Westward from Mississippi: Colorado/Utah/Arizona

[RadRed06]

This would be our 4th trip in 4 summers and we decided to center our journey around Ouray, CO and Page, AZ. This would be a 14 day trip with the main goal of hitting as much dirt as possible.

Our group consisted of five college friends and two 4WD Toyota Tacomas.

IMG_3954 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Day 1: Madison, MS to Amarillo, TX

This would be a day filled with a lot of miles and minimal scenery. Amarillo makes a good first night because the drive from Mississippi can be done in a day and the temperature is usually in the 70s at night making sleep much easier to come by.

We stopped for a dinner break outside of Wichita Falls, TX. Sandwiches were our go to for most of the trip.

P1012489 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012491 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012490 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


Pulled in to the Amarillo KOA around midnight, popped our tents and got some rest.

Day 2: Amarillo, TX to Westcliffe, CO

The sunlight and rising temps forced us out of our tents so we showered and hit the road.

P1012493 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012494 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr



For the second day we endured a lot of highway miles and not much to look at. We stopped at Capulin National Monument for a lunch break but did not drive to the top of the volcano as the wait times were around an hour.

We pulled into Westcliffe, CO around 3pm and made sure to gas up and grab some snacks before we began our first trail of the trip.

Cloverdale Mine

As we pulled up to the trailhead to air down we were met with a large group of Lutherans who were having some sort of event that evening. Apparently there is a Lutheran camp located near the Cloverdale Mine trailhead. After informing them that we were in fact not participating in their get together we aired down.

The trail starts off rocky and stays that way for pretty much the entire 5 miles.

P1012497 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012498 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012501 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


Our goal for the night was to camp at a lake along the trail

We made decent time and enjoyed the views along the way up. A fire of previous years had done a number on the forest and the effects were obvious. Nonetheless the drive was beautiful.

P1012504 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012506 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Biggest obstacle we encountered on the way up was this tight switchback with a rock in the middle of the trail. Erosion had helped to reveal it which made it more of an issue. We made sure to watch our diffs and made it up no problem.

P1012509 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012511 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


We finally made it to the lake which was even better than anticipated.

P1012514 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012513 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012519 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


We spent our night relaxing around the fire and enjoying some music off of our bluetooth speaker.

P1012520 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012522 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


The first real day of the trip had been a success.

 

[RadRed06]

Day 3: Cloverdale Mine, CO to Bonanza, CO

We took the morning to sleep in after two hard days of driving and ate breakfast before packing up camp.

The trail continued up to the mine and got increasingly narrow as we got closer to the top.

P1012526 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012527 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012531 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012537 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

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P1012540 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


One of my favorite parts about the old trails is the history associated with them.


P1012523 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012524 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012543 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012545 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012546 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012547 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr



One can only imagine the type of life these people lived on a day to day basis. We took some time to walk around the old mining buildings.


Realizing it was already midday, we hurried to get down the trail, air up, and get on the road. After a stop at subway and walmart, we decided to head to Bonanza because I knew there were great campsites off the main highway and a lot of old mining structures to explore. So off we went, trying to avoid the rain that was all around us.

This was one of my favorite stops of the trip as we saw even more relics of days gone by.

P1012549 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012548 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012550 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012561 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012555 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr



Rain began to fall and the sun was getting low, letting us know it was time to find a campsite. We took a trail from Bonanza over to Alder Creek and made camp among the aspen trees.


P1012563 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012564 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Our pop up instant canopy saved us that night as rain continued on and off for much of the evening. The five of us huddled together as we made dinner. Even so, spirits were high.

Storms continued throughout the evening and the patter of rain helped us drift asleep in our tents.

 

[RadRed06]

Day 4: Bonanza, CO to Silverton, CO

We were reminded of the joys of cleaning up wet gear the next morning as we packed camp. A quick drive out to HWY 285 put us on course for Creede, CO.

P1012565 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012569 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012572 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012573 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012576 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

The Bachelor Loop is always a nice drive whenever you’re in the area. We stopped at the Last Chance Mine and took a tour with one of the guides. Can’t remember the guy’s name but he did a great job.

P1012579 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012578 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

IMG_3998 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

IMG_3997 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


Stopped for lunch at the Bachelor City turnout and enjoyed the views until a minivan caravan showed up… our sign to leave.


P1012582 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


Our plan was to run Stony Pass from Creede over to Silverton. Hopped off 149 towards the Rio Grande reservoir which went well until we ran into an old Toyota with no clutch, a ford escape, a bunch of drivers that had no business on that road.


