The Mountains are Calling, and I Must Go

It was pouring down rain and I was outside strapping the gas tank to the roof and loading my, preparing for another cross-country trip, seemingly after just finishing my Moab trip just a few months ago. I had put together a plan of sorts to go to Colorado and spend the week off roading and exploring the Colorado backcountry, but I didn’t have the time to put nearly the planning hours into this trip that I did for my Moab trip. An unexpected week paid off meant I had an unexpected opportunity to do something cool. Sure, I could have just sat at home and “relaxed” all weekend, but where’s the fun in that?

I got everything loaded into the 4Runner, and off I went. My first stop would be at my parent’s house in Alabama to spend two nights, change my oil, rotate my tires, and finish prepping for my trip. Mileage leaving South Carolina:

IMG_20170630_173249416 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

After arriving at home late on Friday night I got up on Saturday and changed my oil and rotated my tires. I shook the suspension components and checked the other fluids. She was ready to go. No other steps required. This is a Toyota after all, Let’s go Places!

Day 1

The plan was to go shopping Sunday morning for food, and hit the road around 1:00 PM or so. I wanted to get to Oklahoma City before I stopped. Fast forward a few hours and it’s 3:30 PM and I’m on my way to the store… I finally got on the road at 5:30 PM. Destination: Unknown.

I was going to drive until I got tired or found a good place to stop. I made it out of Alabama in pretty good time, but unfortunately my next state was Mississippi. You know the Alabama motto, “Thank God for Mississippi!” This slogan held true, as I wanted to get out of Mississippi as fast as I could. The sunset in Mississippi wasn’t bad, but I knew this wouldn’t hold a candle to anything I was about to witness.

DSC07706 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07707 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07710 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07711 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

After finally clearing the Tennessee state line things didn’t get much better. I was in Memphis. I hate big cities, and Memphis is a big city. Good thing is it was already after 9:00 PM so traffic wasn’t too bad and I was in Arkansas in no time. Here’s a picture of the Arkansas state line! It’s as clear as the bodies of water in this part of the country…

2017-09-28_05-04-49 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Driving through Arkansas was great, super flat and almost no elevation meant even my heavy 4Runner with 33’s and 4.10’s could easily cruise without downshifting. A friend called me as I was going through Arkansas so we caught up with each other over the phone, shared camping stories, and 2 hours later I was nearly through Arkansas. Now it was around midnight, and I ran into some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever experienced while driving. There were inches of water standing or running across the interstate. This is what I was driving through.

Screenshot_20170703-004555 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

After I cleared that mess I was able to get back to a good cruising speed, and started to think about where I would be stopping for the night. I had initially planned on camping at one of two state parks on the east side of Oklahoma City, but I kept seeing lightning to the south-west, so I figured it would not be ideal to be sleeping in a tent in case a storm would roll through. That’s not how I wanted this trip to start. So instead I just kept driving.

Eventually I got to that magically point where you’re really the only one on the interstate. This is my favorite time to drive. I just kept driving until it was about 3 AM. I figured at this point I should probably stop, even though I really wasn’t tired. I drove another 20 miles until I found an exit that claimed to have a Best Western. Wrong. I exited and then realized the hotel was another 15 miles on a side road. Nope. I kept driving.

At nearly 4 AM I finally found another exit with civilization. I wasn’t going to pay for a hotel, but merely sleep in their parking lot. I exited and found a Holiday Inn Express that was well lit and looked like a safe place for me to sleep in the 4Runner for a few hours. I rearranged my belongings, cracked the windows, laid my seat back and took the headrest out and I had a make shift bed.

 

Day 2

At 7 AM I woke up to one of the loudest birds I’ve ever heard. It was similar to the heard of Turkey’s that tried to maul our group when we were camping in Moab, but this was one bird causing all this ruckus as he was fighting a 5th gen 4Runner.

IMG_20170703_074736637 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

IMG_20170703_074800750 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I have no idea what this bird was, but I followed it around the parking lot for a bit trying to get a decent picture, watched it try and pick a fight with a Harley’s chrome tailpipe, and chase every bird in a 100 yard radius away.

Now it was about 7:30 AM, and time to get on the road. I had driven more than halfway last night so that was a plus. Only 10 hours to go to Colorado Springs, my first stop. My friend that rode with me from Alabama to Moab wasn’t able to join me on the drive to Colorado due to prior engagements, but he was able to leave his car at my apartment Monday morning and fly to Colorado Springs. His flight was scheduled to get in around 8:30 PM and I was scheduled to be there around 5:30 PM so I was going to have some time to kill. I got through Oklahoma City pretty quick, and then it was onto Texas.

DSC07712 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

IMG_20170703_074800750 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I lived in Texas for a few years as a child, but never really crossed across the Panhandle so this was new territory for me. I stopped, grabbed a couple pictures at the state line, and noticed some wild watermelons growing. They seemed to be everywhere after I noticed them.

IMG_20170703_111551513 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07718 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The 4Runner struggled to maintain the 75 MPH speed limits through Texas in OD, so I switched OD off and just cruised in 3rd gear for a good bit of the distance through Texas. I guess I was climbing in elevation as well as driving into a headwind. If you picked someone up and stuck them in Texas I think they’d be able to tell they’re in Texas. Everything is bigger there, it’s so open, everyone drives a truck with a brush guard, and it just has a Texas vibe to it.

DSC07713 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07723 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07724 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

After finishing up the long journey through Texas I finally hit New Mexico. The reflection from the 4Runner as I pulled up the sign gave an interesting look to the sign.

DSC07735 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07736 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07740 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07741 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I gassed up in New Mexico (mistake, gas was way cheaper in Texas) and continued onwards. Eventually I ended up driving towards a storm that had a good bit of lightning in it. I was able to grab a few lighting shots, as well as some of the generally scenery.

DSC07755 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07818 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And over here it doesn’t even look like it’s storming…

DSC07756 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC07945 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08276 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

This one came out the best.

DSC08426 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08426a by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08426b by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08471 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

New Mexico definitely keeps up with their speed limits more than any of the other states I had passed through. At one point I saw an i8 being chased by an F150 cop. I’m not sure exactly what was going on, but I had the impression the i8 was trying to outrun him…

After the storm cleared I crept closer and closer to the Rocky Mountains, than I start noticing this weird looking mountain to my right. It looked like a volcano I thought, but that seemed silly. Then I saw a sign for Mount Cauplin Volcano, next right. I got hard on the brakes and made the next right. I was curious and had time to kill. His flight was now delayed to 9:00 PM. Thanks Atlanta.

DSC08477 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

First, I stopped on the way to the volcano to ask some locals for directions.

DSC08480 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

With their help, I eventually made it. I figured I’d be able to drive right up it since I could see the road going up the volcano from the main highway, but I was wrong. There was a little shack there that wanted $7 to drive to the top and they told me it would be at least a 20-minute wait as they had met their quota on the number of cars that could be up there. I said no thanks, I’ve got better things to do and left. Maybe on the way back I could stop back in there I thought, but at the current point in time it didn’t seem worth it. Kinda a rip off…

DSC08486 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Just a few more hours to go and I would be in Colorado Springs.

DSC08493 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

As I ventured further north the Rocky Mountains started to come into view.

DSC08494 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Then all of a sudden, the Interstate started to climb at a pretty steep grade, and then bam. I had made it to Colorado! Under 24 hours to go from Alabama to Colorado. I think that’s pretty good time.

