Ophir Pass, 6/9/10 Opening Day

[shortbusadventure]

After spending the night up past South Mineral Creek Campgrounds, we ran across a Silverton local who suggested going over Ophir Pass. He said it would cut off some mileage and add some fun to getting to Telluride. Were were a little hesitant with our large vehicle, but we decided to check it out anyways. Upon pulling onto the road, the grader was making his was down. I decided to wait for him to come down and ask about the conditions. After a brief discussion, and hearing the pass was officially open, I decided to go and check things out. Stunning views and a easy climb up the east side greeted us. We saw one guy come over on a Dual sport, another dual sport rider passed us, only to turn around and go back. One Jeep told us to go for it. A nice guy and his wife from Tennessee who warned us about a tight switchback that we would need to do a three point turn for. Getting to the top, the carved out snow bank had plenty of room to for us to pass through. After cresting, we decided to stop and make a sandwich before descending the west slope. We found the snow banks to be much tighter, but a little work, we widened them with our fender flares. All was well until we reached the dreaded switch back. Sad to say, no pics of the 5 point turn we did, hanging the motorcycles over the edge and all. I was quite nervous, and didn't want the wife distracted and taking pics when she was guiding me. The rest of the way down was quite rocky but the views were worth it all.

Here are a few pics of our adventure.
BTW, the Tiger weighs over 12k with the bikes and 23ft long plus the bike rack. For those of you who have done this trail, you might understand the difficulty involved. I would do this trail all day in a proper 4x4. -Kevin

 

[Scott39]

Excellent photo's, I need to get over there soon since I live in Colorado.
And that is a nice rig setup you have, looks comfortable to travel in.

 

[ttora4runner]

:victory:. I'm surpised the pass is the open.

That part of Colorado is awesome. Thanks for posting the photo's.

 

[Saline]

Nice! Great rig too!

 

[Christophe Noel]

Awesome! My wife and I camp in that meadow beyond the Mineral Creek Campground probably twice a year. Love that spot. My wife was a bit weirded out by Ophir pass, but we've done it several times.

If you get a chance hit the Thai restaurant in Ridgeway. It's super good.

 

[shortbusadventure]

Awesome! My wife and I camp in that meadow beyond the Mineral Creek Campground probably twice a year. Love that spot. My wife was a bit weirded out by Ophir pass, but we've done it several times.

If you get a chance hit the Thai restaurant in Ridgeway. It's super good.

The meadow was a great spot to camp! We saw the Thai restaurant, next time I guess. I would love to ride some single track with you when I'm in Prescott in October. My wife and I are seriously thinking of moving there. -Kevin

 

[Ford Prefect]

I would say that I would do Ophir in your rig all day long. It is a great trail, just need to take it easy in a few places!

Glad to see you ran it, I love this trail, always looks like fun!


Oh I should mention, last time I ran this trail a HUGE rock slide came down and covered the hwy, so we ran Ophir instead. There was a rock slide on it as well, but a small enough one that we just drove over it and went on our way.

They ended up getting the pass open in time that people who were stuck there in line got back to Ouray about ten minutes faster than we did. I say we got the better end of that deal for sure!

Brian

 

[shortbusadventure]

A few pics of the South Mineral Creek camping area past the campgrounds.
We forgot to thaw out some meat, so we had an improvised dinner that turned out just fine.

 

[77blazerchalet]

My May 30 1991 run over Ophir in my 2wd hatchback is one of the more cherished memories in all my Colorado travels. Initially, I just wanted to see where the road went from the east side, assuming it would just dead end at a mine site. I didn't do much map research back then. Imagine my surprise in seeing how it kept on going! Apart from some crumbly rocky stuff past the summit, it was remarkably smooth the rest of the way, a testament to the efforts of the dozer/grader operator who opened it mere days earlier.

 

[Christophe Noel]

The meadow was a great spot to camp! We saw the Thai restaurant, next time I guess. I would love to ride some single track with you when I'm in Prescott in October. My wife and I are seriously thinking of moving there. -Kevin

If you make it to Prescott, I will certainly take you two on a tour of our finest dirt ribbons. We'd also be more than happy to show you around and introduce you to some of our locals who might make a transition here smooth for you.

I don't know if you got a chance to hike up the Rico/Silverton trail that starts right in that Mineral Creek meadow. It's pretty sweet. In '08 we pushed our bikes up that 3,000 ft climb to the Colorado Trail and rode into Durango over 3 days. That meadow made for a fun starting point.

Looks like a great trip!

 

[Rallyroo]

Beautiful photos. I'm heading out to Colorado in August. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[haven]

Great photos!! These should be on the Tiger Motorhomes web site.

 

[HMR]

Love it! The Tiger looks great!

 

[GroupSe7en]

Super!

Keep posting these awesome pics! :drool:

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Corbet]

Thanks for postig up the pictures. I think I might run up and do the pass myself next week.