Trip Report for our Colorado Wheelin' Trip 19-23 September 2008.
Here is the trip report from our 19-23 September 2008 expedition
to the San Juan mountains of southwestern Colorado. Participants were
Ed McC. and Rick M. in Ed's F-250, John H. in his Avalanche and Bob P.
in his Blazer. Bob took care of the only truck breakdown early in the trip
with his in-tank fuel pump dying on the way into Florence. John met up
with Amy's Rescue Service in Happy Jack, and Bob rode shotgun in the
Avalanche for the rest of the trip. The fuel pump delays meant that John and
Bob got into Dolores about 11:30 PM local time.
Photos by John H.
Friday, September 19
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Saturday, September 20
We spent the first night at Dolores Mountain Inn, and followed up with
a hearty breakfast at the Ponderosa Cafe in Dolores. On Saturday
morning September 20, we drove on the highway to Rico, then went up
Barlow Creek, over Bolam Pass (11450 feet), past Graysill Mine and
down Hermosa Creek to come out at Purgatory Ski Area. We had lunch in
a meadow near the backside of Purgatory. After a quick stop in
Silverton, we went over Stony Pass (12650 feet). An impending cold
front gave us clouds and some light rain. After passing Pole Creek on
the way down the Rio Grande side, we stopped to camp overnight in the
Brewster Park area. The wildlife highlight of the trip was seeing a
cow moose drinking out of a stream about 100 yards away while we were
selecting our campsite. We were primitive camping in the
two-trucks-full-of-gear sense of primitive. We had the usual issues
trying to start the campfire when camping above 10000 feet in humid
weather. The weather was nice and surprisingly warm (mid-40's), but
there were several light rain showers overnight as the tail of a cold
front passed over. We were at the peak of the aspen colors for these
high altitudes, even though the aspens down in the valleys at 8000
feet were still green.
Dolores, CO
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Barlow Creek
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Bolam Pass
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Graysill Mine
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Lunch near Purgatory
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Silverton
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Stony Pass
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Moose near Brewster Park
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Sunday, September 21
On Sunday morning September 21, we continued down through Brewster
Park and past the Rio Grande Reservoir. Aspens mixed with evergreens
made gorgeous views all along the way. After rejoining the highway
(149) north of Crede, we crossed Spring Creek Pass (10898 feet) and
Slumgullion Pass (11530 feet) going to Lake City. After lunch in Lake
City, we drove past Lake San Cristobal and across Cinnamon Pass (12640
feet) on the way to Animas Forks. Even though the weather was
generally nice, we still had little spits of snow up at altitude, and
the 14000-foot peaks had already collected their first snow of the
season. Then we started up toward Engineer Pass, but took the Mineral
Creek route down to Ouray. We gave Ray (of RaysGoodStuff jerky) a
ride back to Ouray after his Polaris Ranger had broken a drive
belt. Three of us spent the night at the Twin Peaks Best Western in
Ouray, while Rick slept with the deer at Amphitheater campground above
Ouray.
Brewster Park
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Cinnamon Pass
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Overlooking Animas Forks
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Mineral Creek
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Monday, September 22
On Monday September 22, we left Ouray and headed back up Mineral Creek
to Poughkeepsie Gulch. Some of the other pass roads had rocks, but
Poughkeepsie Gulch is serious 4-wheelin'. We saw a baby elk about
halfway up Poughkeepsie. He stood up long enough for us to get
photos, then he remembered that his mother told him to lie down and
hide in these situations. We climbed the middle route at the step in
Poughkeepsie with the aid of lockers, so we didn't have to use the new
permanent winch points. Even though it was less muddy than we have
seen on previous trips, the steps were more eroded at the base. After
a thrilling climb up Poughkeepsie Gulch we crossed Hurricane Pass
(12407 feet), and then went down Corkscrew Gulch. The tight and
exposed hairpins on Corkscrew are always thrilling in a full-length
vehicle. All along the way, we saw nice wildflowers on the sunny
slopes. After rejoining Hwy 550, we crossed Red Mountain Pass (11018
feet) on the way into Silverton. We had a late lunch at Handlebars
Cafe in Silverton. We got some nice pictures of the departing Durango
& Silverton train. Then we headed across Ophir Pass (11789 feet) on
the way back over to the Dolores valley. We took the Dunton Road to
cross over to the West Fork of the Dolores in search of a campsite.
Most of that area seems to be private property, so we camped for the
night at the West Dolores USFS campground. Culinary experiments with
"Spam-on-a-stick" were deemed not worth repeating. We headed back to
Tucson on Tuesday as Bob had some excuse about needing to go to work.
There wasn't any additional vehicle damage after Bob's fuel pump.
Ouray
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Poughkeepsie Gulch
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Hurricane Pass
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Corkscrew Gulch
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Silverton
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Ophir Pass
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West Fork of the Dolores
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Tuesday, September 23
Shiprock
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John Hill <jhill@as.arizona.edu>
Last modified: Sun Sep 28 19:46:02 2008