DSC08503 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08510 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I still had about 2 hours to go to Colorado Springs, but it was also only about 3:00 PM. So I had time to kill somewhere, doing something. I passed through Pueblo, and then stopped at a rest stop to figure out what my game plan was. I had marked a few trails near Colorado Springs that I thought I could try if I had the time, and I decided Mount Baldy would be a good option.

I set the GPS in that direction, and off I went. Colorado Springs was around 5,000 feet above sea level, and the road going to Mount Baldy quickly went from paved to dirt, and from 5,000 feet to much higher. But not before you pass through a nice neighborhood on your way to the trailhead…

DSC08513 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Gaining elevation over Colorado Springs.

DSC08515 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The washboards were a little rough without airing down…

DSC08529 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I didn’t think I’d actually be able to make it to the top of Mount Baldy before I had to turn around and head back to the airport. I came around a bend in the road and there was no one but me out there at the time. Suddenly I straighten the wheels back out and I hear this loud bang that sounded like a gunshot. I had no idea what was going on.

My first though was I blew a tire, but the 4Runner was still driving fine and if I blew one of my ST Maxx’s on this dirt road I would have been ashamed of their ability. My second though was gun shots. Then all of a sudden, I hear another one, and it scared me to death again. I still wasn’t sure what was going on, but I wasn’t going to stop. I kept going, a little quicker than I was before…

I drove a little further and then came to a stop to try and figure out what was going on. I turned around and saw the one potato chip bag behind me were about 3 times the size the normally are, and totally inflated. Like high pressure inflated… Apparently the rapid elevation change caused them to swell up major, and even start exploding as I started climbing. I had climbed about 4,000 feet in 45 minutes or so, but I never expected that to happen… Relieved that I was not being shot at and the truck wasn’t falling apart, I continued on my way up. Another bag popped a couple minutes later, and scared me once again, but at least I knew what it was.

Bad picture, but it kinda shows the swelling.

Screenshot_20170928-172846 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08525 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08528 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

About 7 PM I came to this stunning overlook, looking out over the city of Colorado Springs. It was quite a view. A group of guys asked me to take their picture, so I did. Then the one turned to me and said “I’m from Alabama. We don’t have anything like this down there.” I said “Me too! Where are you from?” He said Mobile, and I said Huntsville. He was for some reason stunned that I didn’t know anyone from Mobile, but he didn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed. They went their way and I went mine.

DSC08532 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I climbed up a short steep trail to get a better vantage point, and was completely winded and could taste iron/blood in my mouth (common thing if I go for a run which I never do) but I had only gone a few hundred feet. This elevation stuff is no joke…

DSC08535 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I caught my breath and headed back to the truck. I hurried down the mountain, at one point passing a Jeep Cherokee packed full inside with people and with 4 people riding on the roof. Safety first kids! After arriving at the airport, I took a sink shower and picked up my friend. We grabbed a quick bite to eat, and headed off towards the San Isabel Mountains.

We camped near the Fourmile Area the first night, the moon was bright when we arrived, but we were exhausted and went straight to bed.

 

Day 3

Being baked alive in our tents was not spectacular. It was a little chilly at night so we had on long pants, sweatshirt, and sleeping bags. In the morning, our tents turned into little greenhouses that just trapped the heat and made things miserable, until you got out and the temperature was perfect and there wasn’t even a touch of humidity in the air. The view was alright, I mean it’s no Mississippi.

DSC08539 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08538 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08536 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08540 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We rode the trail a little bit around the Fourmile Area, but eventually headed towards Beuna Vista, CO. We stopped here, gassed up and grabbed a few supplies, and headed towards Mount Princeton.

DSC08546 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08547 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Our first real trail in Colorado sorta. This trail was way busier than I expected, but it was alright. It was pretty tight in some places, and some people don’t seem to understand the concept of uphill traffic has right of way, and pulling off, slowing down, or stopping to let traffic pass or move over. They just keep driving at you assuming you’ll get out of the way.

The higher we got the less Honda Pilots and Rav4s we saw. At one point, I had to turn around and back down a very tight switchback because of a Jeep that didn’t seem to want to stop after he saw me coming… He narrowly squeezed by, but he made it. Then pretty close to the summit there was a Ford Explorer. Like the new CUV unibody things. Basically, a minivan. We had just come out of a very narrow area with nowhere to pull over. I could see a place wide enough to park 3 vehicles but this guy would not back up. I continued to drive at him because I had nowhere to go and he threw his hands in the air. I could now see he had ripped both his running boards off and they were bungee strapped to the car. I got out and asked him to back up to the clear space. It wasn’t hard. Literally a straight shot, nothing challenging at all. “I’ll try” was his response… He certainly tried. It took him several minutes and holding the steering wheel straight seemed to be a challenge for him, but there was eventually enough space for me to squeeze by. Thankfully the rest of the journey was clear with no more traffic, and we made it up to the summit. Welcome to Colorado!

DSC08548 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We ate lunch up here, admiring the views, and taking in the scenery. Not a bad way to celebrate the 4th of July.

DSC08558 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08553 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08556 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08554 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08559 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I heard a strange hissing noise coming from the truck so I opened the gas tank and let that vent. I guess the pressure changes messed with that too, just like the chip bags. Afterwards we decided we should get moving onto our next stop, Tincup Pass.

On the way down we got stuck behind a Honda Pilot so it was slow going. We finally got back to pavement and set our sights towards the ghost town of St. Elmo. We got there and popped into the little store to ask about Tincup Pass. The man working there said the pass was still snowed in at 6 miles in, but just barely. He said the views are great once you crest the tree line, so we decided we’d see how far we could make it. He had also mentioned a man who spent the last week camping up there, and he had spotted several moose and elk.


The first several miles of the trail you’re still below the tree line, so there isn’t much big scenery to see, but it’s still pretty and a very fun trail.

DSC08570 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08573 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We stopped at all of the clearings like this, to look around and see if there were any moose or elk lurking around. We kept getting closer and closer to the 6 mile point the man told us the snow was at and I was beginning to worry that we would never crest the tree line.

DSC08564 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08568 by Unner Unner, on Flickr


And then we did, and he was right. It was beautiful.

DSC08575 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08579 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08587 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08594 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08596 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08597 by Unner Unner, on Flickr


Unfortunately, not much farther past this we found the snow. There was almost enough space for the 4Runner in my opinion, and I contemplated trying to get through it, but decided to not risk it. I was wide enough for ATVs I thought but the group in front of us chose to turn around. We parked the 4Runner and decided to walk the couple hundred yards to the pass.

DSC08603 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08607 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08617 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

As we walked away from the 4Runner towards the pass a couple UTVs pulled up behind us. These could have made it through as well in my opinion, it wasn’t that bad, but instead these morons decided to drive back around to a different part of the switch backs heading up to the pass and try a shortcut that some other brainiac UTV riders had used before.

DSC08619 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08621 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Now this is definitely illegal, and these people should know this. I was not happy to see these people destroying such a beautiful place because they were too stupid to know how to do anything other than put their right foot down on the gas pedal. This tool in the orange one would make it about 20 yards spin his tires for 10 seconds, then back up and try again, just faster. I yelled down to them something like “You aren’t supposed to do that!”, but I wasn’t that nice. They stopped looked at me and said something I couldn’t hear. Another man walking to the pass said “They better hope a ranger doesn’t show up.” I really wish a ranger had showed up, or I had cell signal and could have called the ranger’s office.

Here's a few pictures of the idiots themselves. If you happen to know them do us all a favor, let them know they’re idiots.

DSC08621 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08622 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

People like this are also the reason I do not like UTVs or their owners. I’m sure some of them are good people, but it seems like 95% of them are just rich morons with no respect for the environment or other people.

