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Thanks to the forum for all the tips and tricks in preparation of our recent trip to Eureka Colorado.
We arrived in Silverton CO, on Sept 20 to dump our tanks and top off with fresh water. The plan was to stay until the 28th of Sept, then head back for work :aargh4:
Got set up about an hour later (Eureka is an abandoned mining town about 8 miles away of silverton. Great place to boondock) We got the rhino unloaded and the trailer set up right as it started to rain on us!
Woke up to a brisk 25 degree morning only to find the furnace will not run when the genny is running! however, after breakfast and bundeling up we hit the trails.
First day we did the alpine loop. Started at Eureka, did engineer pass then ran to Lake City. Ate lunch at Southern Vittles (dont do the chicken fried steak...all you taste is the greese) then ran the roads to where the trails pick up south of town and did cinimmon pass on the way home. It was a long day but some fun trails. We had no problem running our street legal rhino in Lake City.
Next day, we went to silverton for some shopping. First couple hours were fine with a few strange looks...then deputy fife shows up and wants to bust my balls. Our rhino is registered in Arkansas as a passenger car. Carries the same rights as any other car on the road, but this guy wants to make his own rules. He threatens me with a ticket 3 times and is an overall a**hole. I had done hours of research and made countless calls about the legalities of operating our rhino on the road, so i felt pretty comfortable in my assumptions that we were legal. Conversation wasnt the greatest and left town with an X on our back! He specicially said Ouray will prohibit me from driving there too...
Made it out to the staging area seething mad. Called Ouray PD. Talked to a SGT there. Asked them, "do yall recognize out of state registered vehicles" he said, "yes". I told him what we have, the classification and all the extra's we have. He welcomed us to town and told us to enjoy our visit.
We ran Anmias Forks to some other trail that dropped us off about 4 miles south of Ouray. Meet up with some friends and saw the town (Great Place BTW...Hot Spring are a must stop), then we went and ran Imogene Pass (Way better than alpine loop trails) and Yankee Boy Basin (Both makes for a long day in addition to having to run 1.5 hours each way to get to Ouray on rough trails)--Lots of fun!
Were up to 160 hard miles and used about 17 gallons of gas. Always ran with 5 gallons extra. Gauge would show empty after about 35 miles (FG sucks)
Rhino did great, and only used 4wd once or twice. However, this thing was gutless and didnt have any balls in the mountains. I had to run in L everywhere. Rockers were worth their price and decrease in performance. I beleive they were the reason we hardly ever used 4wd. great grip and i was very very hard on them. No problems, but they do show some decent wear after the abuse against the sharp rocks for 6 days.
all in all it was a great trip. I will add pics when i get home and get them off the cameras. Silverton cops were rude and you would think that a town that survives off toursism dollars would be a little more appreciative of its visitors. We made it 7 days on 100 gallons of water and ran short a little, so we came home a day ahead of schedule. Wife was ready for a good 10 min shower. Dogs did great and enjoyed riding.
My recommendation would be to stay in ouray and if your street legal, run to where you can pick up a trail that leads you to the alpine loop. Otherwise stay near Ouray and run those trails.
GPS was great to have also
brett
We arrived in Silverton CO, on Sept 20 to dump our tanks and top off with fresh water. The plan was to stay until the 28th of Sept, then head back for work :aargh4:
Got set up about an hour later (Eureka is an abandoned mining town about 8 miles away of silverton. Great place to boondock) We got the rhino unloaded and the trailer set up right as it started to rain on us!
Woke up to a brisk 25 degree morning only to find the furnace will not run when the genny is running! however, after breakfast and bundeling up we hit the trails.
First day we did the alpine loop. Started at Eureka, did engineer pass then ran to Lake City. Ate lunch at Southern Vittles (dont do the chicken fried steak...all you taste is the greese) then ran the roads to where the trails pick up south of town and did cinimmon pass on the way home. It was a long day but some fun trails. We had no problem running our street legal rhino in Lake City.
Next day, we went to silverton for some shopping. First couple hours were fine with a few strange looks...then deputy fife shows up and wants to bust my balls. Our rhino is registered in Arkansas as a passenger car. Carries the same rights as any other car on the road, but this guy wants to make his own rules. He threatens me with a ticket 3 times and is an overall a**hole. I had done hours of research and made countless calls about the legalities of operating our rhino on the road, so i felt pretty comfortable in my assumptions that we were legal. Conversation wasnt the greatest and left town with an X on our back! He specicially said Ouray will prohibit me from driving there too...
Made it out to the staging area seething mad. Called Ouray PD. Talked to a SGT there. Asked them, "do yall recognize out of state registered vehicles" he said, "yes". I told him what we have, the classification and all the extra's we have. He welcomed us to town and told us to enjoy our visit.
We ran Anmias Forks to some other trail that dropped us off about 4 miles south of Ouray. Meet up with some friends and saw the town (Great Place BTW...Hot Spring are a must stop), then we went and ran Imogene Pass (Way better than alpine loop trails) and Yankee Boy Basin (Both makes for a long day in addition to having to run 1.5 hours each way to get to Ouray on rough trails)--Lots of fun!
Were up to 160 hard miles and used about 17 gallons of gas. Always ran with 5 gallons extra. Gauge would show empty after about 35 miles (FG sucks)
Rhino did great, and only used 4wd once or twice. However, this thing was gutless and didnt have any balls in the mountains. I had to run in L everywhere. Rockers were worth their price and decrease in performance. I beleive they were the reason we hardly ever used 4wd. great grip and i was very very hard on them. No problems, but they do show some decent wear after the abuse against the sharp rocks for 6 days.
all in all it was a great trip. I will add pics when i get home and get them off the cameras. Silverton cops were rude and you would think that a town that survives off toursism dollars would be a little more appreciative of its visitors. We made it 7 days on 100 gallons of water and ran short a little, so we came home a day ahead of schedule. Wife was ready for a good 10 min shower. Dogs did great and enjoyed riding.
My recommendation would be to stay in ouray and if your street legal, run to where you can pick up a trail that leads you to the alpine loop. Otherwise stay near Ouray and run those trails.
GPS was great to have also
brett
