Rollover?!... a 4Runner and Full-Size Dodge on Poughkeepsie Wall in Colorado [S5E32]

All right. Well, howdy, folks. And welcome to another episode. Flying solo this time. If you're new to the channel, it's usually me, my wife, Sarah and daughter, Caroline. But on this trip, it's just me. Well, I take that back. We've got a special guest we'll be linking up with here shortly. But for now, we've got to put some miles under us. We're headed east to the mountains of Colorado. Let's ride along. All right. Well, first camp just before darkness, too. So nailed this just in time. Busy, busy road right here. Tons of hunters. I think it must be bow season here. So thankfully, I'm just going to be here one night. So we'll put up with the noise and the racket. But the cool part, and I know it's dark, is kind of an epic camp. We actually marked this when we did the High Country Trail because this is the High Country Trail. All right. Well, I'm beat. Long drive, long drive today. Thankfully, we're only about an hour and a half, two hours away from the meetup with our special guest. So I guess let's get the tent popped and some sort of food in us. That's not smoke. That's dust because this road has been nonstop busy since 3 a.m. All the hunters are rolling in. I don't know if it's deer, elk. The bull elk were bugling like crazy all night last night, too. So still not a bad night's sleep. But yeah, I had to sleep my head under the covers with all this dust. Let's get on the trail. Let's get out of here. Good morning, by the way. Let's roll. All right. Quick pit stop. Trying to make some time off the night to make the coffee in the Dust Bowl this morning. All right, folks. Welcome to one of the most beautiful places in the world. And I might add some of the most entertaining trails in the world as well. There's a reason why we don't come here very often, and it's because it's crowded. You can see why. But school's in. Maybe the crowds aren't quite so bad. We'll give it a shot. But the main reason I'm here is to meet up with an old friend. Excuse me, sir. Sir, you can't park there. Swell runner. What's up, buddy? Dude, you got it. We're YouTubers. Oh, YouTubers? We're just playing around. Yeah. How are you doing? Good to see you. I like your shirt. You like my shirt? Yeah, looking good. This is his brand. So I'm thinking we can come down this direction, stay away from the popular spot for now, and either take California Gulch or Hurricane Pass and then just kind of stay down here in this area until all the crowds disperse a little bit. It's been seven years, I think. I think it's been seven years, six or seven years since I've been on this trail. And it's still just mind blowing. Let's go see some more. I guess this one didn't quite pan out. Just wow. It's it's like a different world. It's like you've stepped into a storybook. And I only wish I had a time machine to go back even before the mines were put into these hills to be some of the first people to walk these mountains. Wow. I mean, even now, it's still mind blowing. But could you imagine no roads, no nothing, just pristine, untouched wilderness? What that must have felt like, how isolated this must have been. And then to be the first guy to find a little bit of gold, a little bit of color down in the creek. Yeah, if I had a time machine, it's a couple of places I'd visit. That's a good one. That's awesome. Now, the vast majority of our overland travels are along tamed forest and desert roads, with the primary goal being found in the joy of the journey and experience itself. But sometimes we like to push our rigs and skills just a bit on the more technical obstacles. And you just don't get a more iconic obstacle in southwest Colorado than the Poughkeepsie Wall. For decades, this has been the focal point of many an offroader who travels to this wonderland, wanting to test their mettle and push things to the limits. Some of them find the thrill of victory, others the agony of defeat. And for a very few unlucky folks, carnage when the Poughkeepsie gods reject their rubber footed offerings. If you've been around the channel for a while, you know that Swellrunner and I have a little history with making these attempts together. Like this trip from 2018, where we put our brand new turtleback expedition trailers through their paces in Southern California. And not because we had to, but because we wanted to. Because it's experiences like these to help develop skills and a deeper understanding of the physics involved when faced with a challenge. These tests, in a more or less controlled environment, pay huge dividends when you're up against an obstacle involuntarily and help is hours or even days away. Back in 2015, we made a feeble attempt at climbing this wall with our beloved Guadalupe Off-Road Club from New Mexico. But honestly, we were very green back then and still unfamiliar with our forerunners capabilities. Not to mention the fact it was only about a year old. And at the time, we were in no rush to add trail damage to the growing list of modifications. And so we tucked our tails and winched up instead. But today, old silver is back for redemption with a few more tricks up her sleeve and nearly 200,000 miles of mostly off pavement travel under her belt. See, I kind of feel like you could go up right here. It's really this part right here. It's about 24 inches of straight up. If you could even get a wheel over here without slipping. Yeah, you could. Since Swell Runner and I were in no hurry to push things, we took our time weighing the pros and cons of each line with a local who spends his weekends here for, well, entertainment. Needless to say, he's seen more than his fair share of rollovers and injuries here. So the gravity of the challenge wasn't lost on us. While we were mulling over the lines, a couple of other contenders arrived and we