We got back in the 4Runner and started heading back towards St. Elmo. Things were starting to look a little stormy…

DSC08623 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

With the weather looking a little rough, and it getting late in the day we decided to start making our way towards the San Juan area. Even the paved roads in that part of Colorado are fun. Lots of ups and downs, and windy roads. We passed over Monarch Pass, once again crossing over the continental divide.

DSC08626 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08627 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08628 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We pushed through driving through some beautiful country. We stopped and gassed up in Gunnison, Colorado as the sun was starting to get low. They were preparing for their 4th of July activities, but we didn’t have time to stay. I cleaned the windshield here as I always do when I get gas, and not 25 miles down the road there were more bugs on the windshield than I had ever seen in such a short amount of time.

The sun set, and we continued onward, now getting closer to our final destination. We started descending out of the mountains into a valley of sorts, when we start seeing fireworks off in the distance. We were approaching Montrose, CO and got to watch their entire 4th of July fireworks show during our descent on Highway 80. That was pretty neat.

We stopped in Montrose, cleaned the windshield, grabbed food and tried to beat the crowds leaving the firework show. We did pretty good beating them, and were out of there in no time, headed towards Ouray. Traffic in Ouray heading towards Silverton was non-existent. Traffic going north out of Ouray was horrendous. They were stopped for miles…

We passed by all the people with their cars shut off and lights off, and got on the million dollar highway. Now I knew we were where I wanted to be. Even though it was dark you could still see how breathtaking the area would be, and how dangerous even the paved roads in this area can be.

We camped off towards Clear Lake Trail this night, just north of Silverton. We passed several pay sites, or sites right off the road that just would not do. A small side road appeared that we ventured down and dead ended in a large flat area, right along a creek, with mountains all around, and an old mining structure near. This would do.

DSC08655 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08667 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08671a by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08671 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08672 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08673 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08674 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08675 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08677 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Pretty neat what a little photo editing will do.

DSC08677a by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08678 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08679 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08684 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I’m really liking the amber flood lights on the front bumper. They’re excellent for setting up camp. Not obscenely bright so it doesn’t hurt your eyes, but plenty of light to cook dinner, set up tents, and get a fire going with.

DSC08643 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

This was the highest elevation I had camped at yet.

Screenshot_20170705-014026 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

 

Day 4

Sheltered in the shade of the valley we weren’t roasted alive in the tents. I unzipped my tent to this.

DSC08690 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08689 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08686 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08691 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08694 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08698 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Having not showered in a few days and camping right next to a crystal clear creek that was obviously snow melt run off I decided to take this opportunity to take a shower/bath. That water was COLD. Not that I wasn’t expecting it, but after less than a minute in it my legs were numb. Probably not the best idea to get into water this cold at 10,568 feet above sea level as a flat lander, but it was nice to feel clean again.

After I regained feeling in my extremities I aired down for the first time on this trip, and off we went. Knowing we would be here for a few days it was worth it to air down, and the ride was soooo much better. Should have done it before, but I didn’t want to air back up. The weather looked perfect today, so we were going to head into Silverton and do the Alpine loop. I was pretty excited!

DSC08699 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We got started on the road towards Animas Forks, which starts out smooth, but gets pretty rough as you go further. We were following an ATV, going right at the speed limit. The ATV stopped when there was another ATV and pickup stopped in the road and the rider got off and started walking towards us. I realized now he was a ranger and was thinking “What did I do wrong?” I rolled the window down and he said “Just a friendly reminder, the speed limit here is 15 mph. Well maybe you can go a little faster, but 15 mph.” With a quick yessir we were on our way. This wouldn’t be the first time we would see him.

Now we were on the first trail of the day, Engineer Pass.

DSC08700 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08701 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08701 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08703 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We started up the trail, taking in the amazing scenery. We took our time, not going fast or anything. Then a mile or two into the trail that ranger comes flying by us on his ATV. Alright…

There was a lot of traffic coming downhill at this part of the trail so I pulled off and let them go by while we stopped to catch our breath, from the altitude and the scenery…

DSC08704 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08707 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08708 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08710 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08713 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08721 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

They cleared out and we started to make our way up. There was a full-size Chevy coming down the trail. Not sure how he was going to fair through some of the tighter areas, but that’s not my concern. The 4Runner handled it with ease.

We stopped at this large amount of snow to get a picture next to the 4Runner. Unknowingly this would be nothing compared to what we would see later.

DSC08726 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Still climbing at a good rate I saw another ATV coming up behind me so I pulled over to let him pass. It was another Ranger. And he once again stopped at my window… I rolled it down and he says “Roll Tide!” and drives off. No matter how hard I try I can’t get away from Alabama…

We made it to the top, and waited for the Jeeps to leave. It was just us for a brief moment so I pulled up next to the sign and got my obligatory picture. And a few more.

DSC08736 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08731 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08732 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

An older couple was up there in a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee. I asked if they were from around here, and he said they were form Dallas, but they had been coming up here for 35 years. I figured he knew a little about the area so I asked him some questions about Cinnamon Pass and American Basin. We were having a nice conversation about the scenery and such when his wife walks up and says “When he dies I’m gonna spread his ashes up here.”

Uhmmm. Nice to meet you too…

They went back down the Lake City side, and we stayed at the top to eat lunch. A young couple pulled up and asked us to take their picture. We probably left a great impression of Alabama, my friend was wrist deep in a salsa jar and I had just closed the peanut butter and had the spoon we used to spread it in my mouth. I asked if they wanted me to move my truck and they said no. They probably wanted to get away from us redneck folk.

They went back down the Lake City side as well. We got back in the truck and headed down. Just a few minutes down the trail we got stuck behind the older couple and the younger couple as well. The old man had told me he couldn’t figure out the 4-wheel drive in his new Jeep and he was going about 2 mph downhill. They were nice enough to pull off and let the younger couple and us pass, and then the younger couple let us pass as they were in a stock Jeep Cherokee.

DSC08739 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

IMG_20170705_133250204 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We made our way down headed towards Schafer Gulch. I figured we’d go explore it a little. We got to a creek crossing that I was having trouble seeing how deep it was. Then two ATV’s pulled up behind us. It was the two rangers from earlier. They asked if there was a problem, I said no, just trying to see how deep it is. They pulled closer and the one said “You want to go first or me first, Tim?!” Tim replied “You’ve got the diff lock, you go first! I’ve got the winch so I can pull this Toyota through.” So off the first one went, followed by Tim. They were nice enough to wait on the other end to make sure I made it through, which I did no problem. I gave them a thumbs up and off they went. Here’s a little video of them crossing.

VID_20170705_134217877 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I ended up following them a pretty good ways down the trail. It was a nice trail, good scenery, and a little rougher and more challenging then engineer pass. A few tight switch backs and some off-camber stuff cut into the trail from water runoff.

DSC08740 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08743 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08742 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08749 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

After a few miles, we decided to turn around. Looking at the GPS it looked like this trail took you back towards the beginning of Engineer Pass which we didn’t have time to do. We had a lot of ground to cover today. Crossing the creek again.

DSC08745 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We finished up Engineer Pass, got on pavement in Lake City for a couple miles, and then it was back to dirt on Cinnamon Pass. The weather was starting to do afternoon Colorado things again so we didn’t stop as much to take pictures, but did manage to get a few.

DSC08753 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08760 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We took the turn off for American Basin, which is also where Handies Peak is. I had read this was one of the easiest 14ers to summit in Colorado, so I was thinking it would be a couple hours to go up and down. The weather wasn’t looking great, but we still had what we thought would be enough daylight so we parked and started to get ready.

