Ouray, Silverton, Telluride Journal (comprehensive)

[jbcrane]

Fellow Jeepers,

Just returned from a week of exploring southern Colorado in my '21 JLU and wanted to share a few thoughts. (written more for the newbie than the vet). I've done a good bit of back country travel in other vehicles, mostly pick-up's, but this being my first Jeep, was also my first true taste of the Wrangler's capabilities. This type of trip is exactly what I've been equipping my Wrangler for so was a good chance to test some of the things I hoped I'd done right. As much a photography trip as it was a Jeep trip, we split the difference half the time targeting photos/footage with the other half focused on trails. As so many others have stated, I'm blown away at what the Jeep can do.

Looking south towards Dallas Divide, Last Dollar Road

Day 1: Last Dollar Road to Telluride, Ophir Pass back to 550
Eased into things day one on Last Dollar Road near Telluride. Funtreks has it as Easy and it is, mostly a rutted dirt road but in the rain would be challenging. Tremendous views, wound up in Telluride, grabbed coffee (while in line we overheard someone talking about their $1,100 plate of sushi the night before... welcome to Telluride). Headed down the road to Ophir and took Ophir Pass (Moderate) back to 550. My first BOH trail, I was pretty stoked.

Ophir Pass Summit

Coming down Ophir Pass, East Side

Made sure to check in while in Telluride for lack of signal at the actual trail head. Beginning really was a simple, steep dirt road. But the shelf road that followed was a wake up that the whole trail is not "just a dirt road" as so many experienced Jeepers say. If you're afraid of heights and a little exposure it'll get your attention. Of course the Wrangler handled it effortlessly. I wasn't even in 4-wheel drive until three quarters of the way up. When we hit the bottom of the shelf there was a dude & his wife in a Sprinter-type van trying to back down the shelf road. For some reason he thought it was a good idea to try Ophir in his top-heavy vehicle in street tires and limited ground clearance. About a quarter of the way up he realized his mistake and had a tough time extracting himself from the situation. His wife wasn't too happy as they slowly passed us, pulled over as far as we could get. Truly, the real danger on these passes are other people. Thankfully most everyone was cool, polite and respectful (all in Jeeps, BTW).

Descending Last Dollar Road toward Telluride, CO

Day 1 Bonus Trail: Yankee Boy Basin.
FunTreks has it as difficult but didn't find it too bad at all. The psychological factor created by three fatalities on that road a couple weeks earlier was the worst part. Only made it about 8 miles before we lost light and turned around. Stopped at the Drinking Cup and parked where the previous accident was. What a terrifying reminder that no matter how experienced one is, stuff happens.

Drone shot, east side of Engineer Pass

Day 2: Engineer Pass to Lake City.

Breakfast burritos on the roof at Coffee Bear, Silverton

Began the day with breakfast in Silverton. A great coffee/breakfast burrito place called Coffee Bear on the main drag has the best breakfast burritos. Elected not to travel Mineral Creek and take the easy, scenic way to the Alpine Loop, traversing clockwise. Engineer Pass (Moderate) was a little more involved than Ophir.

Alpine Loop beginning out of Silverton, CO

Again, mostly a steep, rocky dirt road. But towards the top are some very tight switchbacks requiring full attention. The challenge on Engineer are other drivers - and all the RAZR's. Making those tight switchback turns in 4-low without getting off-camber - or blowing up your power steering takes a little thought too. Multi-point turns are the norm and soon you're positioned well to hit the next climb. Again - the Wrangler went up without any hesitation - very impressive. Spent almost the whole climb on Engineer in 2nd gear, 4-low, taking our time, staying off the clutch.

Looking back towards Silverton on west side of Engineer Pass.

Engineer Pass Summit

View from Engineer Pass

Descending Engineer Pass, heading toward Lake City

Made it to Lake City too late in the day to complete the Alpine Loop back over Cinnamon, so returned to Ouray via 149 north out of Lake City, to Blue Mesa Road (25, just short of Dutch Gulch), a great dirt road up and over the mesa, landing us on 50 back to Montrose, then 550 to Ouray. Major construction on 50 made it slow going, but light was great we're in no hurry.

Summit, Imogene Pass

Day 3: Imogene Pass (Difficult)
I'll admit I was a little nervous. I'd watched plenty of YouTube videos on Imogene, including a guy tipping over his 2-door JK on a steep east-side portion near the top. Funtreks suggests doing it West to East, so we headed back to Telluride after breakfast in Ridgway, hit the head, then started climbing.

View towards Telluride, Imogene Pass

Again, "not just a dirt road," and again, the real danger is psychological, and other drivers. When you're on the shelf road leading out of town there's no room to pass, it's rocky, bumpy and narrow - but you're in no real danger if in 4-low and creeping along @ 5-10mph - until another vehicle approaches.

