Colorado trip - Blanca, Imogene, Poughkeepsie

This is a recap of the trip we made up to Colorado in September 2024.

My wife Rikki and in a White JLUR, @BradyW in his White JLUR, and his brother, Michael in another White JLUR. For a little variety my buddy Tim came in his Green 2 Door Bronco. Fellow forum member @mushroomax met us for the first trail in a Charcoal JLUR.

Day 1 - My wife and I drove ~10.5 hrs from the DFW area to Fort Garland Colorado where we met @BradyW (also from DFW area).

Day 2 - Tuesday morning we head to Blanca Peak where @mushroomax will also be meeting us. There was (apparently common) morning showers but the clouds were burning off as neared the parking area.


From the parking lot its just large gravel / small stones as you work your way up a slight grade to the base of the mountain. Then you hit a sharp left turn with a sign indicating the start of the "for real" trail with a corresponding increase in grade.


While it looks like fog, it's the low clouds we're starting to get into.


Eventually you get to the first named obstacle, Jaws 1.
Brady took the high line, Max took a diagonal across the middle.



I don't know if a 2 door would be able to drive straight over it. On the way down, Brady unintentionally demonstrated that a 4 door cannot.


Like many of the trails in Colorado, there are remnants of old cabins, we stopped to take a quick look at this one and admire the view.


Next up is a water crossing that is easy going to the top of the trail, but deceptively hard with wet tires going back down.


A little further up the trail you get to Jaws 2. If you don't have a death wish you only have one way to go.
Lower part:


Upper part:


I believe this one is Jaws 2.5, it really gets your suspension crossed up as demonstrated by Max.


From there more rocks and ledges until you get to Jaws 3. This one was tough, Brady and I both needing several tries before making it up. No winching required though.


Max made it look pretty easy but to be fair he's done it a few times before. I did get a little butt pucker when he slid to passenger and front driver tire lifted up.


We stopped at the lake because there was afternoon rain forecast. It looks like it would be a great place to hang out if the sun was out and it wasn't so cold and windy.


After we got down, Max went home while Brady and I headed over to Lake City. There we'd meet up with Michael and Tim.

Day 3 - Wednesday morning Brady, Michael, Tim, and us left Lake City enroute to Ouray. We took the Southern part of the Alpine Loop because we were planning to take the Northern part on the way back out. I had promised my wife this would primarily be a sight-seeing trip. Yesterday I had really pushed my luck with Blanca peak and today was my day to repent.

The first attempt to say "I'm sorry" began with a small detour to look at Carson Ghost Town.
This is a spur off the Alpine loop and actually became a highlight of the day. The trail/road itself was more fun that we thought starting with a steep grade:


Followed by the Aspen trees near the treeline with their leaves turning yellow in the Fall.


We were disappointed to find out that Carson Ghost town was privately owned so we couldn't actually go look at the buildings


But were later able to explore Animas Forks. One of the signs talked about a blizzard that dropped 25 FEET of snow. They had to dig tunnels between the buildings to get around.



Heading on towards Ouray you go above Lake Como. The trail to the right is Poughkeepsie Gulch. My wife had to go to the bathroom while we stopped here and we thought we had found the perfect hiding spot over near where the lake drains out. When done we realized there were a whole bunch of vehicles stopped up above the lake and a bunch of people out looking down on us



Day 4 - Thursday morning we headed out from Ouray with the plan to do the East side of Imogene. About a month before we left they had mudslides that took out Blackbear pass and Imogene. You could take Imogene to the pass and turn around but they gated off Blackbear pass entirely. This is one of the shelf roads on Imogene:


A little bridge along the way. It looks like people just cross through the water but I don't know if you're supposed to.


Besides getting the badge, the other reason I wanted to do Imogene pass. The first time here I was too skeerd to drive close to the edge. This time I did much better. I was surprised nobody else in the group wanted to get this picture though...


We were planning to hit up Yankee Boy Basin before heading back but that plan changed at the last minute. A group of side by sides coming down told us that some young guys in an SUV thought they could do it then got nervous. So they were backing down the trail preventing anyone from passing. So instead we went to Governor Basin...


Somewhere near the end we stopped for a group picture.
Tims green bronco is pretty easy to spot


When we got back to town we dropped off the ladies and went to the top of Ophir pass. No pics of that, I think it is one of the ugliest passes I've seen.

