After a sweltering couple of days this past summer camping and offroading in Moab, heading to the cooler, thinner air of Colorado was just what I needed. I was meeting up with a bunch of friends at the FJ Summit, an annual gathering of FJ Cruiser and other Toyota 4×4 enthusiasts held in Ouray, nestled in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. This event is big in the Toyota world with hundred of attendees, bigtime sponsors, and is professionally run with a great staff.
Toyota FJs (and 4Runners) line up in downtown Ouray for a photo following FJ Summit #7 this past July
I rolled into Ouray late on a Wednesday afternoon with a freshly installed power steering pump and a hurting wallet (see my other post about breaking stuff in Moab…). My home for the next 4 nights was a shared campsite with Dave at the Ouray KOA. Not a super-adverturey location, but a practical one to partake in the FJ Summit festivities and to get to the abundant nearby trails.
Of course, as I went about setting up my “tent-mahal” at the KOA, the overcast skies unleashed their wrath on me. We are talking biblical rain, hail, close lightning, as flash flood rolling around/under my partially assembled campsite. I gave up and sat soaking wet in the truck until the storm passed. After the camp setup fiasco, things started looking up. For the next several days, the rain and hail rolled through like clockwork; usually right at mealtime at the Summit’s central meeting point.
Daily Deluge at the Summit
The long weekend was action packed and the FJ Summit events and sponsors were awesome, but the real stars of Ouray are the incredible mountain-pass trails; several solid days worth of them. I had been to Ouray the year before so I’d already run most of the trails, but the views from Summits over 12,000ft, as well as the adrenaline from driving narrow shelf roads with steep drop-offs is something I’ll gladly repeat without a second thought.
Some of the highlights of the trip:
Getting the leg-shake while doing three point turns on the Black Bear Trail switchbacks (a sheer drop off of certain death will do that!). Check out the great videos recorded by friends Dave and John on the way down; they really capture what it feels like to do the descent.
Black Bear Pass Descent (Front Facing from GoPro on John’s 4Runner)
Black Bear Pass Descent (Rear Facing from GoPro on Dave’s 4Runner)
Going back over the mountain from Telluride to Ouray by way of Imogene Pass, and checking the mail at the summit (nothing in there but a Val Pak).
Waiting forever in a long line of trucks to attempt “the wall” on Poughkeepsie Gulch, and then climbing it in one try (Like a Boss!)
Winching a French couple’s rental Chevy Equinox from the edge of a sheer dropoff on Hurricane Pass and making sure they got safely on their way.
Enjoying the panoramic views from the Summits along the way on the Alpine Loop.
Milkshakes and Scrap Cookies (Daily!) from Delicious Mouses Chocolates on the Main Drag in Ouray.
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