Silverton/Ouray Colorado Trip....

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AZKJ

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The wife and are heading up to Silverton and Ouray, Colorado Sep 1-7 for 5 days of wheeling in the San Juan Mountains. We're meeting my buddy from Colorado Springs. This will be our third trip up there, but the first in the Liberty. I've done all the trails in the TJ and my friend was able to do all the ones I did in his KJ, except he left his Liberty at the motel and rode with me to do Black Bear.

A stock KJ with skids and A/T tires can do most of the trails in the area, including the infamous "Black Bear Road" (just bring a change of underwear for this one, as there is a very high "pucker" factor).

Here is a link for Black Bear with pictures:
http://www.narrowgauge.org/4x4/html/blkbear.html

And a link for some of the other trails in the area, also with a lot of pictures: http://www.narrowgauge.org/4x4/html/4X4.html

Even if you can't go, you ought to take a few minutes to take a look at some of the pics in the above sites. Maybe it will intice you to make the trip or set one up yourself.

If anyone is interested, your welcome to join us. Just let me know and I'll post the details....
 
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AZKJ

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UPDATE: We had to move this trip up a month. No one showed an interested, so it doesn’t matter other than to let everyone know we‘ll be gone for a week starting tomorrow.

See everyone when we get back, and as usual, look for a bunch of pictures.

Rocky Mountain High Altitude Expedition 2007... here we come!!!! \\:D/

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rkeegstra

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Dude! I must have missed this thread originally. Mary and I are probably going to do the Alpine Loop area mid to late September. Let us know how it goes!

Russ
 

AZKJ

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Russ... you got it.

The two other times we've been up there were in mid-Sept, no problems at all. In fact, we were up there for the first time when 9/11 happened.

I would go NLT mid-Sept at the latest. It can snow up there in the latter part of the month and possibly shut down some trails.

It was in the low 60's to 70's during the day and the low to mid 30's at night. Maybe some showers here and there and a bit colder and windy in the mountain passes.

All the high water from the snow melt will be gone, only a few shallow water crossings. The Aspens will have, or will be changeing colors, it all depends on the first frost. Tons of photo ops for that BIG Nikon of yours. You'll enjoy yourself even tho you walk around with a high altitude headache all day. :D

Here are a few pics from Sep 2001 (sorry about the quality, no digital camera back then, or a computer)....

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o8k

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im blown away by those pictures, absolutly specatular! I wanna go! =( For some reason this missed my attention as well, or i would have shown interest. Tho w/ the move and all ive been a bit wishy washy getting settled out here and all. Yall have fun and be safe, bring back lots of pics.

How far of a drive is it to get up there?
 

AZKJ

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It's 530 miles and a 10 to 11 hour drive to Ouray (all secondary roads except for I-17).

Maybe next year we can put something together and give people a chance to get out of the Valley heat for a week. Right after labor Day would be a good time (the motel rates drop by almost half, the trees are starting to change color and the weather is good).

Okay... we'll see everyone in a week. We're off on our "Rocky Mountain High Altitude Expedition - 2007" in a few hours. Plenty of pics to come when we get home.... :D

Jeep KJ "High Altitude" Edition
(built for tight mountain switchbacks)

\\:D/ (partysmile) \\:D/

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indieaz

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Wife and I will be up there the week before this actually, we already made plans to go up there. Should be fun...we had a blast last time. We don't have skids so we were being pretty careful on the trails - didn't try black bear. We went on Engineer, Ophir and a few others. ?I've been up two other times and rented a Wrangler and that was extra fun not having to worry about a vehicle you owe money one :p We love Colorado. We are going to be camping between telluride and dolores.
 

o8k

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common AJ say you are checking this while your out there and will give us a sneak preview of your findings .....

EDIT: in picture format
 

AZKJ

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Yes, I've been checking in briefly, sorry, but no pics to post. The motel frowns on uploading stuff on their machine. I'll have a full trip report and tons of pics this weekend when we get home.... :)

This afternoon I started having problems with my shifter being hard to go into 1st. I'll be posting another thread on that subject.... :(
 

AZKJ

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Did you run this through the washer and dryer on hot cycle??? Looks like it shrunk and 2 doors are still sitting in the bottom of the wash tub. :eek:
Nope... it's a custom built Jeep KJ "Rocky Mountain High Altitude" Edition, made especially for tight switchbacks.... ;)
 

AZKJ

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We're back a day early from our "Rocky Mountain High Altitude Expedition - 2007". I'll file a trip report tomorrow. Until then, here are a few pics...

What goes up...

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...must come down.

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Got oxygen???

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Still climbing at 12,000 feet...

