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My wife and I were invited to a wedding a month ago in Golden Colorado, so I did what any logical Bronco owner would do, I planned a weeklong adventure in Colorado. I hesitate to call it overland because it wasn’t truly overlanding, but we did more than many "overlanders" do (with a whole lot less gear) so who cares! A friend of mine had planned to join us for the whole trip with his ZR2, but unfortunately, he got held up by a discovery on the drive out of a contaminated CV joint. Fortunately, he was able to get a replacement installed and join us for the last couple days of our adventure. (Build details here)
Quick overview of the itinerary:
Sep-22 (Friday): Left Michigan
Sep-23: Arrive at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Camp in the dispersed area just after crossing Medano Pass.
Sep-24: Hike at Great Sand Dunes NP, then drive up to St. Elmo and take Tin Cup pass, then head to Crested Butte and find dispersed camping.
Sep-25: Go on an epic alpine mountain bike ride in Crested Butte
Sep-26: Take Schofield Pass (Devils Punchbowl) trail over to Marble, come back to Crested Butte via Kebler Pass for camping.
Sep-27: Take Pearl Pass from Crested Butte to Aspen. Explore Aspen before finding dispersed camping up Lincoln Creek Rd.
Sep-28: Drive to Leadville via scenic Independence Pass, cross Mosquito Pass and beyond to find dispersed camping on the way to Hwy 60.
Sep-29: Dive up Hwy 60 to the start of Red Cone/Webster Pass. Take Red Cone and continue on to Keystone to cap off the trip before heading to Golden for the wedding (Sep 30).
Sep-30: After the wedding, head home late and drive through the night. Back to Michigan Sunday evening.
To kick things off, I am a big fan of avoiding expressways when you are on an adventure. They add a lot of value to getting to places quickly but try to get off them and take back roads as soon as its practical. We dropped off I-80 at Kearney Nebraska and took a more meandering route all the way down to Medano Pass (Great Sand Dunes NP). We crossed countless small farm communities, a minor mountain range and one beautiful remote mountain pass before entering the national park, where most people's adventures would begin. You have to drag your google maps waypoints kicking and screaming to take the back way, but often the time penalty is less than expected and the sense of freedom is oh-so worth it.
Medano Pass was absolutely the way I recommend anyone enter the National Park, at least coming from east of the Rockies. It is not difficult; the views are incredible, and you get the perspective of the sand dunes rising into view in the mountain valley as you descend into the park.
After a hike up the dunes and a lunch break, we pounded the pavement (thankfully no expressway) up to St. Elmo, for the sole purpose of driving over Tin Cup Pass. Certainly, this was not the most direct route to Crested Butte, but I tried my best to take every documented trail I could if it could accomplish part of my route semi-productively.
Tin Cup was a bit more rugged than I expected, the only footage I had watched before was from TFL. This led me to believe it was a glorified forest service road, but it was surprisingly rocky, enough that I would highly recommend airing down for comfort alone. There is an unexpected split in the trail where you can take the common route, or a route called "Old Tin Cup" I of course took the optional route, and it was surprisingly hard core. I think it would pose a challenge climbing, but luckily, I was descending. Unfortunately, I did not get any good drone footage of this pass.
Our first adventure in Crested Butte was an Alpine Mountain Bike Ride on trail 401. A legendary trail from the OG days of the sport. Shout out to my wife who carried our 1-year-old daughter on her back most of the way up, thankfully most of the elevation gain for the loop is along Schofield pass road so we could casually make our way up. I took our daughter on my back once the actual mountain bike trail started (at the pass). Unfortunately, the first mile or so of the actual trail 401 was a climb up to over 11,000 feet. I'm not in bad shape, but I'm no Olympian either, safe to say I walked basically that entire climb. Only once the trail went flat or down, was I able to actually "mountain bike". The trail itself is actually pretty tame as far as Colorado Black Diamonds go. I think a Blue/Black would have been more appropriate, but that could have also been because I was intentionally riding very conservatively with my daughter on my back, rather than my usual habit of getting tires off the ground at every opportunity.
Our second day at Crested Butte we opted to take Schofield Pass trail all the way to Marble. We had planned to see Devils Punchbowl, Crystal Mill, and whatever Marble had to offer. The trial rating was only a 5/10, that may be appropriate for the objective obstacle difficulty, but it was scarier than any 7 or 8/10 trail I had ever done. In a SxS or an old jeep with a narrow trackwidth, the trail is a cake walk, but with my 0 offset wheels I had my tires at the edge of the trail kicking rocks loose on at least 2 occasions (caught on film) and probably a few more. As a natural thrill seeker, I am not easily made fearfully uncomfortable, but a good portion of this trail had me seriously reconsidering and regretting my choices, especially since I had brought my 1-year-old daughter with us. I mean this with full sincerity, do not take this trail with a full-size truck, or a midsize off-roader with positive offset wheels or long travel (or Raptor) suspension. There are other beautiful trails in the area that are much lower risk. It is just too narrow to risk a very wide or very long vehicle. Just check out this rental car that almost plummeted into the valley, and this was on a rather wide portion of the trail.
