A Guy A Girl and a Trail: Adventures in a 4Runner Limited

Looks like a great camping spot. Can to share what area you're in?

 

Up near Walden

 

I agree, the memories for both myself and my son are priceless

 

This is the result of the largest wildfire in Colorado history. Thursday, August 13th, 2020 the fire was first called in, crews and supplies were brought in from 48 states during the 112 days it took to get the fire 100% contained. When the smoke cleared in December it was the largest wildfire Colorado had ever seen, at 208,913 acres destroyed is broke the previous record of 139,007 acres that was set just prior to this one. 469 structures were lost to fire including 224 homes and 17 businesses.

Adhere to fire bans and make sure camp fires are completely smothered - lots of water, turn it into soup, and throw some dirt on it before going to bed. In the morning if you can feel ANY warmth in the dirt the coals are still hot, douse them again.

 

We had signed up for a virtual 5K to raise money for children's cancer research and decided to do it in the form of a hike.

 

dinner

 

Then the sun went down and holy shit!

 

Sitting on the trailgate dangling over the side of a mountain taking in the views while enjoying a glass of wine.

 

We were looking at some maps and found a road that on paper looked cool, we went to check it out and it ended up being a private road for rich people mansions in the mountains. So we decided to turn off the nav and pick a dirt turn off and just drive.

We came across this sign which is usually a good sign


Nothing crazy, just very very tight in places with off camber rough stuff


She had to push a few branches up so e could fit through here and there.




We came across this in the middle of f'n nowhere






Obviously we looked it up to see if it was cheap enough to buy....

857sq/ft, 2 bedroom 0 bathroom, no water, no sewer, no electric, no cell phone coverage, no GPS signal, wood burning stove for heat, and an outhouse. The county deems it a weekend use cabin, it's only accessible in the winter by snowmobile and they claim its on a "culdesac" which was the dead end I had to do a 9 point turn to get turned around at. All this for $145,000.... yeah no thanks.

I was dragging the right side through foliage and I was still only like 8-10 inches from the edge of the drop off on the left.

 

Looks like your mirror was modified

 

That housing has been broken for like 6 years now. I just don't care enough to do anything about it because it's purely cosmetic and everything works.

 

Totally understand.

Also, great pics. The Rockies looked like the Smokies.

 

Any plans to regear?

 

As it sits currently, maybe.

It’s slow and underpowered, I have no doubt it would benefit from being regeared, but it’s not a rock crawler and it’s never going to be so I have a hard time justifying the expense.

I have said before as my 2 kids get older I may look to getting an offroad trailer to add some space. I would 100% for sure regear if I add a trailer.

 

Definitely do it!! Hands down the most cost effective mod I have done. My mileage actually went up in town and no more trans hunting gears. Towing the trailer became an
afterthought. 4.56's with 285's and @ 75mph the rpms are 2500. I don't rock crawl just mainly desert here but the mountains is where it shines.

 

I see. Even if it's not a rock crawler or towing a trailer now I can see the benefit of having it especially since you live in CO and will be driving through and up mountain passes quite a bit. With as much weight that you have on the truck I could see it reducing the amount of stress on your drivetrain.

 

Is CR2032 the right key fob battery for a 2018?

Edit: Oops… posted in wrong thread… sorry

 

I’ll 3rd the re gear. After our trip through Wyoming I called ecgs and ordered new gears I went with 4:88 so I have room to increase tire size or add a trailer in the future. When I regeared my Tacoma it was night and day difference

 

It’s a Southern Style Offroad Trailgator rear bumper.

 

I just came across your thread, good god man! Amazing rig/adventures! I just got a 2020 OffRoad Premium and am starting to dip my toe in the mods. I added a throttle control, upgraded the audio, remote start and I have a dometic fridge. I want to mount a slide and saw your post on your setup, have you still been happy with it? Also, I live in Utah and saw some posts that you had done, have any favorite trails/areas that you’d recommend? As far as Colorado goes, my wife and I are planning on coming out to the Estes Park area at the end of this month (August) for a concert at the Stanley. Have any recommendations for sites/hikes/OffRoad trails in the Estes/RMNP area? Any recommendations in regards to dispersed camping in the area? Killer thread and I hope to pick your brain more as I read back through all of the posts. If you come to Utah again hit me up!

 

Sorry for the super late reply, I’ve been crazy busy with moving and a new job. I’ve been very happy with my slide expect for 1 thing, it doesn’t latch when extended. It latches stowed away but if you pull it out, depending on the angle your parked it can sometimes try to slide back in via gravity, which sucks when it starts to move back and the lid bonks you in the head. I haven’t actually been to Utah, my multiple planned trips always seem to get messed up and not happen. I don’t have any particular recommendations for CO, anywhere in the mountains is filled with hidden gems. Maybe look at fire maps and avoid recent burn areas, they will be pretty barren. Sorry I missed responding before your Estes trip.

 

I’m like 100 pictures behind at this point, I’ve been so busy. But here’s a preview of what’s to come….

 

Congrats on the new job, and better you than me when it comes to moving. Look forward to seeing how much the little guy has grown this summer.

 

This back over Father’s Day weekend.

Stopping for bbq then camping

 

Another mid summer trip that resulted in snow



Snow in a bottle science experiments


He brought with some socks for his puppies to use as sleeping bags


where we were camping


Snuggled up watching a movie while I made breakfast





Heading home

 

Exploring

 

Stopped at a place for Ciders on the way to getting my oldest son to take him to Top Fuel.









These 2 faces sum up Gavin’s first experience with Top Fuel cars.

First is the look of terror on his face from a pair of 11,000 horse power blown nitromethane dragsters come by and you realize just how loud a thing can actually be… (fun fact - a pair of top fuel cars were once measured at the starting line during a race and they shook the ground enough to register as a 2.3 earthquake on the Richter Scale).

The next face was the reaction after the initial shock of a vehicle being so loud that it blurs your vision and shakes your guts as it passes by and it slowly starts sinking in how awesome that was.

 

Hotel on the water, distillery, and road trip

 

We had a bachelor party ATV trip



























It took 3 side by sides with winches too get Jamie out lol




And a rare occurrence, a picture of me.

 

Mountain top picnic



And a trip to the island














That’s the boat my girlfriend built from scratch


We went for a cruise around the island


This was me swimming out to the airboat anchored in deeper water.