I began my visit at the tail end of the FJ National Summit, meeting several from this forum including Lance and Frogeye. I also met our Alpenglow neighbor MuddyGrrl and her husband, Missed ya FJOllie! The FJ'ers had quite a party going on the south end of town; I doubt many in Ouray could sleep with all that racket
. By 6 am Sunday morning I heard a rumble of FJ's heading up to Main Street to take part in the 110+ vehicle photo shoot between 6th and 5th. I wandered out, took some shots (seen in a followup post). A local shop reported that 350 FJ's ultimately made the Summit, with about 100 party-crashers. For our 5th annual Touareg Rally, we limited our group to only 22 - keeps us free cost, allows us to trail together at our own will, with no need to deal with BLM, Forest Service, etc. I really do admire the size and effort put into the FJ Summit - lots of support there - and the live band - killer! but I do appreciate the smaller group.
Sunday - As the FJ's packed up for their exit out of town, our Touaregs began arriving. A handful of early birds went out on the trail Sunday, setting aim for Corkscrew and then a visit to a mine in Ross Basin. We made a run up a trail that once connected with the Sunnyside Saddle and found slides and a snowfield instead. It was a short day, since we had to get back for the welcome party. Once back, we discovered the TRD Orange Hauler was parked immediately outside out HQ for the week, literally walling off our area. Ouray Realty had been working on the problem all day and several of us got into the act. The drivers were finally located and drove the hauler back across the street to the Comfort Inn as many of our Touaregs were arriving. I kinda wish it remained since we could have parked all our Touaregs around the hauler and sent a photo to VW as a 'thought of the day'.... I wish they would give us as much third-party support as Toyota does for the FJ group.
Monday - we split our groups, with one doing the Alpine Loop from Engineers around; the other doing Corkscrew-Hurricane-California around - all of us meeting for lunch at our Animas lunch area downhill from the ghost town. We had to do a bit of trail repair as our spot had not been visited since the winter. Despite the reports, most of us felt the trails were in better shape than last year. There was some snow covering the Poughkeepsie near Lake Como we investigated - then following the rule - if no tracks, dont try it yourself. Even with the V10 TDI, crossing snow would be a challenge given the slickness and elevation.
Tuesday - our groups split and did Imogene Pass. I had a parking mishap after one of the mid-mountain water crossings when I shut off the car after returning from a waterfall hike. Car was still in gear - idling on hill-hold, and when the hydraulics turned off, it rolled 15 ft back into the creek. Fortunately just a broken reflector, some wood stuffed into the tailpipe, and a slightly tweaked door. Lesson to be learned - always deploy parking brake even if you think you are on a flat spot. I feel damn lucky - but then I know I would not have been so lax if it was a higher hill. Still - always! There was a fun obstacle higher up in a gap that challenged everyone including the jeeps and rovers ahead of us. A gathering spectator group was up the hill. Once we found the easy line, most everyone in the group moved right up. Storming on top of Imogene, some headed back, others lunched at Tomboy, and others like me went down to Telluride.
Tuesday Night - I got a chance to drive a fully loaded Touareg V10 Turbo Diesel (MSRP $77,800) provided as demo by VW. Just awesome power. I did some "Power-Braking" on Highway 550 - hold the brakes, spool up to 2000 RPM, then unload - doing a 5-6 second 0-60 Mph in a 6000 lb vehicle is something ungodly - - and it still competently does 4 Low with two lockers and air susp. The Adaptive Cruise Control was also impressive - radar on the nose slows and matches your vehicle to the speed of the car ahead, variable distance settings. Along with regular cruise, you can pretty much leave your fuel feed alone while cruising highways and traffic. The car also had collision avoidance (Euro-only option) that provided quite a thrill for one of our members driving the thing up from Denver - threading the needle betwen cars at 100 Mph, the car saw the approach speed and slammed him down to 40 mph in a heartbeat. Noted, he turned that damn option off! In general, the V10 TDI has such a clean, quick power band (550 ft-lb mod able to 700+, 18:1 compression) that running up past 100 mph is effortless, and a bit spooky. I think it tops at 160. Several of us are queuing up to get the V6 Turbo Diesel next year, a more appropriate and robust offroad /tow vehicle for the non-Autobahn US with 30 MPG range - and a heck of a better MSRP (around 41k base)
Wednesday - off day, had a blind wine tasting party that night. Wild Horse Chardonnay, Veramonte Cab, and Glen Eldon Shiraz were the top picks out of 14 unmarked bottles.
Thursday - Yankee Boy / Governor Basin. We did both areas. Governor had snow over the trail near the top so several hiked the last 1/4 mile. On Yankee Boy, one of our members decided to go for it on an upper snow mound, then retreated, then promptly got tangled up on a caving ledge, soft mud, and snow with not much room to do a proper tow-strap. We ended up pulling him out with one of our member V10's, the nose anchored to a large boulder up the hill. After the pull, he ended up dislodging the boulder just with his V8.
Friday - Went to American Basin for the wildflower bloom via Silverton and Cinnamon Pass. On the way back we decided to explore Stony Pass only to make a nav error half way up and instead exploring Buffalo Boy Tramhouse. What a place! Its an old 1870's tramway still mostly intact (though not sound) at the 12,550 ft elevation. In the drizzzling clouds and cold temps, it was a perfect way to end the week.
Saturday - Sunday - Went south via Gallup NM, visited La Posada Hotel in Winslow. La Posada is a beautifully restored 1929 Harvey House hotel fully designed by Mary Colter in downtown Winslow. Worth an hour long visit and perhaps a meal at the Turquoise Room. Many Hollywood and Business types made it a hideaway in the 1930's.
Ok, the Pix!
My Touareg on Engineers
Imogene Pass
Governor Basin
Buffalo Boy Tramway
Animas side of California Pass
Lake Como from California Pass
Imogene Pass
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