the trails wait for intrepid travelers escaping the heat.

Webster Pass and Georgia Pass cross the Rockies from US 285 over to the area of Breckenridge. Webster beckons those who don't mind narrow paths winding up steep mountain sides with rewards of amazing views of Red Cone and the valleys on both sides of the pass.



As August drew to a close, Scott and I headed out and over Webster, had a great time taking it easy. Some good challenges on the way up and the view from the driver's seat looked worse than it is. Knuckles were a bit whiter than they needed to be, let's say.

The drive takes you down a dirt road through trees and brush down into the small town of Montezuma with dirt roads and cabins, new cars and old. A short drive away by road is Breckenridge and driving up Tiger Run Road a few miles north of the heart of the town leads you up twisting dirt roads into Pike National Forest.

We got lost a few times. It's been several years and I always came from 285 so all the myriad turnoffs caught me offguard. After "exploring" for awhile, we found our way to the top with a great view to the East.

We didn't dally too long; we wanted to get back a little early. The drive down on that side goes quickly and before long we were back on pavement near Jefferson, and taking 285 back home.

Both rigs did great with no real issues making for a very relaxing day in the thin air.

Got plans to head over Georgia Pass and Webster Pass this weekend. Will be real nice to get into the high country again!

Haven't been over Webster since 2003! Picture from that trip is lower left. Hard to believe how fast time flies. It's been longer since I drove Georgia Pass: 2001. But that was driving my 2nd FSJ, Backhoe. I first went in 1999 (lower right). TC has changed a little since then and is no doubt looking forward to a second trip over this trail.

Been up to my ears in various stuff but here is the rundown on our Holy Cross trip!

Scott and I met Fred and his gang and headed up the trail, albeit a bit late. We'd heard from Colorado4x4.org that the trail had gotten harder and they weren't kidding.

The new BFG MT's did fine on the rocks. Obstacles got progressively harder throughout the first part of the trail. As we neared the turnout Randy's classic Bronco ran into fuel problems so we parked there to troubleshoot.

Finally on our way again, we tackled the last few tough spots before the major rock climb on the way to French Creek. Holy toledo. I was able to get up that last time with a little spotting. This time all of us had a really, really hard time getting up it.

Randy had to try several lines to get up but his wheelbase being shorter made it easier to maneuver. Fred had a bit more trouble and got hung up on his frame on one line.

Some stacked rocks made the difference and he was able to ascend. We had to strap up the Grand Cherokee (Tim, right?) that was having front locker problems. The TJ was able to get up without any problem (sorry I can't remember names)

Scott was up next and had to try a couple of lines. We ended up strapping him and just as we got close, he got hung up and then we started seeing steam coming out of the front of the truck and coolant dripping. Uh oh!



We had to back him down and drive him to a flat spot to deal with the radiator damage. I decided to forego the obstacle entirely. No sense in breaking my junk when we might need it to get home! We were able to pinch the radiator tubes that were affected and stop the leak, so Scott and I turned around and headed home a bit early. Fred and crew were able to make it up to (but not over) Cleveland Rock after we left.

We'd run into Ray earlier on the trail. Same thing had happened to him: damaged radiator. He also had a broke tcase. So Holy Cross claimed its victims, but it was still a heck of a fun trail and maybe next time we'll figure out how to get farther along.