10 July 2019
Wolf Creek Pass
After seeing Rob Pickering BTM (Big Truck Master), he quelled my fears that the cabin would not fall off. Like the good old family doctor, Rob measured, crawled under the truck, scratched his chin, jacked up the suspense, did some more chin scratching and after an hour of deliberation and thought he provided very polite delivery, of his findings, he suggested I have distributed to much load toward the passage side. Hey did you know that diesel weights in at something like 7 pounds a gallon. Also did you know the Tortuga has a 120 gallon fuel tank. The lesson less fuel less tilt, Much better then thinking the cabin was going to fall off at the next turn. The lesson is that we all know lots of good stuff, it just a matter of putting what we know together to think through the problem.
Thank You Rob/Head west on, to see family in Farmington. The plan was to leave La Juta and make a straight line drive across Colorado to Farmington New Mexico. It would be a two day trip that would take the Tortuga from flat agricultural lands to snow capped peaks. The transistion in topography starts around Walsenburg, which would be a good place to stop for the night.
Lathroup State Park on West Highway 160 right outside Walsenburg beckoned the Tortuga for the night. This is one of Colorado’s first State Parks and has two lakes for fishing, swimming and boating, with the back drop of the Spanish Peaks that have been land marks for navigation before the use of GPS.
With little attention to the map and what could be expected the following day the Tortuga was off. The Spanish Peaks to the south as HWY 160 lead the way to Farmington. The flat agricultural land of western Colorado transformed to rolling hills to tree lined mountains to snow covered peaks with no trees. With little traffic on the road it was easy to find yourself gawking at the magnificent transition in scenior. It was also easy to lose track of slower Tortuga speeds with the increase in elevation. Third gear, 30 miles an hour then it dawn on the Tortuga what was about to happen, we were going to Wolf Creek Pass at 1000 feet.
Not a problem. On top of the pass where you could see the tree line stop and the snow cover peaks where with-in touching distance. Pulling off to the side to enjoy the view and the cool temperatures was the moment that had to be captured. This is why a few weeks away from the heat would be worth all the effort, Low 50s in the middle of the day, Sweet!
It was then, the Tortuga’s attentions turned to a big yellow sign, warning of what was ahead. What goes up must come down. To continue on HWY 160 it would take going down a 7 degree slope with countless hair pin curves for 7 miles. At that point the realization hits that the Tortuga, how capablile is the Tortuga a 32 year old truck. Some satisfaction was had, by knowing that new master and brake cylinders had recently been installed but the Tortuga was still vintage. What didn’t help the matters was a secondary warning that made it quite clear, if your over 26000 pounds top speed would be 25 mphs. Well the Tortuga is not that chucky, and almost 6000 pounds under the stated threshold, but 25 MPH seemed to be a great recommendation.
Down the hill in one piece, OLD TRUCKS RULE! Not a problem, the view was spectacular and the Tortuga was going faster that the 18 wheelers, untill flat ground. Onward to Farmington
.What a day form the tree line with snow at Wolf Creek Pass to a 90 degree desert in Farmington all in 270 miles .
Three great things I recognized about Colorado this day.
- Signs every few miles point to one side or the other with a very pleasing statement for an off road truck like the Tortuga, “ACCESS TO PUBLIC LANDS”.
- diesel prices coming in a $2.85 a gallon, and the Tortuga LOVE diesel.
- It was cooling down to 60 degrees at night.. I wonder what would happen if I did not go back to Galveston,, You know that little island off the coast of Texas.
