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Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted

grimmjeeper

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When I'm in Moab I air down for the week. When it comes time to leave, I go to the Shell gas station south of town and use their big compressor to air up my tires. They support us so I tend to do business with them when I can.
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Dkretden

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When I'm in Moab I air down for the week. When it comes time to leave, I go to the Shell gas station south of town and use their big compressor to air up my tires. They support us so I tend to do business with them when I can.
There is also a Texaco as part of Canyonlands Store and RV park about square in the middle of Moab on the east side of the road. They too have “fast and free” air. I went a couple of times for gas and air….. Nice folks there.
 
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All right !! Good to know about the pressure !!

I'll check where those two are . I just aired them up at the gasstation at the City Market . My little compressure that I have with me does 20 minutes at least to do the job , and I think he stopped now because of the heat .... 😂

Anyway , new day , new adventure
Today we did the Corona Arch hike , and then the Tusher tunnel trail , the Hidden Canyon trail, and than the Willow Springs trail into Arches NP .
Aired down , in 4H , my confidence is 100 % , and all went smoothly , sometimes slow but safe . The Jeep can do more than I knew !!
The scenery is amazing . Years ago we passed in Moab as a European tourist in a rental Ford Fusion . But when you drive litteraly in the scenary , it is unbelievebale beautiful.

Jeep Wrangler JL Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted Tusher tunnel.JPG


But ....

On the Willow Spring trail , there were 3 Rubicons behind me, faster . I let them pass . At the last dinosaur parking spot before the entrance of the park, they stopped .
So, I passed them again .
A few hundred yards further , there were these rock pieces, were I stopped , got out and checked how I would get over them. So , I was parked on the first part. Off course these 3 Rubicon 'drivers' with girlfriend didn't even stop , just gave a lot of gas and drove over these rocks like it was the I-70. I think it were rental Rubicons because the fifth tire was not the same as the other 4 . Maybe they wanted to impress me and there girlfriends , by driving over this part like a race car . I did the two finger sign to them, but there was 'no return' . I don't care , but it strengthen my thoughts that these were rentals . What if I had 'a problem' ? Would they stop and ask if they could help ?
Selfish idiots , my wife called them ...
When I arrived at Balanced Rock , they were not there , but If they were , I 'm the guy that would go to them and tell them my view of there behavior . I 'm the guy , that if pushed , I would tel guys that .... and I know you need to be the smartest in that but, that is not easy ...

It's no big deal, it is just a few seconds of 'not so funny' on another beautiful day !

Thanks to all of you for your expertise and tips !!
Tomorrow , I let my son drive the Onion Creek trail , we'll see where the day will bring us . In the evening we booked a trip with an ATV to do Fins and things. He wanted to drive a buggy like that once !! So there we go .
 
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Drytellsr

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All right !! Good to know about the pressure !!

I'll check where those two are . I just aired them up at the gasstation at the City Market . My little compressure that I have with me does 20 minutes at least to do the job , and I think he stopped now because of the heat .... 😂

Anyway , new day , new adventure
Today we did the Corona Arch hike , and then the Tusher tunnel trail , the Hidden Canyon trail, and than the Willow Springs trail into Arches NP .
Aired down , in 4H , my confidence is 100 % , and all went smoothly , sometimes slow but safe . The Jeep can do more than I knew !!
The scenery is amazing . Years ago we passed in Moab as a European tourist in a rental Ford Fusion . But when you drive litteraly in the scenary , it is unbelievebale beautiful.

Jeep Wrangler JL Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted Tusher tunnel.JPG


But ....

On the Willow Spring trail , there were 3 Rubicons behind me, faster . I let them pass . At the last dinosaur parking spot before the entrance of the park, they stopped .
So, I passed them again .
A few hundred yards further , there were these rock pieces, were I stopped , got out and checked how I would get over them. So , I was parked on the first part. Off course these 3 Rubicon 'drivers' with girlfriend didn't even stop , just gave a lot of gas and drove over these rocks like it was the I-70. I think it were rental Rubicons because the fifth tire was not the same as the other 4 . Maybe they wanted to impress me and there girlfriends , by driving over this part like a race car . I did the two finger sign to them, but there was 'no return' . I don't care , but it strengthen my thoughts that these were rentals . What if I had 'a problem' ? Would they stop and ask if they could help ?
Selfish idiots , my wife called them ...
When I arrived at Balanced Rock , they were not there , but If they were , I 'm the guy that would go to them and tell them my view of there behavior . I 'm the guy , that if pushed , I would tel guys that .... and I know you need to be the smartest in that but, that is not easy ...

It's no big deal, it is just a few seconds of 'not so funny' on another beautiful day !