Day 5 - Friday three of us headed up Mineral Creek to Poughkeepsie gulch. Tim had to head back home so wasn't able to join the fun. The trail head for Mineral Creek is only about 4 miles North of Ouray. Past experience in the summer, this parking lot was packed full of trucks and trailers. This was more bueno:

After the initial climb up you get to some shelf roads with beautiful views.


Followed by more Aspen trees


Every time we've been here this section has been full of water. It's only about 12" deep but it's maybe 100' long.


Here is the junction with the Poughkeepsie Gulch turnoff. You can see how well us guys are at setting up a picture.


There were plenty of rough sections leading up to this point, but this sign indicates it is no joke if you go to the right. All stock vehicle, ATVs, UTVs, and Motorcycles are supposed to take the bypass.


A little way from the sign is a fun rock, if you try to go straight over it you'll likely be looking for a winch point. This is Michael showing off his Metalcloak flex.


There is a tight section beyond the play rock and then it opens up to the wall. I think you only have two lines to chose from the right side where I picked up a tire:


Or the left side where Brady almost lifted a tire:


Michael opted for the right side as well.


After the wall you have several more rough sections while surrounded by rugged natural beauty.


Michael lifted a tire here when he slid sideways. We were behind him when it happened and for a moment I thought were going to have to roll him upright.


Brady mentioned below that Blanca Peak should not be done alone. I 100% agree with that.
I think the same is true of Poughkeepsie Gulch. Even though it is fairly well traveled, waiting even 15 minutes for help could take things from bad to critical.

From here we went to Engineer Pass where Brady headed back to Lake City where he'd left his truck and trailer. Michael and I headed back to Ouray.




Day 6 - Saturday Michael went North to get home while we headed South. We were planning to stay in Cloudcroft, NM. If your rig is prone to overheating, the climb from Alamogordo (4,335 ft) to Cloudcroft (8,650 ft) will have you watching your gauges.


Just outside of town is a historic railroad trestle that is worth checking out:

Southern New Mexico’s Cloud-Climbing Trestle Trail Preserves Unique Piece of Railroad History - Rails to Trails Conservancy | Rails to Trails Conservancy


I tested my luck a second time so we could go down to White Sands National Park. We had been sort of close a couple of times but never stopped. It's pretty impressive, I'm glad we stopped to see it.

Great write up on Blanca!

I wheel solo more often than I should but to anyone reading this don’t wheel Blanca peak alone. There are many spots where winching yourself forward may not be safe if you get stuck. Even though many people hike the trail it’s not one you’d want to walk down in my opinion.

It’s a great trail and enjoyed meeting another forum member Max. That man is calm cool and collected under extreme roll angle!

Looks like a great trip! Bunch of trails I need to tackle (some again, some first time), when Life and Fun collide.

Ya there is something special about the Alpine Loop area that keeps us going back. You should definitely makes plans to do it.

Love that Bondi Bumper!!!

Notgeowild said:

Love that Bondi Bumper!!!

Click to expand...

Thanks! I do too but I did have to make some adjustments so the 37”s wouldn’t rub

BDinTX said:

Thanks! I do too but I did have to make some adjustments so the 37”s wouldn’t rub

Click to expand...

I saw the video you made on it!

What lift do you have on you Jeep?

Notgeowild said:

I saw the video you made on it!

What lift do you have on you Jeep?

Click to expand...

I have the AEV dualsport 2.5" with the 5100 shocks. Looks like you have the same lift but with the 8100s (I'm jealous ). I had no up-travel so I also removed the front bump stop extension and put in a 1/2" Teraflex puck instead. The bump tube on the diesel is 1 3/8" longer than normal and the XR used to be the same (as well as the original 392).

Great write up, pics and videos! I hadn't heard of Blanca before. It looks tougher than any of the BOH trails I did out there for sure.

Thank you! It was a new one to me also, Brady requested we add it to the list and I’m glad we did. My wife got a little psyched out before we went because all the YT videos we watched hype up how deadly it is. But once she saw it first hand she was cool with it.

Great write up! Thanks for sharing! Did you stay the night in Cloudcroft? One of my best friends' family owned a hotel there. It's a nice little village. ;-)

Hey thank you! We stayed two nights in an AirBnB and yes, it is a really neat place! I bet that hill can get sketchy with a little ice though!

Yeah, but they do a good job keeping it cleared. I've driven it a couple times in a 2wd rental car. LOL