Another Road trip: TX-NM-AZ-UT-CO-TX, July 9th to July 22, 2020

[PetitFrereArmada]

Trail time... Girst stop was Yankee Girl Mine. My first time here. It was really nice. Then a Porche and a BMW joined us. We spent a good time talking before we parted ways.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Next trail to tackle was Black Bear Pass. I usually just drive up to the pass, turn around and come back the same way. I do not do the switchbacks. This ride was particularly very entertaining today as there was a large flock of sheep with just a sheep dog and one sheep with a bell. It was really amazing. Going up, they were far away but when I was coming down, they were all in the road. I took videos and a lot of pictures of them. 2 guys on bikes too stopped to marvel at the sheep with this one dog watching them.
Black Bear Pass

So many sheep on the trail today.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Random stops before calling it a day for today...
Ouray: Switzerland of America

A small waterfall: a walk from downtown Ouray

Idarado Mine

Some old houses by Idaroado Mine

Ouray

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Saw you driving down Main Street in Ouray today. Me and my wife were enjoying a beer on the rooftop patio at Ouray Brewery. Great trip report so far. Hope it wasn’t too crowded on the passes around Ouray.

Thanks about my trip report.

As for the trails, it was not crowded though you see the town is packed full of offroad vehicles. If the FJs were here for their summit, the place would have double the cars currently in town eventhough the number of cars still look like a lot.

Tomorrow, I plan to do Imogene Pass and Ophir Pass. Both usually have a lot of traffic with Imogene having the most traffic. So, I will see tomorrow if that will be the case or not.

If you are still in town and see me again, please, would be nice to say hello to you. The rooftop patio of the Ouray Brewery is the best seat in town. You basically watch everybody and everything that is going on in town. Since I do not drink beer, I have never been up there. Maybe I will go in and see it this time around. My airbnb is quite close to it.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Today was a great day of wheeling. I put my QX through its greatest challenges till date.

We had the chance to wheel with a husband and wife FJCruiser. They were great company.

We met at our rendezvous point at exactly 7am. Talked for a bit and it was time to tackle the 16 miles Imogene Pass which took us a grand total of 3 hours 30 minutes to complete. 2 hours to get to the top and 1.5 hours to get to Telluride. This time included the few times we stopped for photo opportunities and video. We got on channel 23 for CB communication and off we went stopping along the way for pictures and videos.
Imogene Pass (13,114 ft)

Pictures along the way from start to end as we went.
First stop

Nature calls... Mrs FJ wanted pictures of the beautiful wild flowers on Imogene Pass. So we had to stop for some beautiful pictures of wild flowers and waterfall.

After this, I met my first obstacle that I burned rubber. My Yokohamas grip like glue and pulled me through with no scrapping. I got a good video of this. Will share when I put it together.

Second major ledge just before summit. I burned rubber and almost gave up, but my Yokohamas gripped like glue and I made it. Surprisingly, the FJ did not make it on this same line, but chose a better line and it was a piece of cake. Got video of both. Will try to share.

After this, we got to the summit in one piece.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

The descend was pretty uneventful but worth sharing a few pics.

A quick glance at Black Bear Pass switch backs.

Social Tunnel.

And that concludes the Imogene Pass for our own small "FJ Summit 2020".

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

We got to Telluride and went our separate ways since we each had different things to do. But we made plans to possibly meet each other again to do Ophir Pass on our way back to Ouray.

In Telluride, I drove to Bridal Veil Falls. That place was PACKED. So many people. So many cars.

A few of my pictures at Bridal Veil Falls.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

All done with Telluride, it was time to head back to Ouray through Ophir Pass. There was some traffic on the road, but a good drive. First, I just can never pass by the Post Office in Ouray without taking a pic.
Ophir Pass (12,700 ft)

Quick pic at Ophir Post Office

3 bikers passed me. I saw in the distance as one fell off his bike. By the time I got there, one of his friends rushed to help him. He got back on his bike and took off before I coukd get out to check on them.

Stopping for the FJ to take a break as it was heating a bit.

A quick look down Ophir Pass as we make the last turn to get to the pass.

As we approached the pass, we saw this Pickup Camper slowly but surely making its way to the pass also.

We got to the pass and took pictures, said our goodbyes as I left earlier than them for Ouray.
It was a really great day and I thanked the Ohio FJ Cruiser couple for spending the day with us wheeling in the treacherous mountains. Till we meet again. This was truly a great "FJ Summit 2020" day.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Very busy day today on the trails. Over 5 hours of beating my QX hardcore on the trails. I did Corckscrew Gulch, Hurricane Pass, California Pass, Engineer Pass, Cinnamon Pass and Animas Forks. I had a few battle scars as I rubbed my underbelly 2 times on Engineer Pass when descending because of picking a bad line.
7:30am at the start of Corkscrew Gulch. Every campsite we passed, people were sound asleep. Just us in 4Lo waking them up as we climb up the very steep Corckscrew Gulch.

At the top of the Gulch

And just before Hurricane Pass, I could not resist taking pictures of these flowers as we enjoyed the peace and tranquility of being at the top of the mountain enjoying nature. Truely a peaceful environment. The silence there is golden. You need to experience it to appreciate it.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Next stop;
Hurricane Pass (12,730 ft)

Immediately after that; a pic at California Pass with Lake Como in the background. I wanted to go right to the lake, but access was closed since Poughkeepsie Gulch is currently closed and that is the only way I could get full access to be right at the lake.
California Pass (12,960 ft)

The next stop from here was Animas Forks. Before getting there, a few beautiful pictures along the way...
Beautiful wild flowers

Abandoned mine just before Animas Forks.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I continued straight to Engineer Pass. The top of Engineer Pass was very busy. Tons of people stopping for a quick picture and continuing. It was a rocky climb and I scrapped my bottom twice on my descend from Engineer Pass. My QX just took it like a belly rub.
Engineer Pass (12, ft)

I made a quick stop during my descend to investigate a mine entrance, but there was nothing to see.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Next stop was Cinnamon Pass. I met a bunch of people there and a YouTuber (Adventure Built).
Cinnamon Pass (12, ft)

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

This was my last pass for my trip to Ouray. One final stop now at Animas Forks and then off to Silverton to air my tires and then drive back to Ouray. These are some of my pictures from the beautiful Animas Forks.

And this is all for my Ouray offroading adventures for 2020. Tomorrow, I leave for Colorado Springs.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I left Ouray yesterday at about 8am for a 7 hour drive to Colorado Springs. I stopped in Aspen, Colorado, but there was not much to do. Just way too many people put enjoyng the Saturday.

I visited a Farmer's market for a bit. And then got back into my car to begin my climb up to Independence Pass. I got there and it was packed as usual.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Today,I went to Pikes Peak. Too much traffic. I had to leave to Garden of the Gods.