Also, even being a sucker for small quiet towns, Marble does not have much to offer unless you like hiking (I do). There is only one restaurant, it's just not quite the destination payoff I was expecting after our harrowing journey. We found a nice hike, and then grabbed coffee down the road at Redstone before heading back to Crested Butte (via Kebler pass) to camp for the night. (check out the wildfire smoke in the distance)
Wednesday our plan was to head to Aspen via either Pearl Pass or Taylor Pass. I decided to get a recommendation at the local bike shop (as to which is better for wheeling) and they leaned slightly in favor of Pearl Pass, so that’s what we did.
Pearl Pass was probably the highlight of our trip in terms of stunning views. Our pictures and videos doesn’t begin to do it justice. The trail had a bit more technical difficulty than Devils Punchbowl, but the shelf road sections didn’t seem quite as narrow. The exposure was much higher as we neared the pass, so I was definitely still white knuckling but at all times I had at least 6" to the edge of the trail. The trail was quiet too, I get the feeling that if I took Taylor pass I would have been bombarded by SxS's from all around, but Pearl was nice and quiet, we only saw a trio of 4runners on the south side and a couple jeeps near the end of the trail on the north side, and thankfully no-one near the top where the shelf road makes passing practically impossible.
We killed some time at Aspen checking out the local shops and coffee/icecream, very cool to see it in the summer, previously I had only ever seen it in the winter. A little rich for my blood if I'm honest. At this point in our Trip, Seth had finished repairing his half shaft on the ZR2 and was en route to meet us at camp just outside of Aspen later that evening. There is a lot of dispersed camping up the valley along Lincoln Creek road. We found a beautiful spot near a waterfall.
Thursday we set out (with Seth) to Leadville along hwy 82. I tried to avoid pavement as much as possible on this trip, but hwy 82 over independence pass is a worthy exception. Once in Leadville we turned east to hook up with Mosquito Pass. This was probably our tamest pass, only a 4/10 rating, but it still has some exposed shelf road and mild rocky obstacles. A good entry level for these mountain pass trails with beautiful views and some cool abandoned mines to check out along the way. Fun fact, the 33" KO2's on the ZR2 are my OEM 33's from the Bronco. Glad they get to keep up the legacy of adventuring!
(Trail-side inspection)
We had planned to camp at Kite lake that night, but once up there we realized there was absolutely no tree-cover, and the prior week had already taught us that nights above 9,500 ft were getting bitter cold, and Kite lake was almost 12,000 ft. We took short hike and decided to head back down and find dispersed camping somewhere along the way to hwy 60. With no luck, and different campground closures, we settled for Timberline Campground which was empty apart from us and a single 5th-wheel.
Unsurprisingly Red Cone was the second highlight of the trip. In many ways it was the most enjoyable trail, we had a buddy with us, and the obstacles were actually pretty hard core if you chose to take the harder lines. The views were also spectacular once we got up on the ridge. The bright red side of Red Cone is something to behold, and the fact that the trail runs right over it is so cool, it embodies what makes Colorado such a special place. (Blurry photos below are snipped from video)
As you can see in the video (links below), I didn’t really wait for any spotting on the trail. Spotting wasn’t really necessary with lockers and 37's but it probably would have saved me from some unnecessary undercarriage scraping. Eventually, somewhere near the top of the trail, my rowdiness and intentional non-dodging of boulders on the trail cost me my right rear shock reservoir. I was able to complete the trail, and thankfully we were sticking to pavement for the remainder of the trip, but it would have been avoided by more conservative driving and aftermarket shock shields. It's not just about the cost of the shock for me (after all this was just an excuse for me to upgrade) but these trails are a gift and dumping a shocks worth of damper fluid out at the top of our pristine mountain ecosystems is not a good example of stewardship, so please learn from my mistake, don’t unnecessarily plow over boulders unless you dress accordingly.
We capped off the adventure with late lunch in Keystone before parting ways. My buddy continued on to do some more wheeling and hiking and we headed down to golden for the wedding the following day.
Overall, we had a blast, and I am thankful that our vehicle damage was limited to just our rear shock. I am also thankful we were able to add in a mix of hiking and biking so that we didn’t feel too trapped in the Bronco over the course of the week. I also want to give a shout-out to MAXXIS, the Trepadors performed phenomenally. I never felt like I lacked traction or comfort, and most critically when on the narrow shelf roads where I kept one tire basically on the inner wall to maximize my space at the edge, I was constantly rubbing tires against rough and ragged rocks and didn’t sustain any sidewall damage.
