I haven't seen anything from Grant in awhile...but then again my email isn't working right now and I haven't had time to fix it. I'm deducing that part of the week will be spent in Ouray (San Juans) and part of it will be spent based in Buena Vista? I'll make some comments and suggestions along those lines.
First off, the San Juan trails are predominantly mountain passes mixed with valley ascents/descents, some upwards of 13,000 ft. There is almost nothing you can't do in a stock or near stock XJ in this area. San Juan wheeling is about covering a lot of miles in a day to create a loop with some mostly moderate obstacles and a ton of world class scenery. In my opinion, the challenge is more about pucker factor when the passes turn into switchback ledge roads than it is about seriously technical fourwheeling (narrow ledge road plus extreme technical = dead). I've seen books rate Black Bear as a 10 out of 10 in difficulty. Maybe true when you are considering the requirement to do 3 point turns on the edge of thousand foot dropoffs, but you could do it in a stocker. The hardcore who just can't stand a run more about scenery need to run the 30 miles back North to Gunnison to run Die Trying and the new breed of extreme trails. I have no qualifications to comment on them.
So here is my "must do" San Juan trail list. I'll leave Gunnison to that crowd - if I was visiting Colorado I wouldn't spend all day in a half mile long pit when the San Juans were at my fingertips (finger treads???). At least not all three days, anyway.
Scenic - Alpine Loop. From Ouray you take Engineer Pass to Lake City and then Cinnamon Pass to Animas Forks, which is a mining ghost town. From there you can drop into Silverton and head back to Ouray on paved road, or you can add some more offroad passes to get back. I think Cinnamon Pass is the prettiest 4wd road in Colorado, perhaps tied with Pearl Pass. This is a long drive. It will take all day. Some of the passengers got a bit cranky when we did this for Forum Fest '99. My wife handled it just fine four months pregnant with an 8 month old in tow (yes, in hindsight it seems as insane as it was). A stocker might drag in spots, but even a small lift and decent tires will have no trouble with these trails.
Scenic - Yankee Boy Basin. Yankee Boy is a 12,000 ft. elevation basin that is a wildflower paradise in the summer. We'll miss that show in August, but it is a spectacular place with a large waterfall at the lower elevations combined with what looks almost like a crater lake at the highest point of the trail. This is only a half day trip, and it is very close to Ouray. Might be good for those aforementioned passengers who got worn out by the Alpine Loop.
Moderate - Black Bear is a must. There probably isn't another trail like it in the world. Suitable for those who don't mind crawling up to a precipice and doing 3 point+ turns to get pointed back to the trail. Drops into Telluride off of highway 550 between Ouray and Silverton.
Moderate - Imogene/Ophir. Imogene Pass is 13,114 feet, second highest in the continental US (Mosquito Pass, also in Colorado, is higher). It runs from Ouray to Telluride, and then you can take Ophir Pass back over to Silverton and then back to Ouray on Highway 550. Most of us would consider this also to be "scenic", but I'll call it moderate.
Moderate/Difficult - Poughkeepsie Gulch. I recommend this trail as the last trail in the San Juans on a 3 day schedule. It T-junctions off of Engineer Pass outside of Ouray and runs up an incredible alpine valley. Poughkeepsie has one good required obstacle set, and it is usually wet and muddy in the summer. Once side of the climb is up a fairly slick and smooth rock, the other up a rocky/muddy section. There is nothing extreme here...just a fun place for the moderate crowd to take on a more challenging obstacle. We spent a lot of time here at Forum Fest '99. A group of experienced Jeepers with dual lockers will get through pretty quickly...a more moderate group can make it a lunch spot. There is also an optional obstacle that is basically a wet four foot wall between two large trees that not many successfully scale. You can take Corkscrew from the end of Poughkeepsie back to Highway 550 and into Ouray.
Others - Some good side avenues to explore are the other basins like American and Governor. These are relatively short spur trails, but they contain some of the more intimate and spectacular scenery and are worth your time.
Bottom Line Schedule Ideas:
Day One - Alpine Loop for those who hate switchback ledge roads, Black Bear for those who love 'em
Day Two - Yankee Boy Basin for those who want a half day. Imogene/Ophir for those who want a full day.
Day Three - Poughkeepsie Gulch, entire moderate group
Day Four - transition to Buena Vista?
The central Colorado trails are more varied and more technical than the San Juans, but typically (not always!) offer a lot less pucker factor.
Moderate to Difficult - Old Chinaman's Gulch. This is one of my favorite trails. It is low elevation for a Colorado trail, never getting above 9,000 ft, with virtually no ledge roads. It is more of a desert trail, with some amazing views of the Sawatch Range at the top. The trail starts up a rock garden...rough, nothing very technical, near stockers will drag from time to time. From there it winds around through multiple obstacle sets as a loop. The cool thing about this trail is that it is as difficult as you want it to be. There are typically some very challenging lines on major obstacles, like the Elevator, right beside a difficult line beside a moderate line beside an easy line. Plenty of Colorado XJ'ers cut their teeth on this trail because of the options it affords. Some of the trail crossed private land and was closed last time I ran it (although we didn't realize this until we hit a cable gate on the other end)...we'll have to make sure that section it is open as it contains some fun stuff).
Difficult - Holy Cross. I've never run it, but I'm familiar enough with it. French's Creek is supposed to be tough, and there are some serious obstacles (optional) above the "city". When I wonder why the hell anybody would want to base anything in Buena Vista :firedevil , the answer simply has to be "Holy Cross". It's a must do Colorado trail. It's also a good idea to avoid weekends as it gets crowded.
Moderate/Difficult - Wheeler Lake. Some decent obstacles going in...great scenery...come back out the way you went in. I've never run it, but do a web search and you'll get a good idea (all of these trails can be found on the web).
Scenic - Mount Princeton/Mount Antero. Up the mountain and back down. Antero actually goes to the summit while Princeton peters out at 12,000 feet (Princeton is a fourteener). Rock collectors will love Antero, as semi-precious stones can apparently be found on the mountain flank.
Scenic - Tincup and other trails like it. See ghost towns and awesome scenery without the endless ledge roads.
You can head towards Aspen from Buena Vista to run trails like Pearl Pass, which are famous, incredibly beautiful, very high altitude, and not that tough (moderate for an experienced wheeler) unless there is still snowpack at the top. That would be a two day run, though, and not terribly logical from Buena Vista.
Hardcore - 21 Road. I'd guess 21 Road is on the list as the group heads towards the Rubicon for part two.
Bottom Line Schedule Ideas:
Day One - Old Chinamen's and a scenic trail
Day Two - Holy Cross (difficult), Wheeler Lake (moderate/difficult) and a scenic run.
Day Three - 21 Road/head home
There are some ideas/info. If this stuff is happening behind the scenes and I've missed that, I apologize. Hopefully this will get some people excited about the options!
Nay
). Poughkeepsie was quite muddy, especially for the scouting run, and provided some good entertainment in '99 (I got stuck both times :shocked: ). The one main obstacle does pull the rating above scenic. A near stocker is pretty likely to take the strap on that one...we had some dual locked rigs with MT's that took that strap that day. We ran into a huge rockslide (10 feet deep on the road) back into Ouray during one afternoon storm...there is definitely some excitement to be had. Those "scenic" trips can get pretty epic if conditions change suddenly, which they can do that time of year.
but I've been wheeling in Colorado for a few years. I attended last years Moab trip and had a great time and appreciate all the help member put in so I'm offering up to help work the Colorado gathering. Grant, you can contact me at [email protected] if there is some way I can help. I'm in Colorado Springs so I am familure with some of the BV area trails and camping.
