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Ouray pre-run pictures

old_man

NAXJA Forum User
Just got back from a couple of days in Ouray. We ran the Alpine Loop consisting of Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass on the first day. The second day, we were one of the first to make it over Black Bear for the year, ate lunch in Telluride and returned via Imogene Pass.

Here are some links to the pix.

Alpine Loop

Black Bear & Imogene

poser1.jpg


I will get some of the video digitized and posted, especially of the worst part of Black Bear so you guys can get an idea of the magnitude of whats instore.
 
Black Bear is open. For those who haven't run it before, it is listed in most books as an hardcore trail. Actually I think it is on the lower end of moderate. The views are hard to match. There is an infamous first switchback that everybody rants and raves about. It's a myth. If you are afraid of heights, it can cause a bit of pucker, but it's no big deal. You turn as far as possible, stop, turn the wheel the other way, back up, turn the wheel back and then go on around the corner. The slope off the side of the trial is about 45 degrees, but there are trees and I'm sure most of you have done worse before. I posted pix somewhere of my rig going around it two years ago.

The roughest portion of the trail is a downhill section that has a series of roughly 12-18" steps on a ledge. Take your time and pick your line and a stocker can make it with no problems other than maybe scraping the bottom or a ding in a rocker. If you freeze up when you are exposed to a narrow trail shelf road, then you might want to think twice about running this trail, but if you are willing to give it a try, I am sure we can get you through.

Just so you can see what the worst looks like, I had the wife videotape that section as I came down. I will see if I can get it edited and compressed so you can see what is instore. Black Bear is one of my most favorite trails, not because it is hard, but because it is so beautiful.

The return trip is via Imogene Pass. It runs a few miles north of Black Bear. The trail couldn't be more different. While Black Bear is lush and green above treeline, Imogene is rocky and baren with a wide variety of colors. The panoramas from the top of Imogene are a site to behold. There are lots of small stream crossings on the way back down Imogene.

I will be trail leading both the Black Bear and Imogene Pass trails on a one day loop. Our hope is to leave fairly early, say 8-9am from the trailhead and take our time with lots of picture stops. That will put us in Telluride for lunch. There are lots of restaurants, or our favorite is a grocery store there with a deli, where we get a good sandwich and chips for a couple of bucks. There will be a little time to do a little tourist shopping in Telluride before heading back over Imogene. Depending on how much time is left, some may want to do a side trip up Yankee Boy Basin on the way down. We should return with time to spare.
 
old_man said:
Black Bear is open. For those who haven't run it before, it is listed in most books as an hardcore trail. Actually I think it is on the lower end of moderate. The views are hard to match. There is an infamous first switchback that everybody rants and raves about. It's a myth. If you are afraid of heights, it can cause a bit of pucker, but it's no big deal. You turn as far as possible, stop, turn the wheel the other way, back up, turn the wheel back and then go on around the corner. The slope off the side of the trial is about 45 degrees, but there are trees and I'm sure most of you have done worse before. I posted pix somewhere of my rig going around it two years ago.

The roughest portion of the trail is a downhill section that has a series of roughly 12-18" steps on a ledge. Take your time and pick your line and a stocker can make it with no problems other than maybe scraping the bottom or a ding in a rocker. If you freeze up when you are exposed to a narrow trail shelf road, then you might want to think twice about running this trail, but if you are willing to give it a try, I am sure we can get you through.

Just so you can see what the worst looks like, I had the wife videotape that section as I came down. I will see if I can get it edited and compressed so you can see what is instore. Black Bear is one of my most favorite trails, not because it is hard, but because it is so beautiful.

The return trip is via Imogene Pass. It runs a few miles north of Black Bear. The trail couldn't be more different. While Black Bear is lush and green above treeline, Imogene is rocky and baren with a wide variety of colors. The panoramas from the top of Imogene are a site to behold. There are lots of small stream crossings on the way back down Imogene.

I will be trail leading both the Black Bear and Imogene Pass trails on a one day loop. Our hope is to leave fairly early, say 8-9am from the trailhead and take our time with lots of picture stops. That will put us in Telluride for lunch. There are lots of restaurants, or our favorite is a grocery store there with a deli, where we get a good sandwich and chips for a couple of bucks. There will be a little time to do a little tourist shopping in Telluride before heading back over Imogene. Depending on how much time is left, some may want to do a side trip up Yankee Boy Basin on the way down. We should return with time to spare.
Been there, done that, CAN'T WAIT to do it again! :thumbup:
I'l be on that trip w/you, Tom! Come on August! :party:
 
BillR, since you've run these trails before also, how about your observations as to how hard they are. Some say I've become jaded over the years and my opinion is somewhat skewed since I'm an adrenaline junkie.

Anyone else who has run these please feel free to chime in.

Here's the link to the pix of what everybody calls an extreme and scarry switchback. Note this pix is a couple of years old and that is my rig on a 3" lift with 31's.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=28235
 
There is nothing difficult about these trails technically. The issue is as presented: fear of heights on narrow ledge roads.