sat back to watch how Poughkeepsie would act. And while the camera never does obstacles like this justice, you can see that it's a very fine balance of momentum, traction and approach angles that change as you climb. Unfortunately, it's the slips, followed by the unexpected grips that can get you out of shape and send you back down the hill. Worst case on one of your shiny sides. There it is. He's on it. He's on it. Definitely puts it in perspective, doesn't it? Yeah, I was like gung-ho a minute ago, but I'm not so gung-ho anymore. It's really interesting, you know, looking at it, but then you see the gravity and the force with the way, you know, the physics pull you. Yeah. I don't know. There's something funky about that hill that wants to push you in that hole every time. Let's look at it. Yeah, you just hold tight. Nice. After working with our new trail friend, Mike, on a couple of different lines, we were beginning to visualize the best route, and it was time to settle up Silver for her redemptive attempt. With front and rear blockers engaged, it was all about keeping the right line at this point. Almost over. You want a winch on you? Hang on. Turns out traction was no problem for the Mickey Thompsons, but I drifted a bit too far to the left and found a new maximum angle of off camber for our trusty Steve. Too comfortable with off camber stuff. And next stage is just to roll it. And then when you started moving forward a little bit, it came right back down. Well, and that's why I kept going. I already felt it want to come back. Yeah, I thought you were going over, dude. I was like, I was puckering. That was fun. Thankfully, the mound on my passenger side was only inches away, and a gentle roll forward brought her back upright. The Poughkeepsie gods had smiled on Silver today, and the only damage we would see from this obstacle was the fresh holes in the driver's seat from a bit too much pucker power. Apparently, that's a common side effect of the sphincter diff. Almost over. You want me to get a winch on you? Hang on. Now I got to do it. Now I have to do it. Well, at least gently. Because you can't come back now. Just gently nose into it. That's all I did. I'll catch up with you tomorrow. Well, y'all can meet at the lake. Oh, there's a bypass, right? There's no ego here. I would not like you do you, man, because I'm concerned about your length. That's what she said, but slow and easy. She's never concerned. Now it was time for the biggest challenge, getting a full size dodge up and over this wall. The hardest part here was making sure that the long wheelbase didn't get high centered on the hump midway up. With such a heavy truck, we weren't sure if we'd have enough guts to pull this behemoth off the rocks if it got locked up. So we paused halfway up to allow a quick check for clearance. Turns out the 40 inch tires and the AEV suspension was more than enough to tame this obstacle. And we again celebrated another successful challenge. This time with no broken fingers. That wheelbase just went all over it. Your tires stayed dry too. Yep. AEV Prospector XL, baby. You want to do a full size, that's the way to go. Good job, man. That was awesome. While the wall is the primary attraction of this trail, it has even more tricks up its sleeve once you've made the climb. And so with light beginning to fell us, we picked our way along the last obstacles in search of camp. What a day. We were hoping to camp here on this lake, but somebody beat us to it. But I just wanted to come and take a quick peek before we roll on somewhere else. That's one fun trail right there. Well, not much further down the trail or up the trail, I should say. I think we found camp. This might even fall into Epic Camp category. It's not bad. What do you think? That work? After settling into our Epic Camp, it was time to check in with the girls. So I brought out a combo we've been testing over the past few months. Starlink Internet and a home built lithium power box, complete with a 120 volt inverter for running the system. So far, this has been an incredible addition for staying connected. And it was also helpful to Jason and our new friend Mike to use for checking in with their families as well. Feel free to click the link in the description below for a how to on building your own power box like this. We'll also be covering our thoughts on Starlink in an upcoming video, so be sure to subscribe if you haven't already. If you watched the last nine episodes, then, you know, we've been sticking to fast and easy meals up in Alaska. And while the freeze dried mountain house meals are some of the best on the market, it was time to return to our roots with something a little more substantial. And I think I know just the perfect meal to kick off our return to lower 48 travels. Might have went a little overboard with this brontosaurus size steak. Let's see if I can handle it, though. That right there is about a 20 ounce ribeye. We're ready to do the thing. Get hot, baby. Stay to feed. Oh, yeah. Talk to me. Talk to me. Hey. That's how it's done. Time for you to have a little nappy poo. Move over, veggies. We've got more important things to do. Look at that. And enough for steak and eggs in the morning. I hope you've enjoyed the first leg of our Colorado adventure. We'll see you back here next week for even more travels in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. And, hey, if you really love what we do, then please consider supporting our channel over at lso.link forward slash support where you'll get access to all kinds of bonus info like campsites, pre-traveled routes, and exclusive videos like our new Coffee with Kevin sessions, where I cover everything from candid product reviews, upcoming adventures, and behind-the-scenes antics. Until next time, remember to stay curious and leave it better than you found it.