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Ouray/Silverton This Week

2K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Sean K. 
#1 ·
I'll be out there most of the week if anyone is around...

AcadiaCruiser will be coming up from Durango on Sat-8/11 for a run.
 
#2 ·
I'm heading over to Ouray today. I'm taking a group from my club in Dallas out tomorrow (Monday). They're all camping in Silverton. I'm staying at the Box Canyon Lodge in Ouray. The route I was going to take them on tomorrow will go from Silverton to Animas Forks to California Gulch to Corkscrew Gulch to the Alpine Loop out of Ouray to Poughkeepsie Gulch back over California Gulch (opposite direction) through Animas Forks up to Cinnimon Pass, where they'll be camping for the night. I was going to go back up and meet them Tuesday morning on Cinnimon Pass and follow them to Lake City, and then head back to Crested Butte. I could be talked into doing something else Tuesday though. You're also welcome to join us on Monday if you like.

Jim
 
#3 ·
Just got to town today...

...was going to do Ophir to Telluride back to Ouray via Imogene tomorrow (Tues)... I could be convinced to do something else... however, my rig is not as tricked as yours, Jim (Moab pix come to mind)... nothing over-the-top for me...

Staying at Hot Springs Inn

Typing now at the library

Will try to flag you down if I see you

Look for the SF w/white wheels
 
#4 ·
I wish I had seen this post last week. Got to Ouray on the 3rd. I was lucky enough to run into FJC Colorado on the trail. It was great to meet up with you.

FJR CO I will pass on the info to Terry. Come on out to So Cal and we can wheel some.

Regards, SSC
 
#5 ·
Well, it's Tuesday night and I got back to Dallas last night. I drove from Crested Butte to Ouray Sunday afternoon and when I got to the motel and checked in I found out that the highway to Silverton had been closed due to a slide on Red Mountain Pass, so I couldn't drive over to Silverton to meet the Dallas folks I had planned on taking out Monday. Cell service in Ouray was out as well and I had no idea when either the pass was going to re-open or cell service restored. I tried to call the one person in the group who's cell number I had from the phone at the motel but he didn't have coverage in Silverton (Nextel) so I figured I was just out of luck as far as getting together with them on Monday. At that point I punted and paid for the room that I had checked into only twenty minutes earlier, loaded up my stuff and drove back to Crested Butte. Since I was planning on heading back to Dallas when I got back to CB, I took off Monday morning and drove back to big D. The short version of all this is you won't be seeing my smiling face in Ouray.

Jim
 
#6 · (Edited)
Jim D:
Sorry to hear about all that. The weather the past 2 days was horrendous. Monsoon rains and tons of mud slides. I tried to make it over Ophir today but a major slide had it closed. I hear Black Bear has been closed too.

I headed over to Silverton. Went to Animas Forks and started up Engineer but visibility could be measured in feet. I got caught in torrential rain up on California Gulch and Hurricane Pass. A guy from San Juan County was clearing another mud slide on California with a huge bulldozer.

The drive down Corkscrew was quite an experience. Driving rain and foot deep mud. Not to mention shelf roads with 1K feet drop-offs and almost 13K in altitude.

Then, I ran into "ssc" (Steve-- a new forum member and FJ owner) and his totally new and tricked out VooDoo Blue FJ. When it had about 50 miles on it he took it to All-Pro for bumpers, the complete Fox kit, high-clearance exaust, sliders, etc. What a rig! I think he's the 2nd recipient of the Fox system in the US

He was heading up Corkscrew when I was just coming down. I told him what he could expect at the summit--torrential rain and deep mud. He followed me back down Corkscrew in the mud & slop. What a ride. As he followed me he noted that my stock exhaust was getting buried in the mud during the deeper sections.

Through it all, the FJ was a trooper. Between the Goodyear MTRs and A-TRAC, I had zero problems.

We wizzed by an H2 and a couple of full-size pickups that I doubt had any chance in that mud. They certainly weren't going anywhere fast.

Later tonight I got a ride in Steve's rig with the Fox suspension-- this is clearly the best way to go. Fox Kit in my future.

Tomorrow: Sunny Skies! Can't wait
 
#7 ·
I was there last year in similar conditions. We were out one day in a torrential downpour going over Ophir, Alpine Loop to Animas Forks, California Gulch to Corkscrew Gulch (which was a nightmare), then back over Ophir. To say it was sketchy would be a huge understatement. Somebody in a jeep was killed in the same area the day we were out. A large rock came crashing through the canvas top of his jeep and killed him. Another group of jeeps got stranded at the Tomboy mine on Imogene and had to spend the night in their vehicles. They were evacuated the next day by helicopter. I can't say I'm sorry I missed it this go-round.

Jim
 
#8 ·
Jim D:

Those are some great anecdotes you have (or not so great depending in your POV)

Yeah, I wasn't exactly upset to finally see US 550 yesterday...

Whole 'nother story today.... Beautiful sunny skies and Imogene was immaculate. The recent rains made sure that the fords were nice and high (and God knows the east side of Imogene has a ton of fords)
 
#9 ·
Hi All,
I just got home. I am glad that the weather cleared up. The day we went up Imogene, we made it to the summit , but it was pouring and as we made it to the top-over 13,000 feet, the visibility was less than ten feet. I took a picture from the cab of the sign and that is about all you can see.

We waited maybe 15 minutes hoping the weather would clear, no such luck. I went down the way we came up. In those conditions, with the narrow, slick shelf roads, it was a bit interesting to say the least.

The little blue beast did well.

Regards, SSC
 
#11 ·
Slightly off topic, but this is monsoon season in Ouray; A matter of fact, two weeks ago to the day I was driving up Engineer and was unable to continue due to a Jeep Grand Cherokee that had rolled off the trail, the park service and some recovery folks were trying to get the vehicle out of the gully and had the road blocked with their vehicles. I have pictures of it, but I'm too lazy to post. The rain can make the trails completely different. Not to mention I found out Black Bear was closed a few weeks ago due to washout on the switchbacks, was reopened much sooner than expected. Hope you guys had fun.
 
#12 ·
Jordan,
Completely off topic, but I'm not going to be able to make our Colorado trip this year. I know we'd talked about meeting up to do Black Bear and Poughkeepsie sometime around the 18-19th of August, but I ran into some problems with the trailer, tow rig and buggy and now I have to get them in shape for the Moab run in October.

You're more than welcome to join us in Moab if you want. There will probably be a few trails you will not want to do, but there are always lots of wheelers in the area if you're good at making new friends. ;)

Sorry for the short notice and hopefully you hadn't planned on us coming up.

Sean
 
#13 ·
Sean,

Thanks for Moab offer, I probably will skip Moab, October will be a busy month. No big deal on the short notice, I had forgotten about it within the last two weeks, next time you're out here let me know though.


Jordan
 
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