DSC08761 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08764 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

There was one Tacoma parked there, and I could see them walking down towards their truck. I figured I’d ask their opinion on whether or not it was doable today. He had some hiking stickers on his truck so I figured he would be knowledgeable. I walked up to them to ask a few questions and then it started to rain lightly. After talking to him and him telling us it took them 6 hours to go to the top and back I figured it would be best that we just continue on Cinnamon Pass, rather than get stuck somewhere on the mountain with fading light and storms rolling in.

And roll in they did. We left American Basin and started up the switchbacks up to the top of Cinnamon Pass. Before reaching the pass I had to stop and get a picture next to the “snowplow” they use to clear these trails...

DSC08765 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08767 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08770 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And take a couple pictures of some more Marmots. These were interesting little creatures. Never seen them before, we don’t have them down south. We had no idea what they were until reading a sign at American Basin.

DSC08773 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I also thought this was pretty interesting and we saw it everywhere in Colorado. The water running underneath the snow melting it, but leaves the top part of it. Making a snow bridge of sorts. We saw some that were much larger going over full blown creeks, but it’s easy to see what I’m talking about in this picture.

DSC08776 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Finally, we crested the pass, right as the rain started to come down. It started as a light sprinkle, but turned into a pretty good rain. I snapped a few more pictures and hopped in the truck, ready to begin our descent down Cinnamon pass. I only got a few pictures coming down Cinnamon Pass since it was raining.

DSC08788 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08789 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08792 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Don’t eat the pink snow.

DSC08796 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08797 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We got to the bottom and the rain had cleared out. We sat in Animas Forks for a while, trying to figure out our plans for the rest of the day and where we would be camping. We picked a spot off one of the trails near Silverton, I can’t remember the name now, but it’s in the Charles Wells book. The next stop was Silverton, we needed a couple things from the grocery store and wanted to stop by a souvenir shop to grab a T-shirt. We were browsing through the shirts when I heard someone talking to the owner about a trail opening for the first time today. While paying I asked what trail they were talking about and he said the lady had told him Imogene Pass had opened up today! Those plans we made at Animas Forks, throw them out the window. Imogene Pass was back on the itinerary. I had lost hope that this one would be open after all the reading I did about the huge snows this year and how the Telluride side of these passes seems to take forever to get plowed. I had even called Ranger offices during my drive up to Colorado and they all seemed pessimistic that it would be opened this week.

We left the store and popped in at the general store there in town. After a quick review of the map I figured the best course of action would be to camp near Ophir Pass and take that over into Telluride and then get on Imogene in Telluride and ride it back over towards Ouray/Silverton.

Leaving Silverton I gassed up and probably had the worst gas mileage I think I had recorded yet. Closer to 5 MPG than 10 MPG… All that 4Lo action really does a number on your gas mileage. We set our sights towards Ophir Pass, keeping it slow on pavement since I wasn’t going to air up for a few miles of pavement.

We pulled off near a power station where there was supposed to be a camp site, which there was but it was close to the road and didn’t have the views we wanted. Moab and the Rockies have made me into a campsite elitist of sorts, only the best will do. So we drove a little further and got onto Ophir Pass. We drove a couple miles up, when there was a tight trail going off to the left. Seemed like a decent place to explore. We pulled in and it took us into a very tight switchback that was a little tricky because the road had a ditch cut into it from the runoff, but the 4Runner pulled through no problem. We passed two campsites hoping the higher we went, the better the views would get. Then we came across a 2nd Gen Tacoma parked off to the side, no people anywhere near though. I drove another hundred yards or so, through some nasty swampy mud, only to realize the road dead ended there. So now I backed through the mud and all the way out until it was wide enough to turn around.

We took a short side road that took us back to Ophir Pass and went a little further, finding another side road that would have had spectacular views, but there was no space on this road. I felt like I was driving a semi-truck down this road, but nope, just my little 3rd Gen 4Runner. After a while of going down roads like this part of you says, “Turn around, there won’t be anything” but another part of you says “Keep going, there will be something spectacular.”

Unfortunately, there was nothing spectacular. It dead ended at private property, which meant I now had the joy to turn around on this road. This was one of those times I truly appreciated the size of the 3rd gen.

We had lost pretty much all light at this point and decided the second spot we passed earlier was our best option. Up and through the tight switch back again and we were there. We set up camp, made dinner, had a few beers, looking up the entire time, admiring the beauty that surrounded us from all sides at nearly 11,500 feet.

 

Day 5

We hadn’t picked too bad of a site after all…

DSC08807 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08799 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08801 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08803 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08809 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Making breakfast in the crisp and refreshing Rocky Mountain air we continued to admire the surroundings. With Unner packed up and ready for today’s adventure we continued on Ophir Pass. This trail was really not much of a trail more like a very rough gravel road, as evidenced by the Nissan Versa we passed on the way to the pass. We reached the top, and the views down into the valley were astounding.

DSC08817 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08811 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

After this point the trail got much rougher, no way a versa was making it down this, unless you pushed it off the edge… There is no passing room on this side of the trail, only a few pull off spots. We got stuck here waiting for a few jeeps to make their way up. That was OK though, we had an OK view…

DSC08818 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08820 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08821 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08822 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We made it down off the really rocky section and the road levelled out some more. We passed through the tiny town of Ophir, noting how everyone had an insane amount of firewood stockpiled already. Then the road turned into something I was more used to seeing. Red dirt and muddy water… Unfortunately my pictures seem to be lacking on this trip, I need to remember to take more next time.

DSC08824 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We got on the highway for a few miles, going into Telluride. We stopped at the grocery store there, got some more water and got back in the 4Runner. The weather was starting to not look so great already and it was still fairly early in the day. I wasn’t going to let some cloud cover keep me from running Imogene Pass though.

The beginning of the pass had A LOT of traffic. All the tour guide companies were bringing their morning load of tourists down from the pass I suppose. Then we got stuck behind a Jeep that was completely decked out, but driving quite slow. He eventually pulled over and let us pass, as did another jeep we came up on. Now there was no one in front of us, and we were climbing fast.

Looking down over Telluride, and over towards Black Bear Pass. Another trail I was REALLY hoping would be open before I had to leave.

DSC08826 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08827 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08828 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08829 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08830 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08832 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08833 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Coming around this tight turn I was greeted by a JK. I pulled to the inside to let them pass on the outside, but they just kept coming. While we figured out how to get around this the people I passed earlier pulled right up on me. Great… We eventually got the people behind me to pull off to leave them just enough space to squeeze through. This neat tunnel was right past where this happened. I wanted to grab a picture from inside the tunnel, but since there were people behind me I just pushed through.

DSC08834 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Weather not looking great over towards Black Bear Pass.

DSC08836 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08838 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08838 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08840 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08841 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Some old mining area, getting close to the pass.

DSC08842 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08844 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08845 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I think I’ve got all that.

DSC08846 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The weather moving in towards us. And what the weather looked like in the direction we were going. The weather did add a pretty neat effect to some of the pictures though.

DSC08851 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08848 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And then suddenly I was in the biggest snow I’d ever seen. This is what they had plowed just the day before, and I’m still not sure how you go about plowing 20+ feet of snow. This was seriously cool to drive through.

DSC08853 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08854 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08855 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08858 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Keeping an eye on the weather, definitely don’t want to be at the summit when these storms roll through. I’d rather not be a lighting rod…

DSC08863 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08865 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The roads here are incredibly steep, not like Fins n Things, but the road can stay like this for several hundred yards. The pass is in sight now though.

DSC08866 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Boom!

DSC08867 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08868 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Looking towards Telluride.