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o8k

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hey you got the other 2 doors back on!!!!
fantastic shots man! wish i didnt work and could play like that =)
 

AZKJ

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Trip Report... ”Rocky Mountain High Altitude Expedition - 2007”

The drive from Phoenix, AZ to Ouray, CO was 560 miles. It took us 11½ hours, which included two fuel stops and stops for pictures and dinner. Gas was $2.67 a gallon in Phoenix, $3.24 on the Navajo Reservation in northeast Arizona and $3.19 in Ouray.

Our base camp for the Expedition was Ouray, CO… a small, but expensive tourist town. most all of the motels were booked solid the entire time we were there. Ouray is situated in a mountain valley at 7,730 feet above sea level. The town is surrounded on three sides by 13,000 - 14,000 foot mountains. Ouray is centrally located for the 500 miles of trails in the area.

We met my old Air Force buddy who drove up from Colorado Springs. He was driving a blue ‘05 KJ Sport with full skids and Michelin A/T tires.

The trails… while not technically difficult, they are very rocky and can pose a problem for a stock KJ. Full skids and good A/T tires ARE a must. A lift would be a big plus. Besides being rocky, the trails are very scenic, narrow and most have steep drop-offs... definetly not for those with a fear of heights.

Most trails start out in forested land and quickly climb above the tree line into the tundra and then on to the high mountain passes. Most of the passes are between 12,000 and 13,000 feet high. Lack of oxygen makes for dull headaches and shortness of breath.

I highly recommend this trip for anyone who wants to get off road and see nature at it‘s best. Four wheeling in the San Juan Mountains around Ouray and the trails in Moab, UT (a three hour drive to the west), are what 4x4’s are made for. It doesn’t get any better.

The weather was great. It was sunny and in the low to mid 70’s in the mountains. It rained in the afternoons and made it interesting coming back down the trails. A few shallow water crossings were encountered.

If any folks from Arizona show an interest in making the trip to Ouray, I would gladly post and lead a trip for next summer, between mid-July and mid-September. The four wheeling season is short. All of the trails are finally open by mid July and wild flowers are abundant. Early to mid September is a good time to catch the Aspens changing colors. I would suggest a trip of at least five days to make it worth the time and effort of getting there… two days travel up and back, and three days on the trails. Motel rooms are expensive and reservations should be made several months in advance to guaranty a room. We stayed in an older, but cozy Comfort Inn @ $116.00 a night. The rates drop to about $75.00 to $95.00 after Labor Day.

As promised, here are a few of the 760 pictures I took. Just click on the thumbnails to view a larger pic….

The Painted Desert near Tuba City, AZ...

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Ouray, CO... base camp for the Expedition.

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The Alpine Loop (Engineer and Cinnamon Pass)...

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Scenic Brooklyn Road...

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Ophir Pass...

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Last Dollar Road...

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Clear Lake Trail...

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Corwyyn

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Ya know AJ, I think you need to get your camera looked at. The first three pictures from Painted Desert look OK, but a lot of the others have this weird green color in them... ;)

This looks like a great place to go wheel and hopefully I'll be able to make the trip someday.
 

rkeegstra

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AJ, did you use that entrance to the Alpine Loop that's just south of Ouray off 550? Supposedly that's the hardest way in.
 
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o8k

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oh man that looks like it was fun, i did rocky mountain nat park last year, not much 4wheelin, cuz i waz on my motorcycle, but that looks similar, but more remote, as u r on more dirt. i will try like heck to arange to go next year u better believe it. thanks for the pics and decription.
 

AZKJ

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Russ... yes, that's the way we went in (it's the first pic in the Alpine Loop series above). There is no other place better to go in if you want to do the entire loop... 550 >>> Engineer Pass >>> Lake City >>> Cinnamon Pass >>> Animas Forks >>> California Gulch >>> Corkscrew Gulch >>> 550. To shorten the trip out from Animas Forks, you can take CR 2 >>> CR 110 >>> Silverton. You can also start out in Silverton, but you'll miss Corkscrew and California Gulches, my two favorite sections of the loop. You can also go in off of 550 on the lower part of the loop using Corkscrew Gulch trail to Animas Forks and on to Cinnamon Pass.

Engineer Pass is the toughest part of the loop because of the rocks everywhere. In reality, a stock KJ does not have all that high of ground clearance and unless you are super careful or lifted, you'll be scraping bottom a lot on the way up. Also, there are plenty of sharp rocks waiting to snatch a tire. As you go above the tree line, the trail smooths out. The way down is not as bad.

The first half of the trail going to the top of Engineer Pass...

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The trail smooths out above the timberline line...

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The summit of Engineer Pass...

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AZKJ

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Ya know AJ, I think you need to get your camera looked at. The first three pictures from Painted Desert look OK, but a lot of the others have this weird green color in them... ;)
Kevin... you had me for a minute when I read the first two lines of your post. You know, it's not nice making an old man's heart skip a beat or two... :D ;) :cool:
 
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