I did a quick run between Silverton and Ouray last weekend. Conditions are great. Little snow still up high but nothing to worry about. Wild flowers were spectacular as you can see below.
I am back, had a good time, loved the trails and just being out there.
The control on the electric fan stopped working, so it had to be direct wired it, which caused me to lose it in a water crossing and punch a hole in the radiator, cause I forgot to pull the wire. Got the radiator repaired at "Johnny's Radiator Shop" in Farmington, great place.
I will try to post some pictures later in the week.
Wow, I'm really kicking myself for not seeing this thread sooner! I'm from Houston as well and would have loved to join the convoy! Damnit! Looking forward to pictures!
The trip ended for me, on Thursday, in the morning, my electric fan control unit went out, so the fan had to be hard wired to the battery and forgot to unhook it during a water crossing, so I lost the fan and punch a hole in the radiator.
hey guys, im going to bump this thread and hijack it for now
im drivin to california in May and will be taking the gf and possibly a friend or two along the way and want to stop and camp around the Ouray/Silverton area. Now theres a lot of great suggestions in this thread (ophir would be awesome), but theres a catch. due to some people's schedule, we're on a limited time table. as in, we'd be coming from somewhere around Childress or Amarillo, TX that day, so unfortunately we really wont have time for a 4hr trail ride. Also we'll be in my stock 2500 z71, so while dirt and service roads arnt a concern, i want to avoid any water crossings.
so really i need a place to camp thats quick to get to, but still gives my southern friends a wilderness feel with the beautiful sights that this area has to offer. place like that exist?
also, we're plannin on goin up the grand junction, over the moab, and down to the grand canyon and camping somewhere around there or flagstaff the next day. we have a pretty ambitious schedule ahead of us
Although this was not a big snow year, in May there will still be plenty in the high country. I would not plan on any of the passes to be open in the San Juans (other than HWY of course). Ophir is generally the first to be opened and would be just fine in your vehicle. Pretty much all of the camping spots mentioned in this thread should be OK though.
Check with the forest service as your trip gets closer for trail conditions.
There are shorter routes to Moab that through Grand Junction unless you have a purpose there.
Thanks for the heads up. and no real purpose for grand junction, just seein the sights i guess. looks like hwy 62 to hwy 145 off of hwy 550 to moab is quicker than grand junction
looking around on google maps, it looks like there is a road that goes from hwy 550 to Ophir. google maps has it named "Co Rd 8" and as it gets closer to Ophir labels it as "D65 Rd" and "630 Rd". Anyone familiar?
ok thanks. so if i do wilderness camping, i should probably look into bring my own type of fire pit? dumb questions, i know. ive never done any camping like this before, only at the "official" camp grounds
You can generally find an existing campsite with a fire ring built of stones. That would be preferred. But there very well could be a fire ban by then. We already have one in Durango. There are no fires above tree line allowed from memory. Personally I generally don't build fires in the backcountry so I never check the rules.
There is a NF campground right above Ouray if you want a semi mountain experience. Reservations can be done online from memory.
What Corbet said. From what I've seen you guys are not really doing any "wilderness" camping. Just check a week or so before and again right before you leave on the fire conditions. Ironton Park is a good option or camping and has plenty of fire pits. A portable fire pan is a good investment anyways and not a bad thing to consider. The problem with the San Juan's is that they are very high traffic. Any little thing you do to help will go along way to preserve access to future generations.
I believe this is the CG mentioned above. I've stayed a couple of times and it was always great. Great camp host and great facilities. Close to Ouray proper too.
Silverton has RV camping, but don't know if they do tents too or if you'd want to be in town -- although there are LOTS worse places to camp in town.
Too bad you're early in the season. A good way in, with lots of scenery and a fair amount of trail, is FR 520 that comes into Silverton area via Stony Pass. It takes off from 149 between Creede and Lake City and gets rougher as you near the pass. Lots of camping along the way. If you push it, it's about 3 hours driving, may be a little less, between 149 and Silverton itself when the road is OK in the summer.
My directions to a great camp near Bear Town are earlier in this thread, the trail for which takes off from 520.