Thanks to all of you for your expertise and tips !!
Tomorrow , I let my son drive the Onion Creek trail , we'll see where the day will bring us . In the evening we booked a trip with an ATV to do Fins and things. He wanted to drive a buggy like that once !! So there we go .
Your probably right about them being Rentals don't let that ruin your trip.
 
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Next chapter in Moab,

We did the Onion Creek trail , very beautiful, very smoothly , enjoyed the view , and crossed the river , with water in it 54 times 😂
In the evening we did fins and things with an UTV . AMAZING !! My son drove and he was very exited and loved it , but guys , really , do that with my stock Willys ?? I don't think I can !!
We did stuff with that small UTV, not normal , they stick to the rock !! Amazing !!

Texaco in Moab, free air up hose , very quick ! ;) But no gauge , you have to check in your dashboard how high the pressure is.
Tomorrow , we leave Moab for Bluff, with a 150 mi detour to Goblin Valley and another Park between Hanksville and Bluff .

After Moab , our confidence driving off road in the car and ourselves has definitely increased. It were all easy trails , but that's OK for us . It was amazing !

THX again to all of you , that took time to read this and left tips and DO's and DONT's .

Thx again !!!
 

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Ridgway Jeeper

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You would be amazed at what your stock Willy's can do. Fins and Things would be easily do-able in your Jeep. I have led groups of newbies in stock rigs over that trail numerous times. Probably best you didn't try Hells Revenge if Fins n Things spooked you. There is virtually nothing that buggy could do that your Jeep couldn't despite what some think. Kind of a shame you couldn't connect with someone experienced out there. If your son liked Fins, he would have gone nuts for a day on Hells Revenge in the Jeep.

Glad you are enjoying the adventure!
 
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You would be amazed at what your stock Willy's can do. Fins and Things would be easily do-able in your Jeep. I have led groups of newbies in stock rigs over that trail numerous times. Probably best you didn't try Hells Revenge if Fins n Things spooked you. There is virtually nothing that buggy could do that your Jeep couldn't despite what some think. Kind of a shame you couldn't connect with someone experienced out there. If your son liked Fins, he would have gone nuts for a day on Hells Revenge in the Jeep.

Glad you are enjoying the adventure!
The Jeep amazed me already . It' s doing great :)

We arrived in Ouray today.
Left this morning in Cortez , the 145 to Telluride, and walked around. Then took the Last Dollar Road to the 62 and into Ridgway. Maybe I passed at your driveway :)

The moment we arrived in Ouray it started to rain . I checked the weather forecast and the next days it should be dry.
Tomorrow , I air down the tires and we do the Red Mountain Mining Road , Ophir pass and then the 145 and 62 back to Ridgway and Ouray .
 

Ridgway Jeeper

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The Jeep amazed me already . It' s doing great :)

We arrived in Ouray today.
Left this morning in Cortez , the 145 to Telluride, and walked around. Then took the Last Dollar Road to the 62 and into Ridgway. Maybe I passed at your driveway :)

The moment we arrived in Ouray it started to rain . I checked the weather forecast and the next days it should be dry.
Tomorrow , I air down the tires and we do the Red Mountain Mining Road , Ophir pass and then the 145 and 62 back to Ridgway and Ouray .
I would not recommend airing down your tires for that trip. You have probably 1.5 hrs on the highway to get back to Ouray from Ophir and much of Hwy 62 requires 60 mph. Neither of the trails on your list today will offer much off road challenge but much beautiful scenery.
 

Ridgway Jeeper

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My recommended route would be from Ouray over Imogene, then to Ophir over the pass to Hwy 550 and back to Ouray. You could still hit the short loop through Red Mtn town. This you could air down for, the road sections are much shorter and lower speed.

Or drive the highway to Ophir, air down there, come over the pass and do Red Mtn town loop on the way back to Ouray. I like Ophir pass from the Ophir side better, that way the steep shelf road section is a climb rather than a descent. That is typically more comfortable for people.

Probably too late, you may not read this before you set off. Enjoy the area at any rate!
 
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My recommended route would be from Ouray over Imogene, then to Ophir over the pass to Hwy 550 and back to Ouray. You could still hit the short loop through Red Mtn town. This you could air down for, the road sections are much shorter and lower speed.

Or drive the highway to Ophir, air down there, come over the pass and do Red Mtn town loop on the way back to Ouray. I like Ophir pass from the Ophir side better, that way the steep shelf road section is a climb rather than a descent. That is typically more comfortable for people.