DSC08870 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08871 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08873 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08875 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And back towards Ouray.

DSC08876 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08879 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

It’s amazingly beautiful looking down from the top here, but it was also incredibly cold. The wind was wiping probably close to 40 MPH, plus it was pretty cold up there. The wind chill must have been in the 20’s. I couldn’t feel my ears after being outside for just a few minutes. In July…

Lots of other people pulled up to the sign now, so we headed out. I turned the heat on at this point too. A first for me in July… We drove a couple hundred yards and saw a little side shoot that went off to an overlook.

DSC08886 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

A few glamour shots of the 4Runner.

DSC08887 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08888 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08889 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And some more pictures of the weather that was knocking on our door at this point. We were probably the only ones stupid enough to be on the mountain with the weather looking like this, but what can I say, we’re from Alabama.

DSC08891 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08892 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08894 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Some pictures on the way down. There were some optional lines that I took on the way down that made it pretty interesting. Plus creek crossings are always fun!

DSC08895 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08896 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08901 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08902 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08904 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08907 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08910 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And here the rain started coming down, HARD.

DSC08912 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08913 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

It was pouring the rest of the way down. Which means not a whole lot of pictures. We did pass a group with a first gen 4Runner that were heading up. He was driving towards us with his window down in the pouring down and his hand out, like he wanted a high five. I rolled mine down, gave him a high five, and he said something to the effect of “4Runners Rule!”. If you’re on the forum mystery 4Runner owner, nice rig!

We made it to the end of the trail, a few places being a little slippery due to all the rain.

DSC08914 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Now we had to decide what to do. Ouray was the only city in the area we hadn’t been to yet, so I set my sights for that. We pulled into the city right as the rain stopped. We walked around, went in a few of the shops, and grabbed a delicious burger at Maggie’s Kitchen.

IMG_20170706_154847897 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

IMG_20170706_151737379 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The rain had stopped for a while, and it looked like there wasn’t any more on the way so it was time to go hit the dirt again. There were still a bunch of trails in the Animas Forks area that I wanted to run, but didn’t get a chance to earlier. So that was the plan.

Corkscrew Gulch was the first one we would do, and it would link us to a bunch of other ones I had wanted to run. We started off of the Million Dollar highway, below the treeline. We quickly made our way up in altitude, winding through the forest, which was actually a lot of fun. The trees started to clear out and the views started to become spectacular once again.

DSC08915 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08919 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08920 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08921 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

It’s very red in this area, due to either Red Mountain 1 or 2. I’m not sure which is which. The various terrains in Southwest Colorado are amazing. One second it’ll be red, then it’ll be this sandy stuff, then it’ll be rocks, and then you’ll be on regular brown dirt. Or snow.

DSC08928 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08929 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08931 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

This took us to another overlook. We could only drive so far, but hiked the rest of the way up. It’s amazing what the altitude does to you. I couldn’t move too fast or I felt like I was gonna pass out. Or maybe it was the scenery taking my breath away.

DSC08932 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08933 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08935 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The wildflowers, well I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.

DSC08939 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08942 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08945 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

All red on one side, all green on the other.

DSC08948 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08951 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Onto Hurricane Pass we went, and off onto another side trail we also went. This one took us up through some tight switch backs, and then onto an extremely loose and steep road. It’s slightly unnerving feeling rocks move under the weight of your vehicle, but never the less we made it up. The trail was blocked here by snow, but there was a path around (legal, it was to a campsite right here), but it was an extremely steep not so easy looking entrance. I know I could make it down, because gravity still works at elevation, but I wasn’t sure I’d make it back up and there were no good winch points. Since we were alone I decided it was best to leave it for another day.

The view from up here where you can see the trail winding through the mountains was magnificent.

DSC08952 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08954 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08955 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08957 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Back onto the main trail we went. The combination of rocks, blue skies, snow, water, wildflowers, and a brilliant sun make this place truly magical.

DSC08960 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We summited Hurricane Pass, and I got my obligatory picture at with the sign.

DSC08962 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08967 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Looking down into a lake that probably sees very little sun. There was still a lot of ice in this little lake. But the water was so amazingly clear.

DSC08968 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08977 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08979 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

It was interesting as well that they chose to use large branches to mark where the signs were, rather than a long piece of metal. Some of these didn’t stick up very straight as you can see…

DSC08980 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08981 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Some more marmots, they’re fun little creatures, it’s hard to believe they can be so destructive.

DSC08986 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Next stop, California Pass. There was a neat little hiking trail up to a higher vantage point. This put us up over 13,000 feet again. And also left me out of breath.

DSC09023 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The views from here were spectacular though.

DSC08987 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08988 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08990 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08991 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08992 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08996 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The contrast of the tiny flowers that only get to live for a couple months out the year, against the huge towering mountains that are millions of years old makes for bucket list scenery.

DSC08997 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC08999 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09003 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09008 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09010 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09014 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09017 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

With the sun starting to get low, we headed out to finish California Pass, and head back into Animas Forks. We spent some time exploring around the old mining sites there, checking out the abandoned crumbling structures.

DSC09031 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09032 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09035 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09036 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09040 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09042 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09043 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09027 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09028 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09030 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We grabbed the Charles Wells book, and began to plan out our campsite for the evening. I had wanted to do Eureka gulch, and Picayune and Placer Gulches, which were both near Animas forks. We figured it was best to find a site along one of these trails, so we could run them in the morning, and then head out towards Black Bear Pass in the afternoon. We found a site listed in the book that said it was half a mile from the Eureka Gulch main trail, going down a little side road. This seemed like a good place to try, so off we went.

We got to Eureka Gulch as the sun was getting very low, we had essentially no light left so we took it easy making sure not to miss the side trail the campsite was supposed to be on. “Is that the road?” I asked turning the truck slightly left. “Nope. That’s a shear cliff. Keep moving.” We finally found the road, and immediately realized that it was not a commonly traveled road. It was narrow, and pretty overgrown. This might scare some people away, but to me this meant there would be some stellar campsites back here. I drove through, trying to avoid the branches as much as I could, but it was more pick the lesser of two evils. Do I hit those branches, or these branches…

We passed by the first few campsites, dismissing them knowing there would be better options farther down the trail. We came across one solid campsite, but there was still the allure of the unknown, so we took a mental note of this site and continued on. Now at this point it was dark and had been dark for quite a while. We continued a little farther past these sites, and came across a part of the trail where there was a tree down blocking some of the trail, but it looked like you could squeeze around the fallen tree, and the other standing trees. This was also in a hard corner of the trail. I tried to squeeze around the trees when all of a sudden, I hear this thump noise from the passenger side. I look over there and my passenger is face to face with a branch from a pine tree. The tree branch had been cut and was about 4 inches around. I thought it was a little branch so I was going to let it ride up over the roof rack, but a branch that big wasn’t going to do that. That’s how it ended up inside the passenger window. He helped hold the branch out of the way while I backed out of the spot. It was too tight, and too dark to continue messing with it. We turned around and headed back to the sites we had passed.

We pulled up to the spot, set up the tents, and immediately got started on a fire. It was a little chilly again this night, and everything was wet in this area from the earlier rains and we were camping right along another creek. We weren’t sure we could get it started, but we gathered all the small kindling we could, and gave it all the oxygen we could squeeze out of our makeshift fan (a piece of plywood laying at the campsite). Eventually we had a roaring fire once it all caught.