Quick overview of the itinerary:
Sep-22 (Friday): Left Michigan
Sep-23: Arrive at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Camp in the dispersed area just after crossing Medano Pass.
Sep-24: Hike at Great Sand Dunes NP, then drive up to St. Elmo and take Tin Cup pass, then head to Crested Butte and find dispersed camping.
Sep-25: Go on an epic alpine mountain bike ride in Crested Butte
Sep-26: Take Schofield Pass (Devils Punchbowl) trail over to Marble, come back to Crested Butte via Kebler Pass for camping.
Sep-27: Take Pearl Pass from Crested Butte to Aspen. Explore Aspen before finding dispersed camping up Lincoln Creek Rd.
Sep-28: Drive to Leadville via scenic Independence Pass, cross Mosquito Pass and beyond to find dispersed camping on the way to Hwy 60.
Sep-29: Dive up Hwy 60 to the start of Red Cone/Webster Pass. Take Red Cone and continue on to Keystone to cap off the trip before heading to Golden for the wedding (Sep 30).
Sep-30: After the wedding, head home late and drive through the night. Back to Michigan Sunday evening.
To kick things off, I am a big fan of avoiding expressways when you are on an adventure. They add a lot of value to getting to places quickly but try to get off them and take back roads as soon as its practical. We dropped off I-80 at Kearney Nebraska and took a more meandering route all the way down to Medano Pass (Great Sand Dunes NP). We crossed countless small farm communities, a minor mountain range and one beautiful remote mountain pass before entering the national park, where most people's adventures would begin. You have to drag your google maps waypoints kicking and screaming to take the back way, but often the time penalty is less than expected and the sense of freedom is oh-so worth it.
Medano Pass was absolutely the way I recommend anyone enter the National Park, at least coming from east of the Rockies. It is not difficult; the views are incredible, and you get the perspective of the sand dunes rising into view in the mountain valley as you descend into the park.
After a hike up the dunes and a lunch break, we pounded the pavement (thankfully no expressway) up to St. Elmo, for the sole purpose of driving over Tin Cup Pass. Certainly, this was not the most direct route to Crested Butte, but I tried my best to take every documented trail I could if it could accomplish part of my route semi-productively.
Tin Cup was a bit more rugged than I expected, the only footage I had watched before was from TFL. This led me to believe it was a glorified forest service road, but it was surprisingly rocky, enough that I would highly recommend airing down for comfort alone. There is an unexpected split in the trail where you can take the common route, or a route called "Old Tin Cup" I of course took the optional route, and it was surprisingly hard core. I think it would pose a challenge climbing, but luckily, I was descending. Unfortunately, I did not get any good drone footage of this pass.
Our first adventure in Crested Butte was an Alpine Mountain Bike Ride on trail 401. A legendary trail from the OG days of the sport. Shout out to my wife who carried our 1-year-old daughter on her back most of the way up, thankfully most of the elevation gain for the loop is along Schofield pass road so we could casually make our way up. I took our daughter on my back once the actual mountain bike trail started (at the pass). Unfortunately, the first mile or so of the actual trail 401 was a climb up to over 11,000 feet. I'm not in bad shape, but I'm no Olympian either, safe to say I walked basically that entire climb. Only once the trail went flat or down, was I able to actually "mountain bike". The trail itself is actually pretty tame as far as Colorado Black Diamonds go. I think a Blue/Black would have been more appropriate, but that could have also been because I was intentionally riding very conservatively with my daughter on my back, rather than my usual habit of getting tires off the ground at every opportunity.
Our second day at Crested Butte we opted to take Schofield Pass trail all the way to Marble. We had planned to see Devils Punchbowl, Crystal Mill, and whatever Marble had to offer. The trial rating was only a 5/10, that may be appropriate for the objective obstacle difficulty, but it was scarier than any 7 or 8/10 trail I had ever done. In a SxS or an old jeep with a narrow trackwidth, the trail is a cake walk, but with my 0 offset wheels I had my tires at the edge of the trail kicking rocks loose on at least 2 occasions (caught on film) and probably a few more. As a natural thrill seeker, I am not easily made fearfully uncomfortable, but a good portion of this trail had me seriously reconsidering and regretting my choices, especially since I had brought my 1-year-old daughter with us. I mean this with full sincerity, do not take this trail with a full-size truck, or a midsize off-roader with positive offset wheels or long travel (or Raptor) suspension. There are other beautiful trails in the area that are much lower risk. It is just too narrow to risk a very wide or very long vehicle. Just check out this rental car that almost plummeted into the valley, and this was on a rather wide portion of the trail.
