Fourth Annual Colorado Jeep-CJ Trail Report

[BusaDave9]

Once again we gathered in south western Colorado for the Annual Jeep-CJ trail ride. This year was a whole new crowd. I was the only participant that attended any of the other Colorado Jeep-CJ trail rides. It was a great trail ride and I'm glade I was able to meet these people. We all had a blast. I hate to say it but unfortunately it will be the last year I will be hosting this.

Sunday August 24th
This was a travel day for most of us. I arrived in Ouray and checked into my motel. Ouray is in a box canyon with steep sides all around.

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007 arrived the day before and was able to get some trail riding in but for the rest of us the trail rides would begin tomorrow.

 

[Posi]

All my pics were taken with a phone


Sunday 1:30pm, Ride from Albuquerque to Ouray on Rt 550











5pm-7pm Durango to Ouray 550 “Million Dollar Highway”
































Sliverton





Ouray

 

[007]

For my and my friend Brian - Saturday was our travel day (as some of you saw in the planning thread). Here's a quick shot out the back window of the flat-tow from Indiana...



But on Sunday, we did a "shakedown" of sorts to see how the Jeep would work, so we did Yankee Boy since we weren't going to be there for that day anyway - plus there is usually others out there in case we had trouble. Here's a few shots from there...




Here's an hour video of it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwBi2sb4Heo

 

[oldjeeplady]

Sunday was the second travel day for us (mriplaybass and I). We left SE WI early Saturday morning and drove to North Platte, NE. We drove all day on Sunday getting to Ouray around 7:00pm. He we are ready to leave home.

 

[BusaDave9]

Monday August 25th
Originally I was planning on taking Lower Engineer Pass trail today. It's a very rough and rocky trail. I got to wondering if that might be a bit much for a beginner four wheeler. MriPlayBass and OldJeepLady were in a Ford Explorer and I decided to take us up Maggie Gulch instead. I later learned not to underestimate MriPlayBass and his Explorer.
Monday we took the highway 15 miles to Silverton. Then we headed to Maggie Gulch.

First stop in Maggie Gulch was below the waterfall.

After the waterfall we climbed higher.



We stopped at some old mining buildings.

Then we went to a higher mine to have lunch (sandwiches we brought)





The above picture is the creek going through Maggie gulch.

A little history here: Over 100 years ago a mining family built their home near here. They had 2 daughters they names Minnie and Maggie. The 2 gulches (valleys) were then named after these 2 daughters,


This next picture is above the waterfall we stopped at on the way up.

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View looking out Maggie Gulch.

After Maggie Gulch we were ready for more so we decided to take the long way back to Ouray.
We headed up Brooklyn Trail.

I got to the top of Brooklyn Trail and waited to take a picture of the others coming up the trail. They didn't come so I went back to find out 007 was having engine trouble. After letting the engine cool it started right up.









From the top of Brooklyn Trail I took this Panorama:
Top of Brooklyn Trail - Panorama
Check it out, it's interactive.
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[Posi]

 

[007]

Monday started out great, but I began to have some issues with keeping the engine cool after long runs up and down the Million Dollar Highway. We headed south out of Ouray on 550 and that takes you over Red Mountain pass, then down into Silverton. By the time I got to Silverton, my Jeep was running pretty warm. We stopped for fuel there in Silverton and between that and some chatting it cooled down fine and we went all the way up Maggie Gulch with no heat issues whatsoever.

Here's some pics of the area and of Dave and his CJ...









After we came back down from Maggie Gulch, we headed through Silverton and back north on 550 to the Brooklyn Trail. It was here that I had some issues. Just the relatively short drive up 550 again caused the Jeep to overheat. I got on Brooklyn Trail and hoped that the lower RPM's would give it time to cool, but in the first 10-15mins of the climb the Jeep just flat out quit. We messed with it for an hour - let it cool, dumped gas down carb, checked spark...nothing. Then we waited a bit more and then if fired up and ran fine the rest of the day. Odd, but more on that to follow.

 

[oldjeeplady]

These are our pictures from Maggie Gulch and Brooklyn Trail:



We had some problems making the last switchback so we backed up the trail and parked









Lunch break in Maggie Gulch



What a great group!



On to Brooklyn Trail - Dave decided to show what a real CJ could do:



We didn't try this with our "Blue Oval" stock 4x4





007, Posi, Brian and Dave at Brooklyn Trail



Our 4x4's on Brooklyn Trail



Wow, we had so much fun... What a great day!