DSC09056 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09076 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09081 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We sat around the fire, talking about the things we’d seen, and which we preferred, Moab or the San Juans. We had been to both in less than 4 months, and it seemed like we had just left for Moab, but in actuality we were almost finished with our trip through Colorado. The only noises at night in Colorado were the sounds of us, the popping of the fire, and the occasional breeze rustling through the trees. All of a sudden, we hear this very load roaring noise starting behind us, that seems to be getting louder and nearer. We looked at each other, puzzled and concerned at the same time. My very first initial thought was some sort of fly over by a military jet, but that wasn’t the case. Certainly not out here. Then it occurred to us what it was. A rock slide. We hopped out of our chairs to go investigate and see if we could actually see anything with just our flashlights. Shinning them around we realized we couldn’t see anything, and concluded that we were out of harm’s way at our campsite. If the rockslide came down this far and took us out, then it was just our time to go.

I’ve never heard anything like this rock slide, I’ve seen hurricanes, tornadoes, record flooding, but there was something different about this. There was no precursor to it happening. It was a clear night, no wind, no telltale signs that nature would do something. Rains, storms, wind, all of that can be predicted, but this just happened. If you had been camping right underneath that spot you would have had a not so fun night. Or if you were out hiking along a trail, or just trying to climb up to a certain spot. Who knows, maybe a human caused it. Or maybe it was one of those bouncy marmots.

Another night spent above 10,000 feet.

Screenshot_20170707-003251 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

 

Day 6

In the morning we were able to see our campsite we had chosen. Somewhere up there was where the rock slide had happened, I suppose.

DSC09085 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09082 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09104 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09105 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The small creek running next to our camp site.

DSC09097 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09099 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09101 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We packed up our stuff, and headed back to Eureka Gulch. We got back onto the main trail, and headed to the end. This was an easy trail, we were able to keep pretty good speed going up to the top.

DSC09088 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Marmot!

DSC09106 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Some shots from the top of Eureka Gulch.

DSC09107 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09108 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09110 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09122 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We went back down Eureka Gulch the way we came in since it’s an in and out type of trail, and headed back towards Animas Forks to take on Picayune Gulch, and then Placer Gulch.

Picayne Gulch started off going through some thick forest, on a very steep road headed up into the mountains. The road wound back and forth and we climbed very fast. We popped out at the top at this little clearing, and noticed once again, some weather seemed to be moving in.

DSC09126 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09127 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

After some consulting the map we found the right way we wanted to go, and descended into Picayune Gulch.

DSC09129 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09130 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09137 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09138 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09142 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The wildflowers here were incredible. Like something out of a painting.

DSC09147 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09154 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09156 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09162 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The workhorse looking good up in the mountains.

DSC09132 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09143 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09171 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

This is where we were headed. Down.

DSC09174 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The shadows the clouds make across the mountains were pretty interesting as well.

DSC09177 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We continued onwards. I realize now I didn’t take as many pictures as I wish I had, I guess we were just enjoying it in the moment.

Old mining stuff is everywhere in this area, which makes sense, considering it’s the reason these trails even exist.

DSC09181 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We ended up back on the end of California Pass, right by Animas Forks. A couple of people riding dirt bikes asked if the trail we had just came out of would take them back towards Black Bear Pass. I told them I don’t think so, and showed the map of exactly where we were and where that trail went. They seemed convinced that it would take them to Black Bear Pass, so I just let them go. I’m sure they figured it out…

We drove back out of Animas Forks for the last time. We got back into Silverton, gassed up, and headed back towards Black Bear Pass, but first we would stop at Porphyry Gulch. This trail wasn’t marked with a fancy trailhead sign, just a normal small forest service road sign, and this one…

DSC09182 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

This trail was also very steep, and windy, as you took the switch backs up the side of the mountain, looking down at the paved highway you just turned off of. It was getting to be lunch time, so we pulled off here and ate lunch. We had a bit of a view.

DSC09184 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09185 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09186 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09192 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09194 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We reached the end of the trail, which was a parking area. There was supposed to be a lake, Bullion King Lake, that you could hike to. We found the trail, and started off down it. There were all sorts of creeks from the snow melt.

DSC09198 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09196 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09202 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09204 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09207 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09210 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The creek got bigger as we got closer.

DSC09211 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09213 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09215 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09217 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

My version of fish pictures….

DSC09220 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And now, Bullion King Lake.

DSC09225 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09222 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09223 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The water was so clear.

DSC09226 by Unner Unner, on Flickr


There was a waterfall right in the center of the lake, pretty cool place.

DSC09234 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09236 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Lots of wildflowers around here too.

DSC09228 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09229 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09233 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09248 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09257 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

It’s amazing how clear the water is up here. I was able to get some pretty good fish pictures with my polarizing lens.

DSC09261 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09264 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09265 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09268 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Time got away from us at the lake, but then a clap of thunder got our attention quickly. It was time to go, so we made our way back out, quickly.

DSC09273 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And then at the end of the hiking trail we stopped for a minute, to watch the marmots play in the snow.

DSC09276 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

On the way back we found a dog collar with a dog’s name and the owners information on the tag also. When I got back I texted the owner, and Macho got his collar returned to him via USPS.

IMG_20170711_193647484 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We got back in the truck, and headed down the trail. The next stop would be Black Bear Pass. I hadn’t heard anything that the Telluride side was open, but I knew it was open to the pass. Some pics coming down Porphyry.

DSC09278 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09279 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

At one point there is a short connector between Black Bear Pass and Porphyry Gulch. It’s very steep, downhill for us, and had some water damage. Nothing we couldn’t handle though, it added a little excitement to an otherwise calm trail.

DSC09280 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We ventured up the trail, stopping to ask a couple guys in Tacomas if the pass was open. I was really hoping they would say yes, but unfortunately, they said it was still snowed in just past the pass.

Some more beautiful scenery.

DSC09282 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09283 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09284 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

These were some very small flowers, but they gave some of the best macro shots I got.

DSC09286 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09292 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

This is one of my favorites.

DSC09289 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09296 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09298 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The weather back towards Silverton was looking a little stormy.

DSC09302 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09308 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09316 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Since we couldn’t go down the fun side of Black Bear Pass we turned around, and headed out the way we came. At the bottom of the trail they had one of the “snowplows” parked again, so I grabbed another picture.

DSC09317 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I grabbed the guide book again, looking for another trail in the area to hit before we lost all daylight. I saw that Red Mountain was right here, so we went to run half of the trail.

Right at the entrance to this trail they had this machine parked. It was manufactured by a German brand, “Kassbohrer”.

DSC09318 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The beginning of the trail wound through the forest, offering small glimpses of the mountains, and then we popped out of the forest and were riding along a ridge of the mountain.

DSC09318 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09322 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09323 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09326 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09330 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09332 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We passed through another area with some old mining stuff, and then went down back into the forest.

DSC09334 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We wound our way through the forest, and then decided to head back towards Silverton and figure out the game plan for the rest of the evening, and where we would be camping tonight. It was Friday night, and we had to be back in South Carolina Sunday night. Our time had flown by, and neither of us wanted to leave.

We parked at the Silverton welcome center, and decided to make dinner here. They had a nice picnic table that served as a good place to open up our kitchen.

IMG_20170707_194430999 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

IMG_20170707_200433477 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I consulted the guide book, google maps, and freecampsites.net and decided that tonight we would start heading back somewhat. We were going to camp at East Fork Road, or Forest Service Road 667 in the San Juan National Forest.

We got in the truck, started to drive out of the parking lot, and then I realized. I hadn’t aired up… I couldn’t drive the 4 hours on pavement with 20 psi in the tires, so I had to dig the compressor out, and wait the 30 minutes or so to fill all the tires, and then wait for it to cool down because my little VIAR compressor gets hot filling up the tires to 40 psi.

