Colorado in September (1 Viewer)

[REKCUT]

I always love Colorado, no mater what time of year but Fall is possibly my favorite time. TC, Paul, his son Austin and I all took off on Tuesday and hit the dirt Wednesday afternoon. This is where we heeded up and over Medano pass.

 

[REKCUT]

This was our second run up this pass in less than 2 months so it was up an over looking for a campsite. With all the covid b/s the woods on both trips were overrun with campers. Even though it was a Wed in the fall we still had a difficult time finding a campsite. Finally settled on a decent one that was right on the creek. Always love sleeping while listening to water.

 

[REKCUT]

First night in and really wasn't expecting the temp drop. Had to reposition and acquire more covers during the night as I wasn't quite used to the cold. Woke up to a 24deg reading so no wonder I was cold. Liltte bit hard to hold onto coffee cups that breakfast but once the sun hit us it was back to shorts weather fast. The trail into the Great Sand Dunes National park has 9 river crossings but with the dry season none were a challenge. Still had to have a little fun with them though.

 

[REKCUT]

I have never been able to capture the size or scope of the sand dunes so I won't try but its something worth seeing for sure. The trail in from medano pass is a fun easy trail with the exception of having to deal with passing issues. Amazing how many folks can barely drive their rigs, much less back them up.

 

[REKCUT]

After leaving the Great Sand Dunes we head south almost to New Mexico to try out a different trail. From Antonito we headed West on 17 and the hit dirt again and followed the Conjoes river up to the Platoro reservoir . I had hoped to find a nice camping spot but the run up offered no spots so we decided to head on up and over the top and see what we could find on the other side. This ended up being a much longer run than expected and with heights toping out around 13k it was slow going. By the time we started down the sun was almost gone and to our dismay, every possible campsite and opening was full of elk and Mule deer hunters. The farther we went down, the darker it got and then we ran out of dirt and public land. At this point I was trying to come up with some kind of story as to why we had to camp in the walmart parking lot in Del Norte when Austin found a campsite listed on a un-named dirt road just a short distance away. We heading up this trail and about a mile in found an incredible campsite on a hillside overlooking the town. Sometimes you just have to have patients. Pic doesn't show the view but it worked out for us.

 

[cwospark]

Looks and sounds like you all had a great trip! S/F

 

[REKCUT]

After the previous days extra long run we were undecided on our next direction. We decided we wanted to work towards Ouray/Telluride area but couldn't decide if we wanted to jump on the highway and do 180 miles( Mostly because of the long day yesterday) or work our way up and take Creed and take Stony pass into the Animas Fork. After a bit of discussion we decided to stay off road. We moved north and followed the Rio Grande up to the trail and then headed back into the country again. The aspens were finally starting to show some color in this area.

 

[REKCUT]

Having just discovered this pass it has become one of my favorite runs. Its long and rough enough that once you get 10 miles in the traffic really thins out. It has some amazing scenery and the fishing looks good. Going this direction its a nice long climb with just the right amount of obstacles. I have spent 2 nights so far on this trail, both in the same campsite but there are several others that I would love to utilize. We got to our previous campsite about 1pm and just like the Merle Haggard song, we decided to just stay here and drink.

 

[REKCUT]

Saturday and we continued up to Stormy pass. As I said before its become one of my favorite drives. Little bit of everything on this drive.

 

[REKCUT]

More views near the pass

 

[REKCUT]

Every trip needs a few poser shots.

 

[REKCUT]

Saturday evening we worked into Silverton with the idea of staying at the Ouray KOA for a much needed shower. Unfortunately I had not counted on the amount of traffic in the area and all of the campgrounds were sold out for Saturday evening. The problem with traveling with no itinerary is once you do decide on a direction it may be difficult to find a stoping point. Once again it was close to dark and we were still looking for a campsite. We pulled off onto the Ophir pass road and had to settle for a spot on the edge of the pass road and barely 75 yards from the highway. Luckly the spot was surrounded by fir trees and with a little truck placement it ended up being a nice spot. At this point we also were joined by my Son Tucker and his buddy Juan (I.E. John). Even though the Governor had decided to extend the no burn ban and its difficult to fully enjoy a camp without fire, we did our best with a bottle or 2 of Old Forester 1897. The one interesting thing that happened was at about 30 min after sunset and with only a min or 2 of light left we hear a very close gun shot and when we looked out of our camp we saw where a hunter had shot a mule deer not 50 yards from where we camped, and id guess maybe less distance off the road. Imagine his story grew a bit before he got back to his camp.

 

[REKCUT]

Sunday came and we lost Paul and Austin to some altitude sickness (or alcohol poisoning) and with that bit of news we went from 2 cruisers and a taco to 2 tacos and a cruiser. Life goes on. We decided to run Ophir since we were on the trail already. It has some decent views but when compared to others around the area, its not one of my favorites. No mater it was a good starting run for the Taco that had just joined us.

 

[zthesixty]

I call dibs on the next trip.

 

[REKCUT]

After a little resupply in Telluride we took off up Imogen and it did not disappoint. One of my favorite high traffic trails. I think it has better view than Black Bear

 

[REKCUT]

Not for those with height fears

 

[REKCUT]

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[REKCUT]

Gets very narrow on last climb

 

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[REKCUT]

Finally at the top. Pictures won't do it justice.