 

[BusaDave9]

Tuesday, August 26th
We headed south of Ouray on highway 550. We turned off the highway, switched into 4WD low and headed up Corkscrew Pass.

The above pic is at the pass.

Storm Peak
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From the top we could look across to Hurricane Pass (next picture). I was originally planning on heading that way. Instead we decided to go to Siverton for a quick stop.

After Silverton we headed on the trail that goes along the Animas river.



I took this shot of a Toyota in front of Niagara Peak.

Here's 007 in his CJ7


We stopped at Animas Forks Ghost Town. Since last year they have been remodeling this ghost town. If you ask me a ghost town shouldn't need to be remodled. The idea was to prevent it from falling apart. I guess that's a good goal but I think they went too far. They reroofed the buildings and installed glass in the windows.








It started to rain when we were at Animas Forks Ghost Town. I decided to continue on to California Gulch. 007 decided to follow me.

It rained as we were climbing California Gulch.
It stopped as we reached California Pass. There were some beautiful views of Lake Como.


Here's Mike, I mean 007, taking some pictures.




We didn't really descend before we headed back up to Hurricane pass.








We stopped at Hurricane Pass just as heavy clouds were moving in and covering us and the mountains.





You can see Corkscrew Pass in this next picture. That's the fastest way back to Ouray.

We have to descend before we can climb Corkscrew Pass.







007 following behind

Silverton is behind that mountain in the background (Storm Peak)
We took Corkscrew Pass again to get back to Ouray.







At the bottom of Corkscrew Pass we got onto highway 550. It was only a few more miles to Ouray.

 

[Posi]

 

[oldjeeplady]

Tuesday Ride started with Corkscrew Pass



















At this point I wasn't feeling too well (nothing to do with the ride) so we headed back to Ouray. We still had a great time!!!

 

[007]

We began the day heading out south on 550 to Corkscrew Gulch. This is perhaps one of my favorite trails in the area, especially as it leads to so many others.

Again, the Jeep built heat going down 550 and while we didn't go as far on 550, we went far enough. And again, after about 15-20mins up past the timber line the Jeep just quit again. We went through the same routine for the most part, but we knew just waiting would work and finally after about an hour it fired right up and was again fine the rest of the day. I'll detail it more in my build thread, but it was a perfect storm of altitude vs. carb, gearing, radiator cap and ignition.

So as probably stated before, we did Corkscrew Gulch then went back into Silverton so I could look for a radiator cap. Curt and Jo Ellen headed back to Ouray. I couldn't find one but we did tighten the flanges on my cap and it seemed to seal better. Then we headed back out of Silverton towards Animas Forks, then on to California and Hurricane Passes - then back to Corkscrew Gulch the other direction and back to 550 and north to Ouray.

 

[BusaDave9]

Wednesday August 27th
We never even hit the highway today. From Ouray we headed out the dirt road that would then become the trail to Tom Boy Mine.

This trail rode along a steep canyon.

Although many of these pictures don't show it, there is a very big drop off to the side.


At one point there was no room for a road on this cliff side but they built a road where there wasn't room.






Camp Bird is an active mine but some of the buildings were abandoned long ago. This next pictures is an old mill that they crushed the rock to help get out the precious metals.


Then we continued on to Yankee Boy Basin.


This next picture is of the trail to Governor Basin. We were planning on going there next but we could see there were bulldozers and other heavy equipment on the trail so we decided not to go there.



We stopped off at the twin falls





There were magnificent, steep rock mountains all around Yankee Boy Basin.

Potosi Peak
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Looking down Yankee Boy Basin
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Curt
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After Yankee Boy Basin we headed to Camp Bird Mine. This mine is still active but many of the buildings are abandoned.

These old homes are over 100 years old. Vandals have broken the windows but this year they are remodeling them. It looks like someone may even move in.



Posi looked over this jack hammer.









This waterfall was behind one of the old houses.



Another shot of the house that is being remodeled.
This next house is bigger but not being remodeled.

 

[Posi]

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When we returned from the trail I took a drive around Ouray and took a few pics


Black tailed Mule Doe, I was so close I had to back up to fit her in the frame


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[oldjeeplady]

On Wednesday Posi rode with us - It was great to have him along!

We went to Yankee Boy Basin first:














Here is a picture of an old mining tipple:



Nice pic and of Posi too...



oldjeeplady smiles...







