Colorado trip Sept

Hi folks
I'm planning to do a big trip to visit your wonderful state this September, will be planning to hit the trails approx 9/3-9/10. I suspect that I will be spending at least 2 days driving from CA, but the major points I want to hit are:

1. Alpine Loop
2. Some of the passes (Mosquito?, Cinnamon?, Imogene? etc) that are easy to moderate- will be doing this alone so don't want any crazy technical climbs if possible
3. See some big mountain and valley scenery.
4. My roommate who is accompanying me loves to explore mines, so can you point me to some of the cooler places to do that?
5. I'm planning to spend at least 5, maybe up to 7 days exploring the mountains. We are not planning to do any developed camping, we are self sufficient to camp off the grid and actually prefer it.
6. Stay out of Natl Parks because I have a dog (but I have an American Pass so I have free entry if I do need to go through)
7. Hopefully catch some autumn colors (is it too early?)

I'm looking for some advice to help plan my trip. Should I invest in an Atlas of Colorado? Should I buy the Funtreks Guide to Colorado Backroads, Peter Massey's SW Colorado Trails book? Any you recommend. I currently use Peter Massey's CA guides and I find them quite useful. I have seen www.traildamage.com mentioned a lot on the forum, but there are SO MANY trails out there.... it's a bit overwhelming.

Currently I have sliders, 3" lift, full size spare, 265s, skids, hi-lift recovery jack, am probably going to invest in an air compressor. I don't have any front or rear bumper armor. Like I said, I'm not big into rock gardens or technical steep climbs, just into scenery with a fun way to get there. Sorry for this long post. But I figure I'd ask those who know best. Thanks in advance!

 

Get the Charles Wells book that the other guy posted in the other thread. Best book for sure!

Mosquito Pass would be doable in your truck.

I posted this thread in our BS thread so hopefully some more people will chime in. But whenever you do figure out what trails you want to do, you don't have to do them alone! Post up your plans and usually someone is more than willing to join you!

 

Thank you so much for the helpful advice! I'll def look into the Charles Wells book.

 

Remind me when it gets closer to your visit. I'm fairly new to all this myself, but I've been exploring the state and its trails quite a bit.

I'd be down to do a short trip with you when you get here. Maybe we can have a Tour of Women Who Work in EMS and Drive Tacomas, haha. Not a very catchy name, but I bet we could find some fun.

 

Keep in mind in September there will be snow up there and hunting season (Archery and Bear season). My wife and I will be up there around that time for fall colors so maybe we could meet up for a few runs. There is plenty of good camping 'off the grid.' Your truck will be fine for all the trails up there. I've done the majority of every trail up there so let me know if you have specific questions.

My favorite drive in the summer, start in Lake City and do Engineer Pass to Silverton. Food\cocktails at Montanya's, back over Cinnamon Pass to Creede and food\cocktails. So much to see.

 

I definitely will! We could certainly have the first annual TWWEDT (whatever you said but shorter) I'll probably stay mostly in the SW section of Ouray, Telluride, Silverton, and Lake City.

Early September storms, ack? I'm hoping my time frame will allow me to see the changing colors before the storms rip the Aspens of their beautiful gold coins. I will definitely keep my eye on the weather. How will hunting season affect me? Besides keeping a watchful eye out of hunters and wearing a bunch of orange, will they clog up high mountain drives?

I am a bit of a loner when it comes to exploring because I don't want to hold anybody up, I love to take photos and let the dog run and my roommate loves to explore and take photos of mines. But if you can put up with the delays, I'd be happy to be shown around!

So far I have made a broad list of trails from the TW thread CO trip reports and Trail Damage that I am interested in doing. Any thoughts of difficulty of these trails, any thoughts on which ones are worth it to see and which ones are not that exciting are welcomed (this is my last big trip of 2014 so it will be awhile before I'm back in the are)! The list is quite long, not sure how many of them I can do in the Sept daylight. I'm come up with a better detailed itinerary once I've mapped them out to see how close/far away these runs are from each other. Also is dispersed camping allow on the side of these trails (maybe not above 11,000feet)?
1. Tincup Pass 2. Cottonwood Pass 3. Hancock Lake and Hancock Pass
4. Argentine Pass/McClellan Mtn 5. Cinnamon/Engineer Pass (Alpine Loop)
6. Imogene Pass 7. Ophir Pass/Alpine Lakes 8. Mineral Creek
9. Hagerman Pass 10. Mosquito Pass 11. Kebler Pass
12. Hurricane Pass 13. Kendall Mountain 14. Red Mountain Mining Area
15. Yankee Boy Basin 16. California Gulch 17. Picayune/Placer Gulches
18. Stony Pass

Whew! That's a lot. Also got my Charles Wells book today to help with planning. Thanks again for stopping by!

 

You should be good with dispersed camping any where in the national forest lands. Just be careful with your dog, get it an orange vest since it will be camping season. Tincup, Cottonwood pass and Hancock are just down the road from me in Buena Vista. You should be good to go until mid-late september, but there is always a chance of snow at higher elevation.

Make sure you are prepared for the cold weather though. The night time lows at higher elevation can be pretty chilly! If I am not out of town working when you hit the trails in the Buena Vista area, I would give you the tour. I like to travel slow with the dogs and take pictures too.

 

We just did Tincup Pass this past weekend. If your roommate is into mining, there is a lot to see up there! The mines have mostly been closed up, but you can still see the log cabins and some of the mine buildings. We have a book called 4WD Adventures that gives the history of the towns and people that you see along the trails. Its a great supplement to add a little interest (other than the amazing views).

It was definitely cold up there at night, but I imagine as long as you are prepared with proper gear you'll be fine. And yes, definitely orange for you and the pup during hunting season.

 

If you're near Boulder check out Winiger Ridge. I just posted about it, used to be a killer network of trails and wide open but it's been nerfed. Still a good little trail to a gorgeous view of Boulder reservoir.

 

So updated itinerary...
Planning to leave Santa Barbara, CA on Monday night Sept 1st around 2100, drive all night, be in St George by 0700-0800, nap an hour or two (or if feeling good, pushing across I70 to Grand Junction), camp near Ouray Tuesday night. If I get into town early might try and hit cinammon pass over to Lake City and camp there Tuesday night. Then finish the Alpine Loop back into Silverton and explore the trails in the Lake Como/Silverton area Wed-Thursday. Since it is supposed to rain and thunderstorm Friday in the Silverton area, probably start heading south towards Durango, and then head over to Hwy 160 and do some exploring of a ghost town there (Summitville Trail), head south towards NM, then over to Navajo Lake to fish, Sunday leave for Monument Valley/Four Corners, and then head out Monday afternoon for home.
So the bulk of the off roading will be Wed-Thurs- maybe Friday if the weather is good in the morning in the Silverton area if anyone wants to join. I will be camping wherever I can, cell service may be limited but I'll repost something once I get into CO this next week.
Thanks for all the replies! can't wait to get out there and hit the dirt!
All the trails I will be doing are going to be easy to easy moderate since I will be wheeling solo without a winch or big tires, don't want to get stuck in a river crossing or the mud with the inclement weather. I also don't plan on doing the difficult section of Hurricane Pass out of Ouray, will be going down to Silverton to hit the Animas Fork/Cinammon/Hurricane Pass part and bypassing the steep stuff.