Volhoo's Build - The Brigadier

[volhoo]

New Tent

We just got a huge new tent for our stay at the KOA campground in Ouray.

We wanted to set it all up and check it out before we head out next Saturday morning.

The Tent is a Flex Bow Tent (10' x 14') that we got from Cabelas Cabela's -- Kodiak® Flex Bow Tent

We now have 2 tents for 2 different types of trips.

One smaller tent for Expedition style runs - stopping every evening at a new location - breaking down and packing up every morning, and now one for extended stays (several days) in the same location (Base Camp).

This new tent allows us to set up our cots and still have plenty of room to move around.

I am very impressed with the quality - heavy duty canvas construction, and very easy to assemble.

Look for us in Ouray at the KOA (#42), drop by and say hello.





Yeah, my house is all decked out for the 4th of July -

-

-

[volhoo]

OK, I'm all packed up and ready to hit the road to Ouray first thing in the morning.



Our plan (my wife Claudia and I), is to drive all the way (from Fullerton CA) to Cortez Colorado the first day. It makes for a long day, but that's exactly what we did last year as well.



We've got a lot of stuff onboard, the big tent, cots, the works.





See you at the Summit -

-

-

[TCao]

Vince and Claudia: Have a safe drive to Ouray. I'll see you guys soon. BTW, I'm already in Richfield UT tonight and heading over to Vail tomorrow to meet up with my brother and his family.

[volhoo]

Summit #2 Report

Well it was another great Summit. We logged more than 3000 miles in total.

We left the house here in Fullerton California at 6 am on Saturday July 12th, and stopped at a cheap Motel that evening in Cortez Collorado.

The next day we drove around Cortez, Dolores, and Mancos. We are looking for possible retirement locations, but these 3 are now off the list.

This is a shot of the truck on the road to Ground Hog Lake - near Dolores


Sunday night we went to Durango and had a great time knocking around town.

On Monday we headed over to Ouray with a stop in Sillverton.

We ran into Steh and Tim in Silverton.


They were checking out the trails before the Summit and we went along with them over California Gulch to Ouray


Still a lot of snow in the Passes


Coming down one of the steep switch backs we ran into a couple of stuck rental Jeeps (Rubicons)

This one had taken to turn too wide a slipped into a tricky situation. When we got there, they were trying to tug it out with the other Rubicon and a strap, but it was just pulling them both into the ditch.


We decided to help them out. Seth got behind me and anchored the Brigadier with and strap. I pulled out my winch and hooked it onto the Roll Bar of the Jeep (not my idea, but the rented Jeep guys wanted to try it)


With everything tight, the driver tried again, and the Jeep drove right out. The winch had just given him the right amount of balance and resistance he needed.


Back on the trail


After the trail run we went to the KOA campground and got everything set up


Driving through town we say Dragon and Shadow Warrior parked at Goldbelt


Seth was busy at the Hotel installing his new BudBuilt skids - nice


On Tuesday TinCan installed my Red LED lights - Thanks again man


Wednesday was Summit registration day - all day


Joel and Jason during registration - Joel and I handed out the Grill Badges


Thursday morning at 7 am we did the Alpine Loop with Bernd - here we are airing down at the trail head


Tons of snow


Great views out on the tundra trail


Chris and the ARB rig (can't remember who the other rig is)


Friday at 7 am it was Imogene with Terahex (Harold) - this is Harold near the end of the trail in the tight spot


Nice photo-op spot


Bo's rig on the ledge


On Saturday we were scheduled to do Ophir Pass at 7 am but it was closed in the morning until noon so they could move some sheep through the Pass. So instead, we drove the Last Dollar road into Telluride, had breakfast, drove back over Ophir to Ouray, and did Yankee Boy Basin as well.

Last Dollar Road is awesome


Sheep in Ophir Pass


The rig was super dirty.


The Summit was over and we headed off the Santa Fe new Mexico.

-

-

[volhoo]

After Ouray we headed back home (kinda) via Santa Fe.

An interesting sight on the way


Lots of shopping was done in Santa Fe - cute baby


Nice Church near our Hotel


Cute couple


Great paper flowers


Then we went down to Carlsbad Caverns. I had not been there before, and can now say I need not return. The Cavern was nice and I'm glad we went, but it is 900 miles from home with nothing but nothing in between.


Tons of fruit on the Cactus


The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful with the exception of some wicked weather in El Paso Texas and Demming New Mexico


OK, that's it for now, until next time




-

-

[w5wi]

Vince,

It was wonderful seeing you and Claudia again at the Summit. Shirley and I enjoyed doing Imogene with you guys!

I love your buildup pages! You did an awesome job!


cheers,

dale

[volhoo]

Thanks Dale - great seeing you guys again as well - I am really enjoying seeing all of Shirley's great pictures too -

-

-

[GTKrockeTT]

nice pics vince. i feel the same about carlsbad caverns. it's cool to check out if you happen to be passing through, but it's not really worthy of a destination. UNLESS, you're really into caving.

[volhoo]

Gold Mountain - Big Bear California

On our way back from Ouray (Santa fe and Carlsbad), we stopped by our friend Michael's house in Big Bear for a couple of days.

Even though we live close by, I don't have much knowledge of the trails in Big Bear, but now that Michael is in town, I'm sure that will change quickly.

A few months back I did the Gold Mountain trail run at the Toyota Trail Teams event here in Big Bear, and was pretty sure I could find the trail head again.

Michael had to work that day (Thursday), so Claudia and I headed out solo for an adventure.

We found the trail and never saw another soul until we got back to the bottom near Baldwin Lake near the Dump.

Gold Mountain is a beautiful trail, and gets pretty tricky in a couple of spots, but nothing the Brigadier couldn't handle.

It took us about 2 hours (maybe a little longer) to do.

It was a beautiful day, here are a few shots of the ride.

Up on top


the trail


A nice view of the Lake


big dead tree


-

-

[volhoo]

Awning

My Camping Lab Awning was waiting for me when I got back from Ouray (thanks again Cruiser4 for putting the SoCal group buy together for us).

Everything was well packed, and it had no damage during shipping.

All the hardware was there as well (something you can't always expect from some vendors).

Because I have a full size ARB roof rack, my install was really straight forward and simple.

I did some measuring, made a template, and drilled 6 holes (2 holes in each of the 3 side brace pieces on the rack).

The bolts just slide into the awning bracket, and then through the drilled holes.

After tightening everything down, you're all done (took me less than a hour).

I am very happy with the quality of the product, and with the ease of use too.

Here are a couple of shots of it on the rig.

Stowed on the rack - ready to roll


Here you can see the bolts through the drilled rack brackets


Now I have shade wherever I go -


-

-