In 1999 at "Forum Fest" (which was NAXJA's first event held primarily in the San Juans), I was concerned about this potential problem (flatlanders experiencing this kind of trail for the first time) along with the possibility of dealing with altitude sickness. I think this is something every trail leader should be prepared to deal with, but an experienced wheeler simply shouldn't have any problems.

To my knowledge we didn't have any problems in '99. I scared my own pants off on my first wheeling trip in the San Juans...but we also hit snow at some unexpected points (October) and we were alone. That's the big deal. If you are with a group, there is less of a fear factor as you can watch those before you handle a given "obstacle". Having said that, I didn't run Black Bear that year because I don't care for narrow ledge road dropoffs...but I wouldn't worry about it now. If you run Moab there is nothing in the San Juans that should bother you in the least.

Nay
 
As one of those "flatlanders" with several trips to the San Juans, I have to agree wholeheartedly with the locals. In the mid 80's with a rented Blazer, an Alpine Loop trip motivated me to head back cross country again and again with my own XJs - and on the first trip my '87 Pioneer was on whopping 235's to go along with it's open 3.07's. I chose not to do Poughkeepsie then, but tried most everything else between Lake City, Silverton, Telluride, and Silver Jack. (and around Taylor Park reservoir). My XJ's and driving have improved since then, but it would be extremely difficult to improve that landscape.

Granted, some of the shelf roads "get your attention", but, especially with a group, those concerns should be minimized. In any XJ with an attentive driver, these trails are accessible.

The last few years, Utah has continually lured me farther west, but I'm really looking forward to getting back to the spectacular San Juans and the rest of CO's finest.

BTW, Tom - GREAT pics!

Mike in NJ :patriot:
 
thanks for posting tom... now you've got me second-guessing skipping the first half of this trip (hmmmm).

btw, nice XL1...

also, looks like image #0037.JPG needs to be re-sized, as i don't remember your being only 4 feet tall and 300 pounds. ;)
 
Nay said:
There is nothing difficult about these trails technically. The issue is as presented: fear of heights on narrow ledge roads.

In 1999 at "Forum Fest" (which was NAXJA's first event held primarily in the San Juans), I was concerned about this potential problem (flatlanders experiencing this kind of trail for the first time) along with the possibility of dealing with altitude sickness. I think this is something every trail leader should be prepared to deal with, but an experienced wheeler simply shouldn't have any problems.

To my knowledge we didn't have any problems in '99. I scared my own pants off on my first wheeling trip in the San Juans...but we also hit snow at some unexpected points (October) and we were alone. That's the big deal. If you are with a group, there is less of a fear factor as you can watch those before you handle a given "obstacle". Having said that, I didn't run Black Bear that year because I don't care for narrow ledge road dropoffs...but I wouldn't worry about it now. If you run Moab there is nothing in the San Juans that should bother you in the least.

Nay
Ya I don't recall any problems on Blackbear on the 99 trip other then Audrey planning to kill Bones at the end of the trail.
 
old_man said:
BillR, since you've run these trails before also, how about your observations as to how hard they are. Some say I've become jaded over the years and my opinion is somewhat skewed since I'm an adrenaline junkie.

Anyone else who has run these please feel free to chime in.

Here's the link to the pix of what everybody calls an extreme and scarry switchback. Note this pix is a couple of years old and that is my rig on a 3" lift with 31's.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=28235
Tom-
I did Black Bear in a TJ, and the trail's reputation was worse than the experience by a good bit. Here in AZ, we have quite a few narrow shelf roads, so that wasn't a problem for me. If you're scared of heights, it may provide some extra "pucker".
My wife OTOH was terrified. When the drop was on her side, she kept saying "You're not close enough over there; I don't hear any paint scraping!" :laugh2: After a few switchbacks, she settled down pretty well. She DID however like Imogene MUCH better. :eek:
 
Nay said:
If you run Moab there is nothing in the San Juans that should bother you in the least.

Nay
I agree completely!
I like the scenery MUCH better in Colorado, though.
 
My vision for the Black Bear / Imogene run is that it is as much for the wives as it is for the guys. There is a ton of great scenery and I hope we can take the time to stop a bit and enjoy instead of rushing to finish. My wife and I were professional photographers for years and made a living taking alpine pictures. This place just begs to have pictures taken and we will make sure you find all the perfect places. The trails are a good mix of scenery and just a touch of mild technical stuff. Actual drive time on either trail is about 2-2.5 hours, so with a few stops, call each half about 3-4 hours. Lunch will most likely be in Telluride so nobody has to hassle with making a lunch if they don't want to. I hope to be able to set up a camera to take pix of each rig on some of the fun stuff so you can have some poser pix to impress your friends with. We may even be shooting some video segments for a pilot TV show we are pitching to the Discovery Channel on 4 wheeling if time permits.

The whole point is to have fun and enjoy some good scenery, good wheeling, and good friends.
 
Hey You stole my pics! lol. Half your shots look identical to ones I took a few weeks ago on Alpine. Now I have a few to add to my collection of where I didn't get out to get a shot.
 
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