Corkscrew Gulch & Brooklyn Trail / US Basin Road
007
Crazy Sr. Respected Jeeper
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- 3,451
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- Location
- Reno, NV
- Vehicle(s)
- 1977 CJ-7 Renegade (Daisy Jane), Levis trim, 304, TH400, BW1339 (MM), D30/Auburn Max, AMC20/Detroit/G2's, 4.88's, 33" BFG MT KM2's, Edelbrock Performer intake, Holley Sniper 4bbl EFI, MSD6, MSD ProBillet distributor, OME shocks, 4" ProComp lift.
My wife/ex-wife/it's complicated and I went to Ouray June 11th through the 14th this year. Twin Peaks Hotel had a special where you got 2 nights, $25 food/beverage credit and $100 at the Sage Spa for $299 tax included. We got into town on Thursday and stayed at the Matterhorn – which has been refurbished down to the studs and is fantastic. She went to the spa that afternoon and I went to pick up The Texas Hooker – FINALLY. For those of you that don't know, there's a build thread started on this and it contains some background information on the name, but not all the details yet. It's an 84 CJ7 Laredo .
Anyway, I got the tires aired up, mounted the tow lights and bought a junk spare tire and rim from the Timber Ridge service station there in Ouray. I brought one spare, the Jeep had one and now I had a third. I was towing it 13hrs back to Reno, so I just needed ONE tire to make it the whole trip. Skipping ahead a bit, I had to change one tire before I left Ouray, and the rest made it all the way home.
Thursday evening we went to Switzerland of America and picked up the two-door JL Willy's we had rented for wheeling on Friday. That night we ate at what used to be O'Brien's – it's now called Full Tilt Saloon. People were nice, place was clean, same clientele. The full menu was not yet available thanks to Colorado's crazy COVID response, but what they DID have was very good, no complaints. We stopped by The Outlaw for a nightcap before heading back to the hotel for the evening.
Friday morning we headed south out of town to the Corkscrew Gulch trailhead. I had hoped to do Mineral Creek up to lower Engineer Pass but I wasn't thrilled about the tires on my rental. The Jeep had less than 700 miles on it, but the tires were obviously hand-me-downs from whatever they traded in. Mineral Creek has some sharp rocks and I didn't want the drama of a flat, no worries.
We stopped a couple places along the Million Dollar Highway to take some pictures. Here's one of the Uncompahgre River looking south, just off the highway.
Corkscrew was as beautiful as ever, perhaps even prettier as there was still enough snow to add a different affect from what I'm used to seeing there in July and August.
Here's some glamour shots at the summit, my compass showed 12,330' where we crept up a bit higher than the "official" summit. My wife/ex-wife/it's complicated made a snow angel up there!
Then we headed down towards the Gold King Mine, where you hit 110 back into Silverton (or you can head towards California Pass, Hurricane Pass, Engineer Pass, Animas Forks, American Basin, etc.).
We wanted to head to a place Posi found in 2017 while the group was out exploring after having done the same trail, we named it Chuck Pointe. Here it is when we found it in 2017.
We headed up towards this summit, the trail is narrow and steep. All was well until we really started to get some altitude…then we reached snow.
I tried hanging my passenger tires on the right edge and my driver side in the snow, but it still wanted to slip to the right. Too much slip to the right there and it's a few hundred feet down with nothing to stop you for a bit. Not happening. So I backed down a bit to a wide spot and turned around and headed down.
On the way down, "nature called" and I had to stop for a few. While taking care of that, I had a fantastic view from the pines. I went back to the Jeep, got my phone and this was it…
We headed down the rest of the way and went back to an old mine and climbed some hills, then went back out to 110 and in to Silverton for a late lunch.
After lunch we went back north out of town to the south end of the Brooklyn Trail or US Basin Road, depending on your map. This is an easy up-over-and-down trail that gets you up around 12,000' or so that drops off a few hundred yards south of the Red Mountain Pass summit, almost directly across from the Black Bear Pass trailhead.
I love this little trail. I always see something beautiful there. It's either flowers, sheep or deer. This year it was deer.
We cruised this little trail to the end, then headed back to Ouray to wash and re-fuel the Jeep. Then it was a shower, change of clothes and a fantastic dinner at The Outlaw.
Saturday we just chilled and shopped a bit, then packed up for an early 6am departure with the CJ in tow. We got home safe and sound with no issues.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Anyway, I got the tires aired up, mounted the tow lights and bought a junk spare tire and rim from the Timber Ridge service station there in Ouray. I brought one spare, the Jeep had one and now I had a third. I was towing it 13hrs back to Reno, so I just needed ONE tire to make it the whole trip. Skipping ahead a bit, I had to change one tire before I left Ouray, and the rest made it all the way home.
Thursday evening we went to Switzerland of America and picked up the two-door JL Willy's we had rented for wheeling on Friday. That night we ate at what used to be O'Brien's – it's now called Full Tilt Saloon. People were nice, place was clean, same clientele. The full menu was not yet available thanks to Colorado's crazy COVID response, but what they DID have was very good, no complaints. We stopped by The Outlaw for a nightcap before heading back to the hotel for the evening.
Friday morning we headed south out of town to the Corkscrew Gulch trailhead. I had hoped to do Mineral Creek up to lower Engineer Pass but I wasn't thrilled about the tires on my rental. The Jeep had less than 700 miles on it, but the tires were obviously hand-me-downs from whatever they traded in. Mineral Creek has some sharp rocks and I didn't want the drama of a flat, no worries.
We stopped a couple places along the Million Dollar Highway to take some pictures. Here's one of the Uncompahgre River looking south, just off the highway.
Corkscrew was as beautiful as ever, perhaps even prettier as there was still enough snow to add a different affect from what I'm used to seeing there in July and August.
Here's some glamour shots at the summit, my compass showed 12,330' where we crept up a bit higher than the "official" summit. My wife/ex-wife/it's complicated made a snow angel up there!
Then we headed down towards the Gold King Mine, where you hit 110 back into Silverton (or you can head towards California Pass, Hurricane Pass, Engineer Pass, Animas Forks, American Basin, etc.).
We wanted to head to a place Posi found in 2017 while the group was out exploring after having done the same trail, we named it Chuck Pointe. Here it is when we found it in 2017.
We headed up towards this summit, the trail is narrow and steep. All was well until we really started to get some altitude…then we reached snow.
I tried hanging my passenger tires on the right edge and my driver side in the snow, but it still wanted to slip to the right. Too much slip to the right there and it's a few hundred feet down with nothing to stop you for a bit. Not happening. So I backed down a bit to a wide spot and turned around and headed down.
On the way down, "nature called" and I had to stop for a few. While taking care of that, I had a fantastic view from the pines. I went back to the Jeep, got my phone and this was it…
We headed down the rest of the way and went back to an old mine and climbed some hills, then went back out to 110 and in to Silverton for a late lunch.
After lunch we went back north out of town to the south end of the Brooklyn Trail or US Basin Road, depending on your map. This is an easy up-over-and-down trail that gets you up around 12,000' or so that drops off a few hundred yards south of the Red Mountain Pass summit, almost directly across from the Black Bear Pass trailhead.
I love this little trail. I always see something beautiful there. It's either flowers, sheep or deer. This year it was deer.
We cruised this little trail to the end, then headed back to Ouray to wash and re-fuel the Jeep. Then it was a shower, change of clothes and a fantastic dinner at The Outlaw.
Saturday we just chilled and shopped a bit, then packed up for an early 6am departure with the CJ in tow. We got home safe and sound with no issues.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
