Greetings From.....

[Scotty J.]

TUCUMCARI!

Can anyone guess where I'll be tomorrow? Here's a hint, it's a small town in Colorado that doesn't get over 79 degrees in July and has tons of Mountain Trails nearby....

 

[crazyflights]

Not sure, but would love to be in Colorado then..

 

[Scotty J.]

It was pretty stormy here today so we opted to shopping for supplies at Wal-Mart and spending the rest of the day in Ouray. Good beer, music and pool at the Silver Eagle Saloon

Hitting Ophir (starting from Trelluride) first thing in the Morning, then probably over to hit Stony Pass east of Silverton. Pics coming soon!

 

[Brian1]

then probably over to hit Stony Pass east of Silverton.

Please let me know the trail conditions of Stony! I am running Stony on July 28th. Are you going all the way to Creede or turning around at the creek crossing?

This is the info I have and it is very conflicting:

COMMENTS:
7/12/12 - The eastern (Creede) side is in bad shape. It's driveable, but a lot of work. Water crossings were all lower then we've seen in a while. We drove to the upper beaver ponds.
6/16/12 - Trail is open all the way, clear and dry. Trail condition is excellent, with recent work done on the rocky sections in the lower switchbacks on the Silverton side.

 

[Scotty J.]

Will do, we are planning on turning back at the top of the pass. But I'll let you know how it is up to there.

Please let me know the trail conditions of Stony! I am running Stony on July 28th. Are you going all the way to Creede or turning around at the creek crossing?

This is the info I have and it is very conflicting:

COMMENTS:
7/12/12 - The eastern (Creede) side is in bad shape. It's driveable, but a lot of work. Water crossings were all lower then we've seen in a while. We drove to the upper beaver ponds.
6/16/12 - Trail is open all the way, clear and dry. Trail condition is excellent, with recent work done on the rocky sections in the lower switchbacks on the Silverton side.

 

[Scotty J.]

We just went to the pass, it's in pretty good shape, there are a couple of pucker spots though. Was a good run. The people at the gas station in Silverton didn't seem to think there were any problems going all the way.

Oh, side note, 87 Octane in Telluride is $4.30/gal.

Please let me know the trail conditions of Stony! I am running Stony on July 28th. Are you going all the way to Creede or turning around at the creek crossing?

This is the info I have and it is very conflicting:

COMMENTS:
7/12/12 - The eastern (Creede) side is in bad shape. It's driveable, but a lot of work. Water crossings were all lower then we've seen in a while. We drove to the upper beaver ponds.
6/16/12 - Trail is open all the way, clear and dry. Trail condition is excellent, with recent work done on the rocky sections in the lower switchbacks on the Silverton side.

 

[Brian1]

Great, thanks. Im not planning on going anywhere near Telluride! I hope the prices are better around Durango and Silverton.

 

[Scotty J.]

Great, thanks. Im not planning on going anywhere near Telluride! I hope the prices are better around Durango and Silverton.

Silverton was high, but it wasn't as high as Telluride. I'm thinking somewhere around $3.60 or so. I paid $3.09 when I left Little Rock.

I had never done Stony before so I don't know if this was typical, but there were two places that were pretty tight with large "rockage" on the right and large "droppage" on the left LOL. Just take it easy and be safe... oh, and don't forget to air down, I did and it was pretty damn rough.

 

[Brian1]

Hmmm, I dont suppose you got a picture? 1 guy coming with me is taking his Powerstroke and I might have a Dodge Ram too. The Powerstroke guy is no stranger to the trails around there but the other guy is. Hope they will fit!

I last ran it in 2007 I believe and it was easy, we even had a few stock Explorers with us. I do remember it being rocky in places.

 

[Scotty J.]

Sorry, no pics while on the trail, just at the pass. I can only offer the default advice, stay within your limits, both driver and vehicle. I know, cop out, but I don't want to risk getting anyone hurt. Oh, but I will add this, there was a lady at the top of the pass, I had seen her ahead of me and she was in a LWB F150.

Hmmm, I dont suppose you got a picture? 1 guy coming with me is taking his Powerstroke and I might have a Dodge Ram too. The Powerstroke guy is no stranger to the trails around there but the other guy is. Hope they will fit!

I last ran it in 2007 I believe and it was easy, we even had a few stock Explorers with us. I do remember it being rocky in places.

 

[Scotty J.]

We've done pretty much all the main trails here so this year we're doing some of the peripheral trails.

This is from Owl Creek Pass. To find it you go North from Ouray passed (sic?) Ridgway. After about a mile or so you'll see the brown sign for Owl Creek Pass on the right. It's pretty much just a gavel road, very similar to Pike's Peak.

This pic is of the field where they filmed the infamous "Fill your hands you son of a *****" scene in True Grit.

It's not a "Challenging Trail", but IMHO it's well worth the time to see it.

 

[Brian1]

Nice! It has been a long time since I have done Owl Creek. Have you done Last Dollar? That is a fun easy one too that goes from outside Ridgway to Telluride. I have heard it gets hard if it is wet though.

 

[Scotty J.]

So, how did it go today?

 

[Brian1]

So, how did it go today?

Just got back and havent had internet for a while.

Stony was easy, no problems at all. It was clear all the way to the Creede side. Lots of mud/water holes on the East side since it poured rain the day before. The 4 door Powerstroke made it through with no problems at all too.

I will say this, the part past the turn to Kite lake SUCKS. It will be a long time before I do the entire trail again. It is very narrow, very rocky, very bumpy and very slow going. It would have been faster to turn around after Pole creek crossing, head to Cinnamon Pass and over into Lake City and then take the highway to Creede. From Silverton I probably averaged 15mph going to Pole Creek. Past Pole Creek that average dropped to around 4mph.

The Rio Grande reservoir was nice, much larger than I was expecting. The other 2 reservoirs farther down the road were neat areas too, lots of people were fishing in them.

 

[Scotty J.]

Awesome! It sounds like sans the slow going, you had a good time! Beautiful country up there.

 

[JAMES209]

I just spent July 21-28 in Lake City and had a great time. Drove up to the base of Engineer Pass in my 2WD. Took many pics. Eating out is costly.