Darwin Award Thread

[dtech]

The story was on fox News in Denver this am, the san Miguel sheriff in the past has been vocal about the "idiots" on black bear past and according to the news coverage the pass is closed indefinitely as he is in no hurry to reopen it. I'm not big on off roading but I do feel sorry for those that come to telluride, are properly prepared and cannot do the pass , facebook is loaded with vids of those doing the pass and it's pretty hairy. My son lives in telluride and some maroon blocked in his Taco in the parking area at Ingram falls, he called the sheriff who wrote up $350 of tickets for the miscreant.

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[TJC]

I've been all over Colorado in the mid 1970's when stationed at NORAD CMC in Colorado Springs.

My first 4WD vehicle was a beautiful special order 1976 Chevy 1/2 ton with dual tanks. I drove it for a year and found there were too many places where the truck was simply too wide, with too long a wheel base... just too big with a high center of gravity. It also wasn't geared for the grades going up or down, and the truck frame twisted on uneven ground. I don't like using brakes going down hill in low range in 1st gear. And I swear I heard rivets or welds popping when that truck flexed.

I sold it and purchased a 1971 Toyota FJ40. Now that was a great off road vehicle. Took it all over those mountain passes, really easy to see with a short narrow hood. And generally no need for a spotter.

Even with the FJ I knew when to turn around. I went down a few places that I didn't dare attempt to go back up. Almost standing on the firewall with your dog struggling to stay in the seat is not fun. This was back in the day before cell phones and GPS... Being 40 miles from the nearest pavement in the mountains, you make sure you have the necessary equipment to spend a couple of days out there.

I suspect the place has been over run since. Academy Blvd was on the outskirts of Colorado Springs when I was there. Powers Blvd was a country 2 lane road deep in the prairie. I used to ride my dirt bike on the prairie hills off Powers Blvd. Would go out for Pizza at Fargo's Pizza Company on Hwy 24 ( Platte Ave ) which was on the very edge of town. 21 years old, young and adventurous.

50 years ago! Wow, time goes by fast.

And FWIW, I remember doing stupid things... Was out north of CO Springs in the winter running up the front range with a 2WD pickup and got stuck in the snow on a road bank that sloped about 10 degrees, the dropped off the ledge. The snow was fine, but the ice pack under ti was slick. The more I tried to move the truck the closer to the edge I drifted. I was busy digging out the snow and ice when around 3pm a pair of snow mobiles coming from Denver (I was north west of the USAF Academy) stopped to assist, said they passed a 4x4 truck a few miles back and went back to get help. Just as the sun was beginning to drop behind the peaks the fellow showed up and pulled me back to pavement.

The first and last time I was on the receiving end of help.

 

[dtech]

Yep you were there when it was easy to go anywhere, I'd take day trips skiing in the winter to summit County and in the summer down to Westcliff to fish the alpine lakes in the Sangres, this was in the 80s and I recall running my Saab at 100mph+ on highway 24 at minus temps, virtually no one else on the highway. Springs had and still has some interesting military facilities, many who served stayed there. And yes like most places in CO experienced massive growth

 

[subquark]

I've been all over Colorado in the mid 1970's when stationed at NORAD CMC in Colorado Springs.

My first 4WD vehicle was a beautiful special order 1976 Chevy 1/2 ton with dual tanks. I drove it for a year and found there were too many places where the truck was simply too wide, with too long a wheel base... just too big with a high center of gravity. It also wasn't geared for the grades going up or down, and the truck frame twisted on uneven ground. I don't like using brakes going down hill in low range in 1st gear. And I swear I heard rivets or welds popping when that truck flexed.

I sold it and purchased a 1971 Toyota FJ40. Now that was a great off road vehicle. Took it all over those mountain passes, really easy to see with a short narrow hood. And generally no need for a spotter.

Even with the FJ I knew when to turn around. I went down a few places that I didn't dare attempt to go back up. Almost standing on the firewall with your dog struggling to stay in the seat is not fun. This was back in the day before cell phones and GPS... Being 40 miles from the nearest pavement in the mountains, you make sure you have the necessary equipment to spend a couple of days out there.

I suspect the place has been over run since. Academy Blvd was on the outskirts of Colorado Springs when I was there. Powers Blvd was a country 2 lane road deep in the prairie. I used to ride my dirt bike on the prairie hills off Powers Blvd. Would go out for Pizza at Fargo's Pizza Company on Hwy 24 ( Platte Ave ) which was on the very edge of town. 21 years old, young and adventurous.

50 years ago! Wow, time goes by fast.

And FWIW, I remember doing stupid things... Was out north of CO Springs in the winter running up the front range with a 2WD pickup and got stuck in the snow on a road bank that sloped about 10 degrees, the dropped off the ledge. The snow was fine, but the ice pack under ti was slick. The more I tried to move the truck the closer to the edge I drifted. I was busy digging out the snow and ice when around 3pm a pair of snow mobiles coming from Denver (I was north west of the USAF Academy) stopped to assist, said they passed a 4x4 truck a few miles back and went back to get help. Just as the sun was beginning to drop behind the peaks the fellow showed up and pulled me back to pavement.