I really liked this waterfall...



Now you hear it just like you were there...

Yankee Boy Basin Upper Water Fall - YouTube





Here is a nice pic of Posi - We really enjoyed his company!!!





Dave, Curt and Koda all smiling..



Dave driving under the rocks....



Old house at Camp Bird Mine



Waterfall behind old house at Camp Bird Mine



Another View:

Camp Bird Water Fall - YouTube

 

[BusaDave9]

Thursday Aug 28

We've been putting off Black Bear Pass, waiting for a day without a chance or rain. The problem is the weather forcast is always wildly inaccurate up high in the mountains. Thursday we decided to do Ophir Pass to Telluride and take Imogene Pass back to Ouray.
It was a cloudy day. The mountain tops were often in the clouds.


Heading up Ophir Pass from the east.







We crossed the pass and it was still too cloudy (foggy) to see very far ahead. I knew there was a long stretch that you couldn't pass. Normally you wouldn't want to go out there until you were sure no one was coming. Fortunately it cleared up and we were able to see that no one was coming.





Looking back I wanted to make sure the others were on the way.









After reaching Ophir we took to the highway for a few miles to get to Telluride.



Telluride CO



Mountains over Telluride



Black Bear Pass goes down the cliff on the far mountain.




I knew this was going to be a long day so we didn't spend much time in Telluride. We took Imogine Pass back to Ouray. Imogine pass raises out of Telluride.

Telluride
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Bullion Tunnel leads to Iogene Pass.



You can see the canyon walls are very steep around Telluride.




Finally we made it to Tomboy Mine.

This mine was very lucrative but very high in the mountains.








Climbing to Imogene Pass.




Looking ahead the pass was covered with snow.





At the pass we found snow and low visibility.








Then we started to descend.


The trail was rougher than last time I ran it.



















Another Mine we passed.






One last water crossing.

Now it wasn't long till we were back in Ouray. Overall it's been a long day.

 

[Posi]

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Black Bear Pass


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[oldjeeplady]

We took Ophir Pass to Telluride. I must apologize as some of our pictures are not in the correct order. Some were taken with Curt's phone which automatically changed to Mountain Time and some with my camera which was still set on Central time...I tried and tried to sort them correct - you will just have to look at Dave's or Posi's pics for the correct order - sorry...

We took Ophir Pass to Telluride.









Town of Ophir - lots of speed bumps...



Heading into Telluride





Telluride in town looking at the ski area



Now on Imogene Pass












View of Black Bear Pass - if you look close you can see a vehicle on it...



































We stopped by another waterfall - here are a couple views looking back at the bridge we just crossed





Here is a deer checking us out...




This was an amazing day! If it hadn't been for Dave and Posi spotting us at several really rough places, I think we would have bottomed out hard a few times. Curt (a pro driver by occupation) learned how to pick his lines and with their help we made it.

One thing to consider always is that these trails change all the time. Imogene and Ophir trails are listed as County Roads, and if the grader has been through recently - well then I expect the trail would be easier. While we were there I noticed signs up stating Black Bear Pass was going to be closed in a few days for maintenance. I'll bet it was quite rough when we were there so it may have been just as well no one tried it this trail. Maybe someday in the future it will be on our list. Regardless, we plan to come back with our CJ and spend more time learning our way around.

 

[BusaDave9]

Friday August 29th


We are headed to Eureka Gulch but first I wanted to take some pictures just outside of Ouray.

Ouray

Red Mountain


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We went to Silverton and then followed the trail north to Eureka.

Eureka was an old mining town. There isn't much of the town anymore but you can still see the remnants of the mine and mill.

From here we climbed Eureka trail.

Old Mining building.











Here's a Marmot. They are like a woodchuck from the east but a marmot only lives high in the mountains.







We found one more mine to check out.















Eureka Mine Pit

Then we headed back down.
After this trail ride we all headed back home. It was a great trip. I really enjoyed the week.

 

[Posi]

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After we parted ways I decided to hang around Sliverton before taking the long ride to Albuquerque.


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Click on small pic for video




I met an interesting gentleman, and my new best friend in Sliverton, Mr Carey Green. He's been living in Silveton for 22 years. He purchased his ford woody from the Henry Ford Museum in 1997 (auction). We talked for about 40 mins before I had to had out. He told me if I come back next year he would give me a ride ( he was charging the battery when I arrived).

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