Probably too late, you may not read this before you set off. Enjoy the area at any rate!
Hello,

Yep , didn't read it until an hour ago ... :) :)

But we had an amazing trip !! Beautiful views !!
Aired down to 28/29 psi at the start of Red Mtn Road, left it so till I got back in Ouray . Drove 45 mph on the street after Ophir into Telluride and further to the 62 into Ridgway and Ouray . I stopped a few times to let the 'normal' , faster cars pass ... :blush::blush:
I talked to a few Jeep Rubicon drivers at the Yankee Girl Mine and they all said , 28/29 is OK , even for the normal road , but don't drive 65 or so . But there wasn't a lot of traffic .... so all good here !!:):)

I didn't air up today , left it like this for tomorrow . We'll discuss over diner which tour we do tomorrow ....

I must admit that I drove slow and carefully , I let faster Jeeps pass . The last 100 yards before the top of Ophir and the 1 mile after it , where a bit stressy .... but for my feeling , I did good . There was another Jeep a few 100 meters after me and he didn't came closer until we were in the woods. I drove that part fully in 4L and with the hill descent aid on . It was slow , but it went good .
Wife was a bit scared though , lucky she was on the mountain side there ....
:)

Ended the day on the roof top bar at the corner of 6th Ave ( when you come very often in Manhattan, that is a weird name for that street 😂😂 ) with a drink !!
Great lookout for passing people and cars .....;)

Jeep Wrangler JL Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted Jeep Ophir Pass.JPG
Jeep Wrangler JL Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted Yankee Girl Mine.JPG
 

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Thank you OP! This is a great thread! Perfect for others who have not taken a trip like this and are new to this.

I started a thread for beginners asking for advice. A mod moved my thread to this section. I am glad I found your thread.

A friend is trying to plan a trip like this with his family. I forward this thread to them. They just bought a new JLU and have 2 kids. They would like to explore the great wilderness. I forwarded the location of your trip to them and they feel it's a location they want to add to their trip. They want to see National Parks along the way also. They are going to be driving from Michigan City Indiana area.

I am also a total newbie off road. I am taking notes for any future trips myself.

I sold my '19 JLR so I need to replace that with something first. I originally bought the Rubicon because it had options I really wanted that were exclusive to it back then. Not for the the rock crawling options but other options exclusive to the Rubicon. I would have considered a Willys but they were not available back when I ordered my '19 JLR. Now the Willys is available so I will take a look at it before deciding between another JLR or a 2-door Willy.

Question for the Jeepers who have done this trip? Any advice about the Willys and Rubicon for a beginner trip like this? I drive 90% on road, city streets, bumber to bumper traffic in Chicago. The 10% I drirve off road is to some remote locations for fishing. It's nice to be able to roll over rocks and logs to get to where I want to go. The Rubicon's extra height is nice but any Wrangler would probably get me to where I need to go fishing. I will want to leave either the Willys or Rubicon stock. Advice and suggestions?

Thanks again to everyone who is contributing to this great thread!
 

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Hello,

Yep , didn't read it until an hour ago ... :) :)

But we had an amazing trip !! Beautiful views !!
Aired down to 28/29 psi at the start of Red Mtn Road, left it so till I got back in Ouray . Drove 45 mph on the street after Ophir into Telluride and further to the 62 into Ridgway and Ouray . I stopped a few times to let the 'normal' , faster cars pass ... :blush::blush:
I talked to a few Jeep Rubicon drivers at the Yankee Girl Mine and they all said , 28/29 is OK , even for the normal road , but don't drive 65 or so . But there wasn't a lot of traffic .... so all good here !!:):)

I didn't air up today , left it like this for tomorrow . We'll discuss over diner which tour we do tomorrow ....

I must admit that I drove slow and carefully , I let faster Jeeps pass . The last 100 yards before the top of Ophir and the 1 mile after it , where a bit stressy .... but for my feeling , I did good . There was another Jeep a few 100 meters after me and he didn't came closer until we were in the woods. I drove that part fully in 4L and with the hill descent aid on . It was slow , but it went good .
Wife was a bit scared though , lucky she was on the mountain side there ....
:)

Ended the day on the roof top bar at the corner of 6th Ave ( when you come very often in Manhattan, that is a weird name for that street 😂😂 ) with a drink !!
Great lookout for passing people and cars .....;)

Jeep Ophir Pass.JPG
Yankee Girl Mine.JPG
Take notes and make suggestions for other beginners who plan to go after your trip to that area. Looking forward to reading more. Have a safe and fun trip!

Just finished reading the entire thread. Welcome back! :LOL:
 
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Situation :
Car : stock 2020 Wilys 2.0Ltr 4 door
Planned trip : Probably our one and only chance to do this during our 5 year stay in the US, with the Jeep I bought here and which I will take with me to Belgium in a few years.

In Moab we will be 4 full days Around Moab we will ( try to ) do the Shafer trail , Long Canyon Road , the Onion Creek and Thompson Canyon loop, Willow Springs Road and Tusher Tunnel.
In Ouray we will be 4 full days, the day of arrival in Ouray we planned to do the Last Dollar road
In the Ouray area it is planned to do Corkscrew Gulch, Hurrican Pass, Cinnamon Pass, Red Mountain Mining Area, Ophir Pass and maybe Engineer Pass ( starting from Animous Forks , not from the Mineral Creek departure. I'm a bit 'scared' of that part. It looks heavy in the beginning ).

These are all more or less 'easy ones' according to my 'guide books'.

Again, safety above all in these . I don't wanne have troubles with the car whatsoever. I checked out a lot of videos on youtube of jeeps doing these trails, and I believe I can do this too. I drove on roads like this with Military Vehicles in Kosovo , Lebanon, Bosnia and Afghanistan, but that is not with your own car , and with your family in it .

We are exited to go because it will probably our one and only time in our life that we can do it with our own car during our 5 year stay in the US.
So my questions to you as more experts than me are :
-do you guys have any other things that I should consider, need to know, or be aware off ? Apart from the heat, take water with you, take some tools ,....
-when I do this carefully , can my car do it ?

Little side note . I don't have a lift or other tires , because when I take the car to Belgium in a few years it is not allowed , period . I would never ever pass the inspection then for my Belgium license plates. That is why I want to be very careful , but still take the chance to do this 'adventure' .
If you decide to do Black Bear Pass you might think twice about it, make sure you have plenty of toilet tissue with you. I've ridden my dual spot motorcycles over most of those that you mentioned, my sister lived in Telluride for 30 years, I've been there may times.

trainman
 
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Part two of the Ouray days :

After the Ophir pass day we decided to stick to our plan and leave early to do Corkscrew Gulch , and Hurricane and see at Aniùal Forks if there is time left to do Engineer or Cinnamon to Lake City and than drive north over the normal roads back to Ouray . Could be a long day ...

But ....
When we arrived at the top ( two more switchbacks left ) of Corkscrew , there was a yellow vehicle flipped over on his right side . Nobody was presen,t exept an other person who came downhill with a Toyota. The road was not total blocked but it was very narrow to pass the vehicle and you had to do it on the side of the edge. My wife wouldn't risk it so after a few talks to other oncoming cars , we decided to turn around , drive to Silverton and come from the other direction. Which we did , but that shortened the plan by skipping Cinnamon and /or Engineer .
Jeep did awesome on that part we did , my confidence rose every hour . :)

The next day we did the box Canyon trail on foot , 🥴, and went for Yankee Boy Basin and the beginning of Imogene ( start at the Ouray side , but we turned after a while, because it started to rain ) .

So , time was up and we left on friday morning for our 2100 mile trip to New York. Slept in North Platte, NE and on saturday left for the last part ( one shot , one go from North Platte , NE ) . We arrived this afternoon home . Drove all night on red bull :). That thing actually works ....
Total miles driven on this trip : 5603 Mi ( will go for oil chance and tire rotation on 18000 mi on thursday )
It was an awesome trip for us !! And again , thx to all of you for the tips, tricks and recommendations .
The Jeep is an incredible car. We were astonished what it can do , and if you do it like I did , slowly and carefully, I'm sure it 'll bring you to every top in Ouray . But you can't have it all, there are so many other things to do and see in your country, so we need to do that too while we are here !!!
There is a chance that we go back in 2023 for the Engineer , Cinnamon and the Imogene . There are some other things on our huge list to see in Utah , like where the two trains met with the golden Spike , the salt lake racetrack ,.... Black bear is NO GO . We saw the house next to the waterfall at the end of the rail on the road in Tellurude ;).
Zion and Bryce we did as ordinary European tourists a few years ago , so that's no longer on the list .

Next is the Harley Bike week in Sturgiss in a few weeks . Bought a trailer to put my two bikes on .
In 2024 , I sell the trailer , so interested people , note it 😂😂
Jeep Wrangler JL Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted 4e873289-fb29-47b3-983d-bd5e8af4bbe9.JPG
Jeep Wrangler JL Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted IMG_8707
Jeep Wrangler JL Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted 493ea815-c704-42a7-8cfb-e4553c6f540d.JPG
Jeep Wrangler JL Moab/Ouray trip coming up as newbee ....... advice wanted IMG_8727
 
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If you decide to do Black Bear Pass you might think twice about it, make sure you have plenty of toilet tissue with you. I've ridden my dual spot motorcycles over most of those that you mentioned, my sister lived in Telluride for 30 years, I've been there may times.

trainman
We skipped BBP in our plans ... I think my wife would go on foot after seeing the movies on Youtube. And I would be too stressed due to cars behind me that would go faster than me . So , I will not be on that trail with my own Jeep in our time left in the US now....... maybe later , much much later with a rental with friends from Belgium ..... Never say never .....
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