P1012584 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


After that debacle we continued on to Stony Pass which offered up some incredible views.


P1012585 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012587 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012591 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012593 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012592 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


Back in the San Juans and it felt so good.


P1012603 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012595 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012598 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012600 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


Stony Pass dropped us into Silverton where we grabbed a bite to eat in town and went to find camp along South Mineral Creek.

 

[RadRed06]

Day 5: Clear Lake

P1012605 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


After a chilly night we packed camp and made our way back down the road along South Mineral Creek. We nabbed an open campsite next to a waterfall closer to the Million Dollar Highway to use as a basecamp for the next few days.



By this time, it was late in the morning and we decided to grab showers at Molas Lake Campground. Much needed.

We made our way back down the road along South Mineral Creek and headed up the switchbacks to Clear Lake.


Stopped at a waterfall on the way up.




P1012608 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012610 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Once at the lake we ate lunch, explored the area around the lake, and enjoyed the beauty of the area around us.

P1012615 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012611 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012619 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


Rain and the foreboding weather radar forced us to head back down the switchbacks to lower elevation.

P1012623 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr


Still early afternoon we wandered into Silverton to get some supplies, coffee, and shelter from the rain. Silverton is a very warm mountain town with a lot of charm.



A few hours later we ventured back to our campsite, settled in around the fire, and listened to a few episodes of Up and Vanished, a podcast we had been listening to on our way to CO.

 

[CCH]

Nice trip. You hit a lot of cool places.

 

[RadRed06]

Thanks, definitely my favorite area of Colorado.

 

[RadRed06]

Day 6: Ophir Pass and Last Dollar Road

Left camp that morning, headed north towards Ouray, and turned off at the Ophir Pass road trailhead. Thought about airing down but saw a huge caravan of jeeps at the bottom of the road and decided to just deal with it and blew past them hoping not to be slowed down.

The road up from Million Dollar Highway side is pretty mild and we reached the pass fairly quickly.

P1012624 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012626 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012628 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Shortly after that we continued down towards the town of Ophir

P1012630 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012631 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012632 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

We passed through Ophir and whipped out onto HWY 145 towards Telluride. The town was packed and we could not find parking in town so we drove up the Black Bear Pass switchbacks until we got to the base of Bridal Veil Falls. The falls made for a nice lunch spot.

P1012635 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012633 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Knowing that we would be running Imogene Pass the next day we decided to take Last Dollar Road back to Ridgway and onto Ouray. Tried to knock out as many trails as we could in our time in the area.

Last Dollar Road. Throwing in a couple pics from a few years back because the smoke this past summer made this views less than stellar.

Last Dollar Road by Tripp Edwards, on Flickr


Last Dollar Road by Tripp Edwards, on Flickr

Small overlook that led to some poser shots

P1012636 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012639 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012640 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

The road was in much worse shape than years past. Kind of sad to see because of the fact of overuse. I’m sure that the FJ Summit the week before did not help things.

We swung into Ouray for $2!! showers at the hot springs. Considering admission to the springs was close to $20 or something ridiculous we gladly took the cheap showers.

On the way back to camp we came up on some wildlife.

P1012641 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Back at camp we sat around the fire and finalized the next day’s schedule as well as the rest of the trip. Another day in the books..

 

[fireball]

Thanks for sharing! Great pics.

 

[RadRed06]

Thanks for sharing! Great pics.

Thank you sir!

 

[RadRed06]

Day 7: Imogene Pass
Our last day in Colorado would be one of the best. Imogene Pass had been on our minds for the past couple of years because we did not get a chance to run the trail the last time we were in the area.

On our way up to the pass. The trail was pretty crowded and it was pouring rain most of the way up which made picture taking fall to the wayside.

P1012644 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012648 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012651 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Imogene Pass

IMG_3960 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Untitled by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

P1012654 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

Tomboy Mine

P1012655 by Daniel Atkins, on Flickr

As we descended rain began to come down and so we quickly made our way down to Telluride. Grabbed some goods from Telluride Brewing Company and cruised back to camp.

Imogene was a blast of a trail and even though it was crowded still a highlight of the trip.

Not too many people can say they’ve driven over 13,000 feet. Pretty cool.

 

[cbmontgo]

Great trip report. My favorite part of the country.

 

[gringo m]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[keylay]

Fun trip with the boys.

 

[MCX]

Awesome trip report and pictures! Thanks for sharing...looked like a great time!

 

[6gun]

Thanks for the write up, looks like y'all had a blast! I'm planning an Ouray trip from GA Sept of '19 so I'll be re-reading this several times to try and soak in as much as possible!