DSC09337 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09337 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We hit the road well past dark which was unfortunate because we would miss all the cool sights. The roads out here are fun to drive though, lots of curves and wide open stretches where you can get some pretty good speed going. The deer in Colorado seem to be dumber than your average deer. Maybe it’s the elevation.

I was thankful for my lights because they really helped spot the deer from a distance my headlights could only dream of reaching. We came across one that was standing right in the other lane, eating a rock or licking the pavement, because there was nothing there for him to eat or drink. I hit the brakes hard because I didn’t know where he was going. The deer looked up, and frantically turned his head left, right, behind, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. He never actually looked in our direction, and stayed standing in the road as we passed. Hopefully the rock eating deer didn’t get taken out, but natural selection may have taken care of him already…

We reached the area we were camping in well past midnight. I was a little worried about finding a spot because it was a Friday in the peak of the summer season. The first several spots we pulled into were packed, or there was something like an RV parked there. Not cool…

We continued further down the road until we passed a sign that said “High Clearance 4x4 Only’ or something to that effect. After this the people seemed to be clearing out, even though the road didn’t really get much worse. We finally found a spot that no one was around, and decided to call it home for the night.

We set up camp, and went straight to bed, only camping around 7,500 feet today.

 

Day 7

Waking up early in the morning being baked alive was no fun, as we couldn’t find shade to set up under. We had picked another pretty great camp site though, right along another creek.

DSC09342 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09346 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09350 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09351 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

After gathering our things, we packed up and headed back out. Today we had a lot of ground to cover, and I wanted to stop and see the Great Sand Dunes National Park, as well as Medano Pass. Might as well try and see as much as possible when you’re this far from home. Sleep is for the weak.

DSC09352 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We started off driving through the beautiful San Juans, once again, but then our elevation started dropping and we started entering more of a desert landscape. Things were starting to look more like New Mexico, or northern Texas. We passed through a few towns, and stopped at the one with the slowest fuel pump in the world…

Stopping for 30 minutes to get gas was not in the plan, but oh well. We were starting to get close to the National Park. We turned off of the main roads, and onto more of County Roads. They were incredibly straight roads, you could see for miles. I don’t remember what the speed limit was out here, or if they even had one posted, but everyone was driving nearly interstate speeds.

We’re clipping along following an Acura sedan when I see something moving over to the left of the road out of the corner of my eye, the Acura hits the brakes hard, as do I, and an elk (I think that’s what it was, could have been a moose too) comes dashing across the road. Both of us sat there for a second, stopped, almost in disbelief that this huge deer the size of a horse just ran across the road, and then proceeded to step over the fence on the other side like it was no big deal. I was not expecting to see an elk in this part of Colorado, but now I can check that off the list. At least we got to see some wildlife.

The Great Sand Dunes were now in sight, as we quickly approached the National Park.

DSC09356 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09357 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

It’s interesting the way they just come out of nowhere, and they’ve got the mountains behind them in the background.

DSC09364 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We got to the toll booth, paid our $15, an off we went. We got to the trailhead, where the sign said “Deep sand ahead, lower tire pressure, 18-20psi recommended.” I didn’t want to go that low because I knew I would have to fill it up again right after we got off the trail. So I went down to 28 psi, with the thought, “I can always go lower.” And off we went.

We didn’t have any issues with 28 psi. So I kept it there. I tried to get stuck a couple times, but I couldn’t so I figured I was good. We stopped to talk pictures and a man walking the trail asked if I thought his Rav4 could make it… I said, “I don’t know. You might be OK, but you might be ripping underpanels off and scraping the bumper. There’s a lot of plastic car parts laying on the trail out here.” I think he chose not to bring it out here, which was definitely the right choice.

DSC09365 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09367 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09370 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09372 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09373 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09374 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09376 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We continued onwards, passing closer to the dunes. We passed a large group of Jeeps parked, and then came across a sign that said “Very Soft Sand Ahead, 15-18 psi Recommended.” I stayed stubborn with my 28 psi, and dove in. Things were going fine at first, but there was another car headed towards us, so I had to pull farther off to the right. This was some very very deep soft fine stuff. We started losing speed, and then we eventually weren’t moving at all… Hmmm. I guess I’ll let some more air out of the tires. I got out, and lowered the tires down to 20 psi, and dug out around the front of the tires a little bit. 4Lo, working the wheels back and forth I was able to get it moving just a little bit. Not much, but we were crawling along.

Then all of a sudden, this fool shows up in a brand-new GMC Sierra Quad Cab, soon to be brodozer. I’m slowly plowing through the super soft stuff, trying to get back towards the center of the trail where it’s not quite as bad when I hear him just gun it. I look up and he’s throwing sand everywhere, and revving the snot out of his V8. He starts getting sideways and heading towards me. He had no intentions of stopping, but I’m screaming in my truck for him to stop because he’s going to hit me. He grins at me as he goes past us sideways, he misses the driver door, the back door, the back fenders, and then I feel a thud as he hits the back of the truck and I hear this awful scraping noise. I jumped out mad, knowing he had just hit me after I told him to stop, but he was too stupid to listen or wait his turn. I walked to the back of the truck, fully expecting quarter panel damage and taillight damage at least, but thankfully this is all there was. Just a small scrape along my rear bumper. 4xInnovations – 1, moron in the GMC – 0. I looked back towards his truck to see if he was going to stop, because I know he felt it and heard it, but nope. He didn’t stop.

DSC09381 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Thankfully it didn’t have to get to that point, so I just got back in and kept working my way out of the deep stuff. We got out, and were back on the more solidly packed sand when a first gen Tacoma came the other way. The driver was some 50-year-old women smoking a cigarette who looked totally cracked out. She yelled some unintelligible words to us, but we didn’t stop. I was losing interest in this place quickly…

Things started to get better the farther we got from the national park, so that was good.

DSC09378 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09383 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Then all of a sudden you come across this. Being from Alabama, this is exactly what Tornado damage looks like. We later saw a sign saying something about wind damage from a storm a few years ago.

DSC09388 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Things were starting to look like Florida, which was odd, but it kept the trail interesting. We eventually caught up to two Jeeps who were crawling along at very slow speeds. They didn’t pull over for the longest time, but when they did it was great. I don’t like following other people if they aren’t in my group. All of the disadvantages without any of the perks of following or being in a group.

DSC09389 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09391 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09392 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09393 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

There were lots of water crossings on this part of the trail which kept it fun, and really helped knock the mud and dirt that I had accumulated on the wheels, tires, undercarriage, etc. I was amazed how clean the underside was when I went to air up later.

We also saw huge dandelions; this thing was the size of a baseball.

DSC09396 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09398 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09399 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We got to the very last creek crossing, and things took a turn to the stupid side again. I drove across the creek, and came out of the other side. Now I can see a Land Rover heading towards me, and the guy in the Land Rover sees me. Neither of us are going fast, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be an issue. I was going to back up and pull over to let them by, there was plenty of room. Then all of a sudden, he cranks the wheel hard right into probably a 2-foot dirt wall because the road is recessed into the ground. He keeps going, fast and not using any judgement or caution. Off comes the front license plate, then he’s pushing dirt with the front bumper ripping that up, and still going. He took it so far the thing got super tippy, to the point where I thought for sure he was going to flop onto the driver side. I was fully prepared to get out of the truck and run up there check if they were OK, and winch them back onto 4 wheels. Somehow the Land Rover didn’t tip, and he just sat there looking starry eyed at me. I wasn’t driving anywhere near him after what he had just done, so I put it in reverse, backed across the creek, and into a very wide-open area that gave him plenty of space to pass. He backed down from his three-legged stance, once again ripping at the front bumper with the dirt ledge, and came towards us to pass. Once he got closer I could see it was probably a 16-year-old kid in daddy’s Land Rover, and he had a few girls with him who he was surely trying to impress. I don’t know much, but usually almost rolling your dad’s Land Rover isn’t the way to impress girls…

The Land Rover moved on, and the first thing I did was check the dashcam because I wanted to see that again. Unfortunately, the card was full of other videos I had saved apparently and wasn’t saving anything new. Very unfortunate that I missed capturing that spectacle of off-roading genius on camera, but at least it let me know that my dash cam wasn’t working. I formatted the SD card right there, to make sure I wouldn’t have that problem again.