Also, even being a sucker for small quiet towns, Marble does not have much to offer unless you like hiking (I do). There is only one restaurant, it's just not quite the destination payoff I was expecting after our harrowing journey. We found a nice hike, and then grabbed coffee down the road at Redstone before heading back to Crested Butte (via Kebler pass) to camp for the night. (check out the wildfire smoke in the distance)
Wednesday our plan was to head to Aspen via either Pearl Pass or Taylor Pass. I decided to get a recommendation at the local bike shop (as to which is better for wheeling) and they leaned slightly in favor of Pearl Pass, so that’s what we did.
Pearl Pass was probably the highlight of our trip in terms of stunning views. Our pictures and videos doesn’t begin to do it justice. The trail had a bit more technical difficulty than Devils Punchbowl, but the shelf road sections didn’t seem quite as narrow. The exposure was much higher as we neared the pass, so I was definitely still white knuckling but at all times I had at least 6" to the edge of the trail. The trail was quiet too, I get the feeling that if I took Taylor pass I would have been bombarded by SxS's from all around, but Pearl was nice and quiet, we only saw a trio of 4runners on the south side and a couple jeeps near the end of the trail on the north side, and thankfully no-one near the top where the shelf road makes passing practically impossible.
We killed some time at Aspen checking out the local shops and coffee/icecream, very cool to see it in the summer, previously I had only ever seen it in the winter. A little rich for my blood if I'm honest. At this point in our Trip, Seth had finished repairing his half shaft on the ZR2 and was en route to meet us at camp just outside of Aspen later that evening. There is a lot of dispersed camping up the valley along Lincoln Creek road. We found a beautiful spot near a waterfall.
Thursday we set out (with Seth) to Leadville along hwy 82. I tried to avoid pavement as much as possible on this trip, but hwy 82 over independence pass is a worthy exception. Once in Leadville we turned east to hook up with Mosquito Pass. This was probably our tamest pass, only a 4/10 rating, but it still has some exposed shelf road and mild rocky obstacles. A good entry level for these mountain pass trails with beautiful views and some cool abandoned mines to check out along the way. Fun fact, the 33" KO2's on the ZR2 are my OEM 33's from the Bronco. Glad they get to keep up the legacy of adventuring!
(Trail-side inspection)
We had planned to camp at Kite lake that night, but once up there we realized there was absolutely no tree-cover, and the prior week had already taught us that nights above 9,500 ft were getting bitter cold, and Kite lake was almost 12,000 ft. We took short hike and decided to head back down and find dispersed camping somewhere along the way to hwy 60. With no luck, and different campground closures, we settled for Timberline Campground which was empty apart from us and a single 5th-wheel.
Unsurprisingly Red Cone was the second highlight of the trip. In many ways it was the most enjoyable trail, we had a buddy with us, and the obstacles were actually pretty hard core if you chose to take the harder lines. The views were also spectacular once we got up on the ridge. The bright red side of Red Cone is something to behold, and the fact that the trail runs right over it is so cool, it embodies what makes Colorado such a special place. (Blurry photos below are snipped from video)
As you can see in the video (links below), I didn’t really wait for any spotting on the trail. Spotting wasn’t really necessary with lockers and 37's but it probably would have saved me from some unnecessary undercarriage scraping. Eventually, somewhere near the top of the trail, my rowdiness and intentional non-dodging of boulders on the trail cost me my right rear shock reservoir. I was able to complete the trail, and thankfully we were sticking to pavement for the remainder of the trip, but it would have been avoided by more conservative driving and aftermarket shock shields. It's not just about the cost of the shock for me (after all this was just an excuse for me to upgrade) but these trails are a gift and dumping a shocks worth of damper fluid out at the top of our pristine mountain ecosystems is not a good example of stewardship, so please learn from my mistake, don’t unnecessarily plow over boulders unless you dress accordingly.
We capped off the adventure with late lunch in Keystone before parting ways. My buddy continued on to do some more wheeling and hiking and we headed down to golden for the wedding the following day.
Overall, we had a blast, and I am thankful that our vehicle damage was limited to just our rear shock. I am also thankful we were able to add in a mix of hiking and biking so that we didn’t feel too trapped in the Bronco over the course of the week. I also want to give a shout-out to MAXXIS, the Trepadors performed phenomenally. I never felt like I lacked traction or comfort, and most critically when on the narrow shelf roads where I kept one tire basically on the inner wall to maximize my space at the edge, I was constantly rubbing tires against rough and ragged rocks and didn’t sustain any sidewall damage.
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