On-coming traffic while ascending from Telluride, Imogene Pass

Imogene Pass trail, Telluride-side

We intentionally chose a week day for this trip reasoning there'd be less traffic. Worked out fine. Always keeping an eye on the hillside in front for on-coming vehicles, you can complete the narrow sections and find a pull off when someone else approaches. By the time you cross the bridge just before the big basin where Tomboy is you're through what I'd consider the sketchiest part. We became a little turned around in the Tomboy basin trying to find the right trail out. No other vehicles were coming down and it's a little disorienting. Eventually another Jeep came down the hill and it all made sense. We took our time climbing the rest of the way to the summit, pulling over and launching the drone. Pretty awesome views.

Rock Outcrop, Imogene Pass

Imogene Pass Summit

The east side was steeper and a little more challenging just as FunTreks said. Glad we were heading down instead of up. Once you're past the top red section it's a slow, bumpy meander through the trees back to Yankee Boy/Camp Bird Rd. Hit a little rain on the way down, just enough to knock down the dust and freshen things up in the forest. No impact on the trail.

Million Dollar Highway, San Juans

Molas Pass, San Juans

Day 4: Million Dollar Highway to Coal Bank:
Explored all off-shoot roads/trails. Easy, nothing challenging. Rainy day.

Molas Pass, San Juans

476 Durango & Silverton railroad, Silverton, CO

Silverton, Colorado

Silverton, Colorado

Marcelina Mountain, Kebler Pass, Crested Butte area

Day 5: Kebler Pass, Crested Butte area
(more rain, Kebler Pass was muddy and slick)
Easy dirt road suitable for any passenger car. Not a Jeep Trail, just trying to position ourselves for the next day.

Crystal Mill along Crystal River

Day 6: Marble to Crystal Mill
Thought about Schofield but my buddy was a little nervous about the Punchbowl (as was I), so we took the scenic way to Marble. Took the 5-mile portion of (FunTreks) Trail 26 from Marble to Crystal Mill. After what we'd done this was child's play. Thought about circling back on Lead King but short on time, headed back the way we came. Again, narrow, rocky, only real danger is on-coming vehicles. Saw some pretty crazy people in various vehicles trying to make the drive. A lot of standing water - nothing more than a foot deep. Wouldn't want to be in anything but a Wrangler.

Summary:

• Fantastic trip, saw great country, challenged ourselves, learned more of the Wrangler's capabilities.
• Re-gearing to 4:88's made this trip a breeze in my JLU Sport. 2nd gear, 4-low was perfect for climbing and saving brakes descending.
• The 2" Mopar lift and 315's were perfect. Never touched bottom of anything, ever.
• Ready to disconnect sway bar end links but never needed to.
• Aired down to about 22# (by gauge - not TPMS) and was just about right. Felt like I nearly rolled a bead coming down Imogene but everything held up.
• KO2's performed flawlessly - couldn't be happier.
• Temperature gauge didn't budge once despite pushing him hard up long, steep climbs. I had topped off the reservoir between Min/Max prior to leaving.
• 10# CO2 tank worked perfectly, supplemented with air in Ouray one day, aired up from 22 ->32# 4x lickity-split. Super cool.
• EDIT: One thing I'd do differently is hard-mount the 10# CO2 tank. I used PowerTank's SpeedBag and strapped it down in the back, but with all the rocking around it was a little less secure than I'd prefer. Next time I'll do their BTS Bracket and lock it down.
• Mud accumulated during the trip protected from excessive pin striping on narrow Crystal Mill trails.
• Most everyone in a Jeep was really cool. Many RAZR's were not, always in a hurry, zipping around like flies. Not a fan.
• Saw a fair number of 4Runners & Tacoma's and wondered how the Taco's longer wheel base handled the switchbacks.
• Didn't see a single (new) Bronco on the Ouray trails. Did see a built-up, old Bronco on Imogene driven by a (Montrose) local who was guiding two Jeeps. We met them at the big rock pull-off and had a good time chatting, then followed them down.
• Saw a new Bronco on the Crystal Mill trail. He was blocking for a Tacoma, then pulled over to let me run point. I enjoyed that immensely - and noticed how far behind he followed, though I wasn't moving fast at all.
• Overall fuel economy for 1,500 miles of road/trail: 22.4 mpg. I couldn't believe my eyes when I pulled in the garage and checked. Just wow... he can pull 22mpg and climb to 13,000 ft. What else is there to say?
• Stayed in Ouray KOA "Camping Cabin" between Ridgway and Ouray. Great experience, lots of other Jeeps and rigs, fun to chat with other like-minded travelers.
• Max graduated from Trail Rookie (aka:Mall Crawler/Cream Puff/Poser) to Trail Explorer on this trip. Can't wait to get him out again.
• Tons of video and photos... will post more when processed.

