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15 June…it’s been a while since I updated the blog…sorry about that…I left the campsite in the mountains and headed back to 3 Step for about a week…Scott and Julie had a group coming in and I went back to give them a hand…good times. One of the folks at 3 Step was Larry Ragland,a 5 time Baja 1000 winner and member of the Off Road Racing Hall of Fame…was great listening to stories about his racing. He and several of his friends had driven their awesome off road buggys over from Teluride for the night.

“Larry Ragland is an American professional offroad racing competitor and 5 time SCORE International Baja 1000 Trophy Truck overall winner. “Lightning” Larry Ragland is the second most winning driver in desert racing’s history and a Trophy Truck expert”.

Here’s a few photos from Geyser Pass the other day..I was chasing Scott and a few of his buddies up and over the pass. Good times!

I left 3 Step and spent the night in the rear of the Conoco Travel Plaza in Monticello….it was the weekend so I had to wait for day campers to vacate my spot up in the mountains Sunday night.

Now I’m back up in the Abajo Mountains at the place I was camping last week. I tried a new spot but ended up back at my original one from a couple of weeks ago. There was plenty of firewood at the new spot but it was too close to the road so back up the mountain I went.

Oh before I forget…I stopped by the store on the way and they had finally gotten some Folgers Breakfast Blend Light Roast coffee in! You can tell I’m not a coffee expert 🙂 I do like the taste.

16 June…Holy Moly the winds have picked up…been up most of the night with the van rocking and rolling…I guess the gust are around 50 to 60 mph here on the mountain…not much planned today…reading, walking, and napping…the camp spot is perfect…made a nice cuppa this morning around 0530 as the sun was coming up…hoping to get an email saying my new trailer is ready to pick up…now I’m going back to bed for a while…see ya.

17 June…Picked up my new trailer from Lone Peak Big Tex Trailer World near Salt Lake City this morning. 7×14 Pace American Journey SE model with 12 inches of extra height in order to get the buggy in…custom built for me…all is perfect. I set the tongue weight at 300 pounds with the buggy and other items loaded…the thing pulls great with no weaving at all. The exterior walls are seamless with no screws to rust… awesome Dexter axles with brakes on all four wheels. Trailer weight is around 2300…buggy around 1600…other items around 200…total is about 4100…900 under the recommended 5000 pound towing spec for the van…all good…even better because I don’t drive very fast when towing.

18 June…good morning from the parking lot of the Maverick’s in Monticello…gonna be a beautiful day…light winds, temps in the lower 70’s…heading back to 3 Step for a few days then over to Silverton CO for a bit…gonna drive the Alpine Loop over some high passes…can’t wait…my buddy Bob from Hesperus CO is coming over for a couple of days too…will be staying at the Silverton Lakes Rv Park as the boondocking spots in the area are not accessible for me with the van and trailer…oh well…the park is only about $40 a night so three nites will be in the budget.

The parking area here is really nice…truck idling stops at 9 pm for quiet time…nice…and I always grab the spot in the very back corner of the lot to give the big trucks lots of room…level too so my crap doesn’t roll off the table.

Will be nice with the lighter winds for the next few days…the past days have been brutal with the winds gusting sometimes over 60 mph…had to put a few rocks in my pockets to keep from blowing away 🙂

19 June…spent last night at 3 Step….coffee the next morning with Scott was great…we solved all the world’s problems!

Left early, went to Monticello to do laundry, get grease for my hitch ball, clean up the van at the car wash, and now I’m staying the night at a beautiful overlook up in the Abajo mountains. From here I can see the La Sal mountains, Canyonlands NP, and Dead Horse Point State Park. And…there’s nobody here…perfect night!

Temps overnight will be in the mid 40’s and clear…gonna sit in my chair, have a coffee later, and watch some stars…life is good.

Oh by the way…here’s the view from the couch in the van.

Yep, gonna be a nice night here at 8800 feet in the Abajos…coffee is brewing, the wind is dead calm, and there’s nothing I have to do 🙂

But wait there’s more…these cows kept me company all night.

21 June…had a nice drive over to Silverton CO this morning…went to Ridgway, south to Ouray, then up and over Red Mountain Pass on the Million Dollar Hwy to Silverton. Really steep climb out of Ouray to the summit but I just took it slow, stayed out of everybody’s way, and it all went well. I can tell I’m pulling some weight with the trailer loaded but the little Diesel engine in the van does very well if you don’t try to go really fast on the climbs. Staying at the Red Mountain RV Park just as you enter town. Normally cost around $50 a night with hookups but the guy behind the counter said there is some leeway for cash…I offered $40 night and it was a done deal. Paid for 5 nights…so far…may extend for another week or so…I love Silverton 🙂 Plus the showers are nice.

Tomorrow I’m gonna head up the Alpine Loop aways and do some sightseeing.

22 June…today was all about getting high…12,800 feet high! Left the campground around 0930 and headed up the Alpine Loop….destination…the summit of Engineer Pass at 12,800 feet…passed through the ghost town of Animas Forks (neat) and headed up the pass…super rocky…there was one climb where if you didn’t have 4 wheel drive you’d not made it…the buggy did just fine…I forgot to look at the grade on my GPS but I figure it was about 35%…here’s a few pics…enjoy.

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