The first and last time I was on the receiving end of help.

Hey! I still have my 1972 FJ40! I got it in 1975 as a gift from my dad for my 13th birthday (I had a full Louisiana driver's license at 13!!!). It was third-hand (is that a word? like second hand?).

It had been used in SE Colorado as a geophysical vehicle carrying a gravometer and has dents on both driveshafts from rocks.

They must have ripped off the oil pan (and you know how that even has a skidplate) because the engine is a 1969!

I passed it down to my daughter a few summers back, she wants to restore it. It'll run but, as you may know, the drum brakes are crappy and need to be rebuilt for a third time!!!

But man, what memories, it was my daily driver up until 2005. =)

 

[Chris M]

Hey! I still have my 1972 FJ40! I got it in 1975 as a gift from my dad for my 13th birthday (I had a full Louisiana driver's license at 13!!!). It was third-hand (is that a word? like second hand?).

It had been used in SE Colorado as a geophysical vehicle carrying a gravometer and has dents on both driveshafts from rocks.

They must have ripped off the oil pan (and you know how that even has a skidplate) because the engine is a 1969!

I passed it down to my daughter a few summers back, she wants to restore it. It'll run but, as you may know, the drum brakes are crappy and need to be rebuilt for a third time!!!

But man, what memories, it was my daily driver up until 2005. =)

Heck yeah!

 

[dtech]

Getting ready for elk hunting , when I lived in the springs back in the 80s for yrs we hunted in the San Luis Valley near the ghost town of bonanza, we'd see large herds 150+ , most always took game back then, today large herds are more of a rarity except in places where they can't be hunted.

 

[TJC]

Man, San Luis Valley! That was the coldest place I had ever seen in the winter, and extremely hot in the summer. Sand Dunes national Monument is an amazing place. I think it is now a Nat'l Park?!?. Lots of mosquitoes neat the creek!

 

[dtech]

Man, San Luis Valley! That was the coldest place I had ever seen in the winter, and extremely hot in the summer. Sand Dunes national Monument is an amazing place. I think it is now a Nat'l Park?!?. Lots of mosquitoes neat the creek!

Yeah Alamosa at the edge of the valley is frigid , I recollect one morning pre dawn hunting and it was like minus 18 , shivering till the sun rose, on the north side of the sand dunes park there was some good fishin in iirc sand creek lakes which eventually flowed into the park. Lots of potatoes are farmed in the valley along with barley for coors beer, but water rights are controversial as some want to sell to supply the thirsty front range of CO. The valley was initially settled by Spaniards.

 

[KNI]

I can't hunt.

It's like not a good thing for the people to do.

For me, hunting is awfull and nobody should do it, I would say it feels like illegal.

P.S. Noticed that my hunting license expired, need to refresh.

 

[TJC]

Yeah Alamosa at the edge of the valley is frigid , I recollect one morning pre dawn hunting and it was like minus 18 , shivering till the sun rose, on the north side of the sand dunes park there was some good fishin in iirc sand creek lakes which eventually flowed into the park. Lots of potatoes are farmed in the valley along with barley for coors beer, but water rights are controversial as some want to sell to supply the thirsty front range of CO. The valley was initially settled by Spaniards.

Alamosa was exactly the city that I was thinking about.

In the late 1970's we had major snow storms and temps below 20F for 6 weeks (lows below 0 for several weeks) in Colorado Springs! White outs with high winds. When the cold finally broke and temps rose to 20F, I was out chopping wood in a T shirt, and it felt positively warm! 69.5" of snow that year., And going east got hit even harder.

I lost a 350 V8 engine in my old pickup to that extreme cold (cracked block), and my neighbor made the mistake of sitting on his vinyl seats in his 1 year old Mustang II ! The seats top layer shattered like safety glass! Little specks of vinyl everywhere!

But Alamosa was always 20F-30F colder.

 

[LaBalbe]

Anyways, son, that's why they call me "Tree Stump"...

 

[AzScorpion]

 

[dtech]

Let's talk about stupidity - attempting to drive black bear pass with a KIA. Like many challenging roads over mtn passes in CO they can often be very busy, but attempting the drive in a KIA is stupidity off the charts. Reportedly a rental, driver from S Carolina. N. Carolina hunting story, told to me by a game warden, checking campsites, he was welcomed into a campsite with hunters from N. Carolina who proudly showed their "elk" hanging from a tree - except it was a moose they shot. Always be careful hunting elk in CO.

nice photo of black bear pass - road is one way in sections and very narrow. KIA was removed and pass reopened a week back. Who here has done Black Bear ?

 

[Figarou]

 

[AzScorpion]

This is your brain on drugs!

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