Trip from Salt Lake City to Rocky Mountain NP June 2016

[Love My Westy]

Loaded up and ready in SLC. Our cat Carmen is anxious for the trip.
We are actually headed to a workshop my wife wants to go to in Loveland Co., so we thought we would see RMNP along the way. She "Let" me drive my '86 Westy Weekender since it was a short trip (only 10 days).

Rolling over Daniels Summit on US 40

Rest Stop on US 40

Carmen rides on the jump seat and occasionally rides between the two front seats on a pillow.

Our first night was at the Green River Campground in Dinosaur National Monument. It was 95 degrees when we got there. Thank God we were headed for the mountains.

The wildlife

Over Rabbit Ears Pass east of Steamboat Springs. We were hoping to find some dispersed camping but it was raining and the snow hadn't melted off so most sideroads were still closed.

We ended up driving all the way to Grandby, CO and camping on Grand Lake, just outside of Rocky Mtn NP. We had a nice dry night. Not exactly a pristine backcountry campsite but we felt luck to find it considering it was a Friday night and everyplace was crowded.

Entering the west entrance of RMNP

Camping at Timber Creek Campground, the only cg on the west side of the Park.

Elk in the campground. Carmen, our cat was really interested.

Looking west at the Never Summer Mountain Range from the Trail Ridge Road which takes us over a 12,200 ft pass.

Crossing the Continental Divide

Approaching 12,000 feet on the Trail Ridge Road

View from just below the pass on the east side.

Caught these people from a distance admiring my Westy at a turnout

Looking down on Estes Park, CO.

We stayed two nights at a private CG at Estes Park, then two more nights at Glacier Basin CG back in the Park before driving the Peak to Peak Highway south to join I-70 for a few miles and then back on US 40 toward Grandby.

Climbing Berthoud Pass (11,300 ft) I took this photo of my dash to show the coolant temp. It wasn't until later I noticed the odometer was right on 156K miles.

We found this campsite just over Berthoud Pass at 10,000+ feet. Nice and cool. It only had a few sites and was full shortly after we got there. It was early afternoon on a Friday.

Did I mention our cat likes camping the our Westy?

On our trip home we ended up driving on a dirt road through and Indian Reservation for five miles to a forest service access to the Uintah Mountains out of Duchesne, UT. where we found this campsite

Note the cat on the string

The drive into Salt Lake was along Utah Highway 35 which runs parallel US 40. It climbs over Wolf Creek Pass and eventually ends up on I-80 near Park City Ut.
All in all, a great trip!

Total trip milage was 1,163. No problems with my original 2.1 pulling the passes especially in the Park where the speed limit was 35 mph. Berthoud pass was multi lane so I wasn't holding people up. I added 1 qt of oil at RMNP. The van ran great!

[Sodo]

Great trip, thanks for posting. Makes me want to get out!
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[dhaavers]

Very nice trip, great report & a very cool cat!

As a kid we put our cat on a leash outside...poor thing HATED it & was VERY CRABBY.
Glad to see that Carmen has adjusted better!

Last time I made that trip I was car camping & dealing with tents the whole way;
Can't wait to get back there in the van! Thanks for posting!

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[Syncro Jael]

That is a great trip. We love heading into Colorado and taking all the back roads. Simply breathtaking scenery.

You would also enjoy the loop Moab, Placerville, Ouray, Silverton, Durango, and back home.

Happy to see others get their vans out and enjoy camping!
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1987 Syncro Westfalia Hightop - NAHT
Subaru EJ25 Forged Frankenmotor, Triple Knob.
Jael = (Mountain Goat)

[dobryan]

How does Carmen do in the heat? Our new cat loves the leash and wants to go out all the time. I'm concerned about our 'Mac' getting overheated on a camping trip. He is very furry...
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[Love My Westy]

We started Carmen on a ferret harness when she was only 3 months old and weighed 2-1/2 lbs. She was going on hikes shortly afterward. She likes to follow a trail.

As far as heat is concerned she likes to lie in the sun until she gets too hot and then moves into the shade. She seems much more tolerant of the heat than a dog would be. I've found her laying in the sun on the dashboard.

We have a bag with netting on it that we carry her in and always have it available to her when she is on the leash. She will run to it if she feels threatened. It is her refuge. She sleeps in it sometimes when we are traveling.

[kennyw]

Nice post. I have been thinking of doing the same trip. I'm going to have to keep hwy 35 in mind as an alternative to US 40.
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'15 Tiguan - Victor
'88 Westy - Maggy

[dobryan]