The personal and professional website of Douglas Van Bossuyt
Heather and I went up to North Table Mountain to check out the green grass of spring. Looking north, we had a wonderful view of the Flatirons.
Checking out a little seasonal pond up on top.
We saw this little guy on the trail. We think he’s a massasauga rattlesnake. He was about a foot long.
Denver in the distance.
Lichen Peak!
Golden is in that direction. Pike’s Peak is waaaaaay in the distance.
Up on top of Lichen Peak.
I took my new-to-me 4runner out for its first test drive on some 4×4 trails outside Central City today. My first goal was to get over Yankee Hill and down to Alice. On the way up the hill, I caught this great view of the continental divide.
Up at the junction with the cutoff road to the Kingston Peak Trail. This is as far as I made it. Beyond this point there were some significant walls of snow that were very wet and mushy. A couple jeeps were stuck in the first 50 feet of the next section of road going over Yankee Hill. I stopped and offered assistance but they were just about done digging themselves out.
After having a snack, I went to turn the truck on and found that I had no electricals at all. A bit of diagnosis work later and I discovered that the positive battery terminal lug had some corrosion that made for a low voltage condition to the truck although the battery was fine. A few minutes of work and away I went down the hill again.
Heading down Yankee Hill to the east. There was lots of traffic today. I saw many UTVs, a few ATVs, a couple motorcycles, and some Jeeps.
Having the Toyota altimeter and angelometer gauge cluster is great. It’s fun seeing how far I am tilting the truck. I feel unsafe long before I actually am unsafe.
Further down on Yankee Hill. I need to mount my winch on the front bumper still and I really need to get a rear bumper tire carrier.
Heading down toward the main junction.
Next I went down Hamlin Gulch to see what it’s like this early in the year.
I took the upper road through Hamlin Gulch which I never had done before. This was a great spot for lunch on a little side spur.
Tilt, baby, tilt!
What’s around the next bend? Will I make it through or will the trees close in?
Coming down through Nevadaville back to Central City. I aired up and headed back down to Golden. For the first time out, my 4runner did very well indeed. Now to do some additional mods to the truck!
I went out to Buena Vista and the Chinaman’s Gulch 4×4 trail over the weekend with the Rising Sun 4×4 Club to get a little training on how to lead trail runs and other skills necessary to make a trail run successful. Me leading a trail run is still probably a year or two away at the least but the training was great, the other club members friendly and fun, and the 4x4ing definitely pushed my abilities.
The views from the campsite at the base of the trail are outstanding. The Collegiate Peaks at dawn really shimmer.
Not a bad spot for breakfast.
A few of the rigs along for the ride.
Heading up the trail.
Playing around at one of the bypassable obstacles.
This truck is rolling on 39″ tires and heavy axles.
There was some snow on the trail in several spots.
Coming up the hard way.
Working on another optional obstacle.
This line had some turtle problems with the slick conditions.
Working a different line. The approach was too dug out to get enough purchase in the slick conditions.
Check out that flex and the springs opening up!
At this obstacle I received some trail damage in the form of a crunched sill plate. I needed to be winched up out of the obstacle. I should have installed those sliders that are sitting on my garage floor before this trip. Whoops!
Amazingly, the door opens and closes BETTER than it did before. The gasket even deformed to match the dent. I got luck on this one in my little stock drivetrain and suspension 1st gen 4runner.
The obstacle where I received some body damage.
No problem for this red beast!
An 80 series Land Cruiser working up through the obstacle.
Nice view coming down the trail back to the campsite.
Dawn on the second morning before pulling out and heading back to Denver.
The road home across South Park.
See! I do have sliders… in my garage.