Anyone has questions please feel free to ask. I've learned so much from this forum I'd love to be able to give back. Peace, JBC

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[DOOKEY]

Great pics.

 

[Chupacabra]

Thanks for posting! I am going to be there in a few weeks so this will be good info to bring along.

 

[Tncdrew]

Great write-up!

 

[ajn507]

Great pics and details!

 

[AndrewHW]

Thanks for the write up. Did you stay at the same place for the entire trip and then just did day trips from there? Or did you bounce around and stay at different locations? Would you have done anything different as far as running different trails or not having such long days (if you did)?

 

[jbcrane]

Thanks for the write up. Did you stay at the same place for the entire trip and then just did day trips from there? Or did you bounce around and stay at different locations? Would you have done anything different as far as running different trails or not having such long days (if you did)?

Great questions... yes to number one; we stayed at the Ouray KOA from Saturday night through Wednesday night. It was a good location considering we spent about equal time heading north to Telluride as much as South to Silverton/Million Dollar Highway. At the KOA you're also equidistant from Ouray to Ridgway (chow, grog, coffee).

Re. no.2, in hind site wouldn't do anything differently. I was initially disappointed to only get to Lake City on the Alpine Loop - arrived about 4pm after a leisurely start and a lot of stopping for drone flying and photos - but it was worth it. And as often happens when you're traveling, the drive back over Blue Mesa Road turned into its own adventure. Construction on 50 was bad and we were stopped for a quite a spell. These guys from Montrose were coming back from a big Baja-style race, saw our cameras and wanted a photo. We had a great conversation and made new friends on the highway as on-coming traffic whizzed by. So, best laid plans and all that... it turned out to be a great day despite not meeting my initial expectations.

 

[seanjonesSUPERTRAMP]

next time you're there check out black bear pass. my favorite of the area

 

[bobholthaus]

Thank you for this. Great write up. I will use this next summer when I go.

 

[jbcrane]

Thank you for this. Great write up. I will use this next summer when I go.

You're welcome Bob. Any questions just shoot.

 

[blnewt]

Sounds like a great trip, I love that part of the country, you would have a blast on Poughkeepsie Gultch! Did a great job w/ the pics and the reviews, well done!

 

[jbcrane]

Sounds like a great trip, I love that part of the country, you would have a blast on Poughkeepsie Gultch! Did a great job w/ the pics and the reviews, well done!

Thanks Brad. I wanted to come down Poughkeepsie to get a taste of what it's all about but timing didn't work out. I'm still pretty much a rookie TBH, and can tell you I have no interest in doing the Wall... but it'll be fun to watch - and photograph - others ;-).

 

[blnewt]

Thanks Brad. I wanted to come down Poughkeepsie to get a taste of what it's all about but timing didn't work out. I'm still pretty much a rookie TBH, and can tell you I have no interest in doing the Wall... but it'll be fun to watch - and photograph - others ;-).

It's such a cool trail, and if you go up from the Engineer/Mineral creek area you end up at beautiful Lake Como, you can then hit Hurricane & Corkscrew pass back to Million Dollar Hwy. There's a bypass on Poughkeepsie (that's what we did since I had open diffs at the time) and it's still a bit rugged but you'd be fine on that. The trail has a lot of cool scenic views and varying terrain so it's a great mix. You could also take the wall trail and just check it out, watch some Jeeps giving it a go and then backtrack to the bypass. It's just one of those trails you really need to run, it's just perfect!
Looking down from Hurricane summit to Lake Como.

 

[jbcrane]

It's such a cool trail, and if you go up from the Engineer/Mineral creek area you end up at beautiful Lake Como, you can then hit Hurricane & Corkscrew pass back to Million Dollar Hwy. There's a bypass on Poughkeepsie (that's what we did since I had open diffs at the time) and it's still a bit rugged but you'd be fine on that. The trail has a lot of cool scenic views and varying terrain so it's a great mix. You could also take the wall trail and just check it out, watch some Jeeps giving it a go and then backtrack to the bypass. It's just one of those trails you really need to run, it's just perfect!
Looking down from Hurricane summit to Lake Como.

Have heard, seen and read much about Lake Como. It's on the list for next time. Cinnamon, Hurricane, Corkscrew and California were also on my list for this past trip, but alas, so many trails, so little time. Before the Jeep my visits to the San Juans were largely passing through en route to some place else. Now with the Jeep I'll be treating the area more as a destination and exploring the heck out of it. I'm partial to the high mountain passes, and less so to the circus Moab has become.

 

[aCeMedic13]

Nice pics! Imogene was by far my favorite!! I was to chicken to do a Black Bear pass and they actually shut it down the second day I was there because someone had rolled their jeep. Definitely a repeat trip. We stayed at the Ouray KOA as well. Tried some hiking on Ouray - elevation was a killer.

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