Trip Report Expedition Colorado; Epic Scenery and Hidden Treasure

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
It's been a long day.... 475 miles on the Jeep, running all over Colorado and much of those miles in the dirt.

To back things up a bit, the Lovell Brothers (Do you know who they are? You should.... KOH racers, Short Course drivers, Rock Crawlers, etc) put together this neat route that is as much dirt as possible from Moab, UT to Colorado Springs, CO. They been making the drive in a very original Willys MB FlatFender with some friends along for the ride. Thanks to their sponsors, this year they dropped prizes along the route, then released the GPS coordinates of those prizes for anyone to find, if they had the desire. The total value of the prized dropped over 9 locations is worth over $10,000! The coordinates were to be released on Friday at Midnight.

https://community.amsoil.com/amsoil...&utm_campaign=community_expeditioncoloradomap

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"Do you have what it takes to play this game of Finders Keepers? On Friday, Aug. 3rd Brad Lovell and Team AMSOIL released a GPS map of their 615 mile off-road Expedition Colorado route from Moab to Colorado Springs. It has coordinates of prizes from several different sponsors, including AMSOIL INC. It’s simple – first one there gets the prize, but be warned, you better pack a lunch because you are going to have to earn it. Prizes include: Two sets of KO2 or KM3 BFGoodrich Tires, a WARN Zeon 10 winch, $500 in product from AMSOIL INC., two $250 Rugged Radios gift certificates, ARB 4×4 Accessories recovery kit, and more to come."

Here's the GPS locations, check them out!

Prize 1 : 38 27 19 N 109 11 48 W - Don’t get stumped!


Prize 2 – Found! : 38 32 14 N 108 26 51 W - Enjoy a stroll around the ponds.


Prize 3 : 39 07 17 N 107 34 05 W - Look for something out of place…


Prize 4 : 39 02 9671 N 107 04 6679 W - Be warned, it’s all uphill from the bridge!


Prize 5 : 38 58 14 N 106 49 51 W - Find a nice place to stop and enjoy a view of the lake.


Prize 6 : 39 01 12 N 106 45 27 W - Your going to have to take a short hike to find this prize but the view is worth it!


Prize 7 : 38 42 11 N 107 27 36 W - There aren’t many clumps of trees this high but you sure would like to find one.


Prize 8 – Found! : 38 19 33 N 106 07 30 W - Enjoy exploring these mine buildings safely and please be respectful of the history.


Prize 9 : 38 18 27 N 105 50 25 W



On Friday evening I was loaded up in the Jeep & ready to go... talked to Justin P. ( @JKUworld ) about my plans to head out bright and early Saturday morning. My alarm was set for 4:30 AM, but I ended up waking at 4:15 and was on the road before 5 AM. I was going to start at the 1st location, which was in the La Sal Mountains next to Dark Canyon Lake. I decided that I'd be better off starting somewhere closer to me, so I opted to start with the #2 location which was on the Uncompahgre Plateau, between Gateway, CO and Delta. There was a lot of offroad driving and it was dark for the first half, I covered a lot of ground quickly.

I arrived at the site and found 2 well-built trucks with RTT's deployed. I assumed that they were there for the same reason I was and they already had found the prize. They were still sleeping, so I scouted around the area for a half-hour or so, looking closely. The truck owners awoke so I asked them about the prize, which they HAD found, at 3 AM! They were from Denver, drove out on Friday night, got the GPS location and searched in the dark until they found the prize, which was a set of 5, BFGoodrich tires! We parted ways, I wanted a chance to get one of the prizes so I hit the road to the next location without wasting much time.

On my way to Prize #3 I got a call from @JKUworld , apparently he was 5 min behind me after I left location #2. We talked about our plans, not realizing we'd both be heading to the same spot. At this point I was coming into Delta, CO and he was about 30 min behind me. I continued on, working my way onto the backside of the Grand Mesa. I know the Grand Mesa well, have ridden moto's all over and had plenty of 4x4 trips over it. The location for Prize #3 was pretty far in, but I drove right to the coordinates by 9 AM, hopped out of the Jeep and found the prize stuffed on the backside of a large rock with a split down it. I opened the Yeti mug and pulled out a $500 gift from Amsoil!! Awesome, I can use Amsoil for my LS1 engine when it's done and a few other vehicles in our fleet! Thanks Amsoil!

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From there, I continued in the dirt over towards Kebler Pass and up to Crested Butte... finding a female Moose and her offspring, playing in a pond. I was in Crested Butte for just long enough to drive thru town, my gas was getting low but I figured I had enough to head up Pearl Pass. In hind sight, I should have topped off the tank. I have my Titan Gas Carrier on the back of the Jeep with 10 gallons of gas in it, but wanted to keep that in case of an emergency. I aired down and hit the rough, rocky trail up Pearl Pass. It had been a couple years since I've been up Pearl, I forgot how bumpy and rough it was! The location for Prize #3 was near the summit, next to a quaint little lake.... but you had to EARN this one. It took some time, but eventually I was out of the Jeep, running around the mountain with my GPS in hand. I was passed by several other 4x4's and was worried at one point that someone would beat me to the prize, while I was there looking for it myself! I found it tucked under another rock, but not before walking right past it... twice! You could only see this one from one side, it was hidden well. I opened this Yeti container and was rewarded with a $250 card, from @RuggedRadios and $250 from Spider Trax! This was great, as my Jeep has needed a proper trail radio for some time. Thanks Rugged Radios & Spider Trax!

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After coming down Pearl Pass, the next location was #6 up by Taylor Lake... not far, but far enough when you're low on gas. This is where the gas planning part bit me. I should have filled up in Crested Butte or stopped and dumped the 10 gallons from the Titan Tank into my gas tank. I decided to drive down to Aspen, CO and get gas.... about 25 min away. I ended up loosing almost an hour, passing a beautiful JL Wrangler heading up. After doubling back with a full tank, I headed up Taylor Pass, clawing my way up the mountain. I arrived at the top of the pass about 4 PM, I talked to the couple in the JL and asked him how he liked it. We talked for a bit, then parted ways. Later on, I learned they beat me to #6 by about 5 to 10 minutes!! I shouldn't have ran into Aspen!!! :eek: I was so disracted by the JL, I didn't think to ask them if they were looking for prizes from Expedition Colorado, would have keep me from searching for 45 min. They won a full light upgrade from JW Speaker.

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At this point I was tired, I was setup to spend the night camping and continue heading East, looking for more prizes but had to catch a flight to Texas for work the next day. I had found 4 locations and 2 prizes, so it was a very rewarding adventure. I decided to get home, clean up and prepare for work instead. :(

I really enjoyed my time participating in the adventure that is Expedition Colorado. It was fun to hone my navigation skills, tackle challenging trails and have a chance to find awesome prizes along the way. Many thanks to Brad Lovell, his family and friends that helped with this and of course the sponsors that were generous enough to donate the prizes. Amsoil, BFGoodrich, Warn, Method Race Wheels, ARB, SpiderTrax, JW Speaker and more.

Have to say thanks to those that helped me build and outfit my Jeep, making it capable for such a challenge. Teraflex Suspensions, Falcon Shocks, BFGoodrich Tires, Warn Industries, FrontRunner, ARB, Cruiser Outfitters and many others. I pushed my JKU pretty hard getting to many of these locations and with the help of these companies, the Jeep handled it all in stride. 475 miles in a day, much of it offroad and plenty of it climbing very challenging rocky mountain passes!

#ExpeditionColorado
 
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