We crossed the creek for the third time, and were nearly done with the trail. The next section of the trail looked something like this.

DSC09400 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We pulled off here to eat lunch, and were passed by another interesting sight. Two guys in an F250 sitting in the front, with dogs sitting in the back seat, and what I can only assume was one of their wives, girlfriends, or sisters sitting on a lawn chair in the bed of the truck. I guess everyone has different priorities…

DSC09402 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We continued onward, looking to get off the dirt and back onto pavement where we could start heading home. But not before getting a couple pictures of the next set of storms moving into the area.

DSC09405 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09406 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC09408 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The road became nothing more than a flat dirt road, so we were able to keep a pretty quick speed down it as we headed back towards pavement. I’m starting to grow a liking for fast “off-road travel”.

We made it back to pavement, but it was raining now, and I needed to air up still. I didn’t want to deal with it in the rain, so I figured I’d stop at the next gas station. Little did I know the next gas station was 30 miles down the road… We reached the gas station right off I-25, aired up, gassed up, and were ready to hit the road. It was 4 PM, and we would lose two hours due to time zones. 1,500 miles to cover, and I had to be at work in just over 36 hours. No regrets, it was worth it.

We made time as fast as we could, driving across southern Colorado and New Mexico in a pouring rain storm. We made it to Texas as night fell, and pushed on. Thankfully there’s nothing in these parts of New Mexico, or Texas so we didn’t have to stop often. We entertained ourselves by counting how many cars the trains were that were parked along the road had, and measuring their length of them using the odometer. Some of these things were well over a mile long.

We noticed that it stays very light in the Texas panhandle. The moon was bright, so even with the sun down we were still able to see a good bit. We made it to Oklahoma, and stopped at an Arby’s off of Interstate 40. It was very late already, but we had to make it farther, Oklahoma city was the goal for tonight. We got to Oklahoma City and began to search for hotels as we wanted a bed, and shower tonight, rather than messing with setting up a camp. We drove all the way through OKC and stopped to get gas. I figured we could stop near Shawnee, where I spent the night in the Holiday Inn Express parking lot. After calling every hotel in Shawnee we realized that would not work. That would not work, they were all booked and there was nothing else for another hundred miles or so. So, we started calling hotels back in OKC. They were also all booked, except for one Super 8… I begrudgingly turned around and headed back into OKC. We definitely overpaid for 4 hours of sleep in a Super 8…

 

Day 8

Morning came way too early but we had to get on the road, We had 1,000 miles to cover in one day. We made good time across Oklahoma, and most of Arkansas. Then we got stuck in traffic that gave Atlanta a good run for it’s money. Going into Memphis was a nightmare. Trucks in every single lane, passing each other because one wanted to drive 51 and the other was driving 50. This drives me absolutely insane.

The other side of Memphis was no better, we got run off the road by a semi truck, and then had to drive through Mississippi. Finally Alabama was in sight, but we wouldn’t be here for long. We still had 6 hours to go and it was already dinner time. We saw traffic stopping ahead in Birmingham so we pulled off to eat dinner while they figured that out. Things were clear and we got back on the road, but our next stop was Atlanta, my mortal enemy. Before we even got there, we got stuck in construction traffic, at midnight on a Sunday… We made it to Atlanta, and somehow made it through. But not before being passed by a Sonata doing probably 110-120 in the left lane, and then deciding he needed the next exit, and everyone else’s safety doesn’t matter.

The whole time I’m just thinking I wish I was back in CO, this didn’t happen there…

We rolled up to my apartment at 2 AM, which wasn’t too bad, but now we had to unload everything. I walked back out to the 4Runner to get more stuff and I find my friend talking to a Sherriff… Oh boy, just what we needed. He was asking if we had heard gunshots because there were reports of them in the area. We responded no, while he looks around at all the camping off-roading stuff we have laying all over the place… He pulled off and continued his search.

We finished unloading, and went inside. I went to bed around 3 AM, with an alarm set for 6:30 AM. I completely slept through this alarm and woke up at 9:30 to text messages from co-workers asking if I was coming into work and if everything was OK. Back to real life now I suppose. The trip was over and it seemed like it had just begun.

2017-10-02_03-44-16 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We covered a total of 3,859 miles. 300+ of which were on dirt. Climbed tens of thousands of feet in elevation, crossed through 10 states, completed 18 trails/passes, many of them over 12,000 feet, 1 of them over 13,000 feet (two if you include the short hike to 13,000 feet from California Pass), Camped 4 nights in a row over 10,000 feet, crossed the continental divide numerous times, and had a wonderful time exploring the Colorado backcountry.

I can’t wait to go back.

 

Links to Each Day:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8

Other Trip Reports:
Moab 2017

 

Sweet photos and adventure story, man. That fish stream gives me needs...

Also, the angry loud bird is a Guinea Hen. Neighbor used to have one and it would come stand in the road and scream at me while I was mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, etc.

 

those guinea hens can sure make a racket

 

This one just disappeared one day. Haven't seen it since.

 

Thanks! We don't have them down here so I had no idea what was going on when I heard the noises this thing was making in the morning.

Yeah they do...

 

I've covered much of the same route several times over the years. We live in NW GA and have gone through Huntsville along the same route into Colorado. We've spent some time along the central part of the state from RMNP in the north down to the NM border. My wife insisted on seeing Mesa Verde, it was OK, but the mountains in the SW 1/4 of the state where you were are probably the most scenic part of CO.

We've done very little off roading, only a little bit near Ouray and that was back in 2011. We've stayed on pavement or better Forest service roads. I'm not set up for the more challenging 4X4 trails. But it is beautiful country. I was just about to pull the trigger and head for CO to hunt elk this Fall, but for a variety of reasons it ain't gonna happen this year. Maybe next Fall.

Your pics are great. I made my wife look at your post, she is ready to load up and go again.

 

Awesome trip report makes me want to sell a whole bunch of stuff and do this

 

Awesome trip and pictures!

 

Glad I'm not the only one who drives from all the way down here to that part of the country. SW Colorado is something in its own. I didn't do any of the real challenging trails, most of them were still snowed in when I was there. Hope you guys get to head back out there sometime soon!

Thanka! You don't need to sell anything. Just need the time off, the rest is pretty cheap. Just the cost of gas and food. Gas is "expensive", but who knows how long gas will stay as cheap as it really is right now. Camping is free, as are all but one of the trails I did out there, Medano Pass. Which would be free if you come in the eastern side as there is no ranger station for you to pay at.

Thanks!

 

Great write up! You took some beautiful pictures. Some day I'd like to make my way over to Colorado and do some exploring. Those old mining sites always intrigue to me.

 

I'm going next summer. I've been there before the mines are cool. They aren't all old however, I found electric blasting caps in tailing piles.

 

Thanks! The old mining stuff is cool, and it's everywhere out there.