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- Joined
- Aug 7, 2007
- Messages
- 1,734
- Reaction score
- 536
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Costa Mesa, CA
- Vehicle Year
- 2002
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- 4.0 V6
- Engine Size
- 4.0 SOHC
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
- Tire Size
- 33"
I was able to join a group this year for a Continental Divide Trip. I know Jim had plans to do it but things kept getting in the way so I jumped on this opportunity. It started on my birthday, June 21, 2021. We had a wide range of people that added up to 13 at the start with 8 vehicles. I only knew 2 of them but all were great to run with.
The organizers were a couple that homesteaded in Alaska for 18 years, and now just travel around with no permanent home after selling their home in Spokane before the trip. They had a Jeep with 37"tires. We had an American that has lived in Mexico for most of his life and has dual citizenship. He drove a VW pickup. We also had a Mexican that has lived in California most of his life. He had an opportunity to get US citizenship but found it less expensive to just keep a Green Card. He also had a Jeep but with 35" tires. We also had a couple that live in New Mexico near the Mexico border. He ran away from home at the age of 12 to become a real cowboy. He did live the life of a real cowboy for many years including riding the rodeo. They had a FJ80 Landcruiser with 35" tires. It was set up very nice but was under powered. Another couple had an all wheel drive Sprinter. He was retired from making movies and she was in the business of making commercials. Another couple from San Francisco had a nicely set up 4WD Ford van. We also had a couple with a Jeep that pulled an off-road tear drop trailer.
We drove down to the Mexico border to officially start the trip at the beginning. It was a hot day at 103 degrees. Nice to have A/C cooled vehicles. We had some wildfire smoke the first few days that we could see and smell but we didn't have to make any detours. We would get rain showers everyday in the afternoon for several days in the beginning. Then at about a week into the trip around the official first day of the Monsoons, we got heavy rain. The rocky road we were climbing became a stream but fortunately did not get flash flooding. Hail did come down a couple times though. It was small hail and built up like snow. I had at least an inch of it on my hood. As we moved on to more level ground the road went from rocky to sticky mud. We were slipping an sliding all over but had to keep moving because there was no place to pull over to set up camp. Once we found some slight openings we pulled off to wait for the road to dry a little. My wheel wells were packed with mud to the tires. I was able to dig some of it out but it was still a mess. Overnight, the breeze dried the road enough that we did not sink into it any more so we moved on before it started raining again.
Here is one of our better campsites.
This is a view of a lake in Northern NM. I don't remember the name of it but it sure is not what I think of when I think if NM.
This is not typical of the roads we took but there was quite a bit of it. Most was smoother gravel roads but we did have some pretty rough moderate rock crawling too, like on Elwood Pass. I didn't get any photos of the rock crawling. I was too busy guiding.
Here is where we spent July 4th. We celebrated with a nice BBQ and some beers. It was next to the Rio Grande river.
Here is a river crossing that we were concerned might be too deep due to the snow melt runoff. It was only about 18" deep, so no problem.
This is a view of on the way down from Stony Pass.
Here is a view of a valley in Colorado. That kind of road was typical through most of the trip.
This is a view down as we were approaching Engineer Pass.
I only had 4 weeks for the trip and ended up having to leave 4 days earlier than I planned. The hanger for the catalytic converter broke out of the exhaust pipe between the two main converters leaving a big hole. I had a warranty replacement for the same thing just a couple months earlier. I was able to get some repair materials in Frisco, CO but decided to go home. I thought all the bouncing around could cause more damage to the exhaust system with the converter hanger missing.
I ended up buying two different repair kits and used both of them. They got me home at around 1000 miles but had a good leak when I arrived home. I have been communicating back and forth between Walker and Rock Auto (where I purchased it) about a warranty replacement. It took a lot of discussion because I don't want a refund, I want a replacement. It turns out I have to wait until October sometime due to a national back order. I repaired the hole again and made up a hanger that should hold out until then. Once I get the replacement, I intend to reinforce the pipe around the hanger so it doesn't fail again.
Someday I will return to my departure point and finish the trip.
The organizers were a couple that homesteaded in Alaska for 18 years, and now just travel around with no permanent home after selling their home in Spokane before the trip. They had a Jeep with 37"tires. We had an American that has lived in Mexico for most of his life and has dual citizenship. He drove a VW pickup. We also had a Mexican that has lived in California most of his life. He had an opportunity to get US citizenship but found it less expensive to just keep a Green Card. He also had a Jeep but with 35" tires. We also had a couple that live in New Mexico near the Mexico border. He ran away from home at the age of 12 to become a real cowboy. He did live the life of a real cowboy for many years including riding the rodeo. They had a FJ80 Landcruiser with 35" tires. It was set up very nice but was under powered. Another couple had an all wheel drive Sprinter. He was retired from making movies and she was in the business of making commercials. Another couple from San Francisco had a nicely set up 4WD Ford van. We also had a couple with a Jeep that pulled an off-road tear drop trailer.
We drove down to the Mexico border to officially start the trip at the beginning. It was a hot day at 103 degrees. Nice to have A/C cooled vehicles. We had some wildfire smoke the first few days that we could see and smell but we didn't have to make any detours. We would get rain showers everyday in the afternoon for several days in the beginning. Then at about a week into the trip around the official first day of the Monsoons, we got heavy rain. The rocky road we were climbing became a stream but fortunately did not get flash flooding. Hail did come down a couple times though. It was small hail and built up like snow. I had at least an inch of it on my hood. As we moved on to more level ground the road went from rocky to sticky mud. We were slipping an sliding all over but had to keep moving because there was no place to pull over to set up camp. Once we found some slight openings we pulled off to wait for the road to dry a little. My wheel wells were packed with mud to the tires. I was able to dig some of it out but it was still a mess. Overnight, the breeze dried the road enough that we did not sink into it any more so we moved on before it started raining again.
Here is one of our better campsites.
This is a view of a lake in Northern NM. I don't remember the name of it but it sure is not what I think of when I think if NM.
This is not typical of the roads we took but there was quite a bit of it. Most was smoother gravel roads but we did have some pretty rough moderate rock crawling too, like on Elwood Pass. I didn't get any photos of the rock crawling. I was too busy guiding.
Here is where we spent July 4th. We celebrated with a nice BBQ and some beers. It was next to the Rio Grande river.
Here is a river crossing that we were concerned might be too deep due to the snow melt runoff. It was only about 18" deep, so no problem.
This is a view of on the way down from Stony Pass.
Here is a view of a valley in Colorado. That kind of road was typical through most of the trip.
This is a view down as we were approaching Engineer Pass.
I only had 4 weeks for the trip and ended up having to leave 4 days earlier than I planned. The hanger for the catalytic converter broke out of the exhaust pipe between the two main converters leaving a big hole. I had a warranty replacement for the same thing just a couple months earlier. I was able to get some repair materials in Frisco, CO but decided to go home. I thought all the bouncing around could cause more damage to the exhaust system with the converter hanger missing.
I ended up buying two different repair kits and used both of them. They got me home at around 1000 miles but had a good leak when I arrived home. I have been communicating back and forth between Walker and Rock Auto (where I purchased it) about a warranty replacement. It took a lot of discussion because I don't want a refund, I want a replacement. It turns out I have to wait until October sometime due to a national back order. I repaired the hole again and made up a hanger that should hold out until then. Once I get the replacement, I intend to reinforce the pipe around the hanger so it doesn't fail again.
Someday I will return to my departure point and finish the trip.
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