We chose the month of September as that provides some of the best weather and after Labor Day most of the tourists have returned home as kids begin school, etc. If you've ever driven behind an RV on a winding mountain road then you know the frustration. Not to mention many of the mountain passes might have snow blocking them late into July or even August.
Getting to Colorado from Central Ohio is no easy feat, leaving at 4am on Thursday September 1st we made it 925 miles to Hays, KS. Opting to stay the night and thankful to find a mexican restaurant, Carlos O'Kellys. Odd I know, the server made mention of the settlers of the land marrying and this restaurant was proof - there were mashed potatoes available with the enchiladas. More detailed explanation here.
Colorado Destination Day One, Manitou Springs - a small mountain community just west of Colorado Springs with easy access to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak. Arriving mid afternoon we chose to skip the touristy drive up to Pikes Peak and instead tour the surreal Garden of the Gods Park. Some might gasp at the decision to skip "America's Most Famous Mountain" but it was the challenge of reaching similar elevations in four wheel drive I was after. Trip Advisor as well as some locals said that the best place in town to eat was a mexican joint called Amanda's Fonda. Fonda translates roughly to small inn or restaurant. I always like to judge a mexican restaurant on their chile relleno and theirs was excellent, as were the margaritas.
SooOoOo cheesey!
Day Two we broke 2 hours West for the town of Buena Vista for breakfast at Evergreen Cafe, I had had that the pleasure of eating here once about ten years ago and it was packed. The huevos rancheros were my guess as to why, they were to die for with Colorado's famous green chili. With full bellies we now were headed for off road country with a quick stop in the ghost town of St. Elmo, where there is a small general store famous for the chipmunks. That's right, there is a pile of old rail road ties outside where for $.50 you can buy a bag of sunflower seeds and feed those chipmunks to your hearts content. They will literally jump up on your knee and eat out of your hands. Some chipmunks more ambitious than others as showing in their heft. Then the less cute mountain squirrel wanting in on the action.
My kind of breakfast!
To break in the 4Runner, which I'll now call "Moose" we took the moderate rated trail known as Tincup Pass out of St. Elmo towards Mirror Lake and the town of Tincup. I aired down my tires to 30psi with an air down gauge (super helpful) and took off. "Whoa, what are we in for" we thought as we descended the West side of the pass. It was quite rocky after reaching the 12,154' pass. My pass book, Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4-wheel Drive Trails (a trip essential) we weren't sure if we remained on the moderate rated Tincup Pass Route or the optional and advanced rated "Old Tincup." It was pretty hairy to say the least and left us questioning the challenges ahead of us.
Airing down tires is very important both for better traction and a smoother ride.
We ended that night at a campground in Gunnison, with steaks we'd bought outside of Colorado Springs and asparagus and shells and cheese on the menu I was a happy man. One note of interest about Gunnison is apparently as the cold air settles in the valley its on of the coldest places in the United States in the Winter - luckily for us it only got down to the mid 40's.
Camp Chef Jenny
Day Three we packed up and headed for the town of Lake City, another sleepy mountain town two hours SW at the base of the San Juan Mountain Range. We ate breakfast at a small coffee shop and got ready to embark on Engineer Pass, part of the world famous Alpine Loop. We aired down to a much more comfortable 25psi and headed West over the trail to the summit at 12,800' and were looking forward to making camp in Ouray. Ouray is without a doubt my favorite mountain town in the world. It's not a ski town, it's not a hugely touristy place, just a good feeling mountain town full of good people and places to eat and drink. We finished the 21 mile Engineer Pass in about three hours and were greeted at a "T" with Highway 550 to the right and California Gulch to the left. A right we took, expecting to soon encounter Highway 550 but were horrified to find another 7 miles of very serious narrow rocky terrain, heavily wooded, with no places to pass.
Super cool old Dodge, this thing was built!
Jenny doing "The Bill."
Which way do we go, which way do we go...
We moseyed into Ouray and congratulated not only our success down the mountain with liter Oktoberfest beers and brats at Billy Goat Gruff's Biergarten, but also celebrating one year of marriage. Jenny is one tough cookie and that was one of the best beers I've ever had! When navigating the difficult terrain, it's a must to not only keep yourself composed and calm - but to do so for your partner as well. Needless to say that takes a lot out of you!
Day Four was "the day." The day that I had planned to tackle the infamous Black Bear Pass, something that I had dreamt about for a very long time. I had done it once prior about ten years ago on my dirtbike and recall it's adversity, but for such a hardship on a lightweight dual sport bike versus doing it in a 5,000lb SUV is a far cry. I viewed doing Black Bear as a sort of "right of passage" for me, a lifelong goal that I was never fully certain I would complete.
That morning I woke up nervous and with a bit of a headache from partying the night prior with a friendly recently married couple from West Chester, PA out there for backpacking. Although we were greeted to a rainbow upon waking up.
After breakfast we arrived to find Black Bear closed, oh no! But with careful reading of the sign we found it was only closed to 10am due to construction and we decided to drive South down 550, aka the Million Dollar Highway to the town of Silverton. I stoppd in a local Jeep rental outfit (which makes you sign something saying you will not do Black Bear in one of their Jeeps) to make sure about it's passage. The unfriendly guy behind the counter said it was open and looked out the window at Moose and says "that'll make it down it." Not quite the encouragement I was after but hey, I really did only want to make it down...alive preferably!
Do I look nervous?
Total trooper!
There are two parts to Black Bear which give it the difficult rating in my pass book, "the steps" which is a section of insanely steep narrow loose shale rock which appear to end in nothingness, or maybe the town of Telluride thousands of feet below. Then a series of switchbacks, many of which you have to reverse several times to navigate the 180 degree turn. As you make these maneuvers down, your tires are within inches of the soft edges with sheer drop offs.
Caption anyone?
LOVE THIS!
Here is a Marmot, or as the locals call them "whistling pigs" because of the whistle sound they make.
Approaching the steps I was greeted by a few motorcyclists on mid-weight dual sport bikes who were visibly shaken and welcomed seeing me to give them an idea of how to make it down. At this point Jenny exited Moose and walked down the steps, presumably for video but maybe for her own sanity and safety. That "crawl crawl crawl" motto was the only thing going through my head as I tiptoed down, inches at a time. An abrupt 90 degree turn at the bottom and it was over. Jenny greeted me with the video camera at the bottom of the steps for a reaction and I was speechless. My words literally had stopped working, a funny feeling to say the least.
Pictures, as they so often do, will never do justice to pitch. This mother was STEEP!
The ensuing switchbacks were also dead quiet inside Moose but each one seemed to get a bit easier, then finally a rest to stop and view Bridal Veil Falls before heading into Telluride where we agreed that pizza and beer were the most just reward for conquering what is arguably the most famous mountain pass in all of Colorado. Brown Dog Pizza, voted "Best Pizza in Telluride" was damn good - even though one of the owners played football for Michigan and half the restaurant was covered in Wolverine memorabilia.
180 degree turn much?
Amazing colors!
These are the switchbacks we came down..
So needed.
A welcome paved 1.5 hour drive back into our camp in Ouray we had margaritas and guacamole to "debrief." Food wasn't paramount after the days stress, but tequila was most satisfying. Leaving the mexican joint for the famous Outlaw steakhouse I was able to acquire "the perfect" turquoise hoop earrings for Jenny - a well merited anniversary gift.
What a day!
Day Five we broke down camp and headed back to Lake City over Cinnamon Pass, the last half of the Alpine Loop mentioned previously. To get to Cinnamon Pass though was a hour long uphill thrill ride over the Mars -like red clay of Corkscrew Gulch/Hurricane Pass to California Gulch to Cinnamon. Another long day on the trail, with such sights along the way of Animas Forks a mining ghost town.
Goodbye corner campsite..
Mars-like red terrain..
Toyota leaving a Jeep in the dust..
Playground..
That afternoon then began to get cold and rainy and we made it as far NE as Gunnison where a nice dry hotel with a hot shower was the ticket! Yelp and TripAdvisor made it clear the place to eat was an Italian joint called Garlic Mikes where spaghetti and meatballs was like a needed warm hug from my mom.
Day Six marks the end of the off-roading portion of our trip. I had plans to go over difficult rated Pearl Pass towards Aspen, