San Juan Badge of Honor trip planned Sept 7-10, would be nice to meet w/ a few others.

[BDinTX]

This is the part I circled, you can see the rocks are bigger, completely different than we’d been driving on.

this is m post when we got back for inspiration

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/july-tx-colorado-trip-lots-of-pictures.56315/

Sponsored

 

[Cypher]

This is the part I circled, you can see the rocks are bigger, completely different than we’d been driving on.

this is m post when we got back for inspiration

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/july-tx-colorado-trip-lots-of-pictures.56315/

A dirtbike got stuck in front of us half way up that spot. Was not happy to stop there for sure, but we were able to get up no issues. It is rough, but a stock Jeep can do that spot easy.

 

[Cypher]

Very cool J! would be great if you could make it back, I'll keep this thread updated and I can send you a PM when we get closer. I think the trail order and days I posted above should be pretty close to the final plan. If the weather looks bad on one particular day then that could change things for sure
Did you run all the 5 BOH trails last time you went there?

I think I'd like to go up to Engineer Pass Summit, then turn back and hit Poughkeepsie, seems like that would be a nice run vs. running the whole Alpine Loop (including the drive from Durango and back). Looks like there's a few ways to tackle the wall, not sure if my open diffs would be up to it though Could take the bypass as it looks like the rest of Poughkeepsie still has some nice obstacles to keep us on our toes

FWIW would a stock Rubicon w/ only the factory skids do OK on Poughkeepsie? Looks like there's a few spots where it could get rough. Have a couple JLURs that may make the drive up with us and they don't have any aftermarket skids.

We actually did a single, very long day. My cousin lives there so we were on the trail at daylight and ended at night.

Probably the best day off-road I have ever had. We hit Poughkeepsie Gulch, Corkscrew Gulch, Black bear pass, and ran up Tomboy basin to Imogene Pass. We went over Hurricane Pass, Corkscrew pass, Black Bear Pass and Imogene Pass. It was a long and amazing day. We also did part of Engineer pass, but due to time we did not finish.

The next day we did nothing lol, then after that hit a few trails in Moab.

 

[blnewt]

We actually did a single, very long day. My cousin lives there so we were on the trail at daylight and ended at night.

Probably the best day off-road I have ever had. We hit Poughkeepsie Gulch, Corkscrew Gulch, Black bear pass, and ran up Tomboy basin to Imogene Pass. We went over Hurricane Pass, Corkscrew pass, Black Bear Pass and Imogene Pass. It was a long and amazing day. We also did part of Engineer pass, but due to time we did not finish.

The next day we did nothing lol, then after that hit a few trails in Moab.

Wow, just Wow!

 

[mushroomax]

I try and make it out to Ouray/Telluride once a year, you're picking an absolutely beautiful area to explore. I've driven all of those trails in a stock Rubicon and a couple times personally don't think you should have any problems. As the dates get closer maybe I'll be able to head out there and tag along for a trail-run as I haven't made it out there yet this year.

 

[blnewt]

I try and make it out to Ouray/Telluride once a year, you're picking an absolutely beautiful area to explore. I've driven all of those trails in a stock Rubicon and a couple times personally don't think you should have any problems. As the dates get closer maybe I'll be able to head out there and tag along for a trail-run as I haven't made it out there yet this year.

That's great to hear, and I'm sure the trip would be that much better if you could make it up there!
If you don't mind I may have a few questions for you as time goes on.
Thanks!

 

[Killed by Death]

Anyone care to rank these from easiest to hardest? Probably be in a rental stock Rubicon. Speaking of rental, anyone know of a good rental or lead follow tour company in this area?

 

[blnewt]

Anyone care to rank these from easiest to hardest? Probably be in a rental stock Rubicon. Speaking of rental, anyone know of a good rental or lead follow tour company in this area?

For the Badge trails from all I've read going from easy to hard would be Ophir, Engineer, Imogene, Black Bear, then Poughkeepsie. I've heard most rental places won't allow you to run Black Bear.

 

[Cypher]

For the Badge trails from all I've read going from easy to hard would be Ophir, Engineer, Imogene, Black Bear, then Poughkeepsie. I've heard most rental places won't allow you to run Black Bear.

I thought black bear was harder than poughkeepsie, at least technically challenging. you can avoid the wall on poughkeepsie, and the long climb up the large rock area is not as bad as the switchbacks and steps on black bear. My guess is that if rental companies restrict only a single trail, that is the one to worry about.

 

[blnewt]

I thought black bear was harder than poughkeepsie, at least technically challenging. you can avoid the wall on poughkeepsie, and the long climb up the large rock area is not as bad as the switchbacks and steps on black bear. My guess is that if rental companies restrict only a single trail, that is the one to worry about.

Again, having not run them myself I'm only going by what I've read. Poughkeepsie from what I've seen on clips and from what others have said is a trail that you may incur more damage from large obstacles, but make a wrong move on Black Bear, and well the rental company might not get that Jeep back

 

[hockeynut258]

We will most likely be there that weekend. Spending the month of September wheeling in Colorado. Stock JLUR with skids and winch. I’ll PM you when we iron out the dates. We have a motor home and just need to figure out where basecamp will be.

 

[blnewt]

We will most likely be there that weekend. Spending the month of September wheeling in Colorado. Stock JLUR with skids and winch. I’ll PM you when we iron out the dates. We have a motor home and just need to figure out where basecamp will be.

Sounds great Mike, I've got my dates pretty close to where they should be now. Only real change will be running Imogene then Ophir (instead of the other way around) and maybe moving Black Bear up a day if the weather sounds iffy on that Friday. Or removing Black Bear altogether if the wife ain't feelin it lol.

 

[Col_Sanders]

We just ran all the badge trails plus a few extras last week. Ophir was definitely the easiest, followed by Engineer. Imogene was also pretty easy IMO. The beginning of the trail is a bit rocky and steep but a stock looking early 2000s F150 was behind me and seemed to have no problems. Black Bear is not exactly difficult but there a few off camber spots that could get you into trouble and the shelf road with all the switchbacks can be a bit unnerving. If you dont have a spotter, you probably will be a bit more cautious and make a few extra turns.

I really enjoyed Poughkeepsie. It was probably my favorite trail. I went up the right side of the wall since that was where most people were going. The 2 JKUs I was following had to winch up but I made it without any problem. Just had to back up and give her a little bump. No idea how bad the bypass is.

I didn't tell my wife about Black Bear Pass until she saw it. She would have stayed at the hotel. I had watched quite a few videos of that trail and was a bit nervous myself. Luckily there was a nice group of Texans that let me follow along and spotted me a few times.

 

[Col_Sanders]

Guess I should add that we started Imogene on the Ouray side. The Telluride side is also kinda steep between the summit and Tomboy mine but it is pretty much a dirt road at that point, which is why the Funtreks book recommends starting in Telluride.

If you have time and like to look at old buildings, placer/picayune gulch is worth a trip.

 

[blnewt]

We just ran all the badge trails plus a few extras last week. Ophir was definitely the easiest, followed by Engineer. Imogene was also pretty easy IMO. The beginning of the trail is a bit rocky and steep but a stock looking early 2000s F150 was behind me and seemed to have no problems. Black Bear is not exactly difficult but there a few off camber spots that could get you into trouble and the shelf road with all the switchbacks can be a bit unnerving. If you dont have a spotter, you probably will be a bit more cautious and make a few extra turns.

I really enjoyed Poughkeepsie. It was probably my favorite trail. I went up the right side of the wall since that was where most people were going. The 2 JKUs I was following had to winch up but I made it without any problem. Just had to back up and give her a little bump. No idea how bad the bypass is.

I didn't tell my wife about Black Bear Pass until she saw it. She would have stayed at the hotel. I had watched quite a few videos of that trail and was a bit nervous myself. Luckily there was a nice group of Texans that let me follow along and spotted me a few times.

Thanks James for those replies, always good to hear from ones that have been where we're planning to go. I really want to try the wall, my open diffs probably will make it pretty tough but I can always winch if needed, just don't want to hold up fellow Jeepers if the line is long.

Glad to hear you like Poughkeepsie, sounds like a fun and challenging trail, and that Lake looks awesome. Frank @Ridgway Jeeper suggested running Imogene than Ophir and sounds like a good plan. Hopefully we'll have a few on the site able to join up, would be great to have some that have run these trails to provide some local knowledge

Sponsored