Ouray Colorado

A few pics of my truck in the Ouray CO area...

 

Damn that's some purty country.

 

Thanks, it is beautiful country. I think this might become an annual trip for the family.

Incidentally we were in Ouray the same time as the FJ Summit.

There are some cool vehicles out there.

 

So much fun up there, what trails did you do? The wife and I were just up there a few weeks back running Engineer Pass, 9ft+ of snow up top still.

 

Corkscrew Gulch & Hurricane Pass
We did make a wrong turn on or going to Hurricane Pass and ended up on private property. Somebody was not very happy with us but at least they did not come out guns a blazin'.

Million Dollar highway from Ouray to Silverton on into Animas Forks. From there we did the Alpine Loop. Engineer Pass to Lake City and Cinnamon Pass back to Silverton with a side trip to American Basin.

Ophir Pass with the alternate trip to Alta Lakes. Alta Lakes was beautiful. Explored some back roads around Alta Lakes. Drove into Telluride and took Imogene Pass back to Ouray.

Mineral Creek Pass

Red Mountain Pass

All were different in difficulty/scenery. We ran into the most snow on Imogene Pass. Several Walls that were above the truck.

Next Year Black Bear and Poughkeepsie Gulch will be on the agenda.

 

Very beautiful country, I'd love to go there sometime.

 

How long did this trip take? Wish you had more time? Was the amount of time you spent this trip ideal?

I was going to go to the same area this past weekend; I had four days off. I would use two days for driving (one day to CO from Texas and one day back) and spend two days driving around the area.

Sadly I was overruled by the lady and we ended up at Padre Island National Seashore and San Antonio, instead.

 

Thread jacker!

 

For when you do get to go...

I never have enough time in Ouray.

This is a great book that covers some of the trails: http://www.funtreks.com/index.php?I...t&view=productdetails&virtuemart_product_id=3

Also, this app ties into their book. The app for your phone or tablet ties into the book. http://www.everytrail.com/search.php?q=ouray,+colorado&sent=true

These have great descriptions about the trails, side excursions while you are on the trail.

Leave enough time to stop and enjoy the land, breath in the fresh thin air at 13,000 feet.

Use the tools I mentioned and you should be able to plan what trails you could do in the time you have allotted. Remember to add in the time driving to the trail head and back to where you are staying.

For instance, we drove Ophir pass into Telluride and Imogene pass back to Ouray. We took a side trip to Alta Lakes after we exited Ophir. Spent some time at the lakes, explored trails around the lake, the ghost town etc. Then we drove into Telluride and spent time in the town walking around and exploring. Then drove Imogene back to Ouray for dinner. We left our cabin at 8AM and did not get back to our cabin until 8PM.

The same goes for the Alpine Loop. This set of trails with a short side trip or two will take you all day long. (a good 10 to 12 hours from where you are staying in Ouray back to where you are staying in Ouray)
We usually take our time, take in the beautiful country, stop and hike, explore some hiking etc.

I hope this helps...

 

Thanks for the link. I did pick up "Backroads and 4WD Trails" off Amazon and that is a great source of information.

I guess I was just wondering if spending two days in CO would be worth the drive from Texas.

PS The Tacoma does kick ass, even in deep sand that supposedly has stopped other 4WD vehicles!

 

These pics are making me anxious! I will be up there in 7 days! Looks like you had fun!

 

Thread resurrect! I'm taking my 16' Taco here the week after the July 4th crowds have left. Can't wait!

 

This was 4/24

 

In Silverton the "4th of July" crowds really don't leave. The 4th is the busiest day in Silverton where 10k people come to see fireworks and then leave but there are so many people from the south that pretty much stay all summer. I'm sure its the same in Ouray.

 

All summer? That's a bummer. Oh well, leaving tomorrow.

 

I havent been up there yet, but friends have said that it was busier this year up in Silverton than they've ever seen. I'm sure you're still going to have a blast.

 

Yep had a blast (gf not so much with the drop-offs and such). It wasn't extremely busy. I found a pretty sweet spot to set up the camper and the trails I drove on were not that busy. I even got a few pics without a vehicle in sight. May be because we went about a week or two too early. Still, way more busy than it was 15 years ago. The trails were tore up too. Mostly rocky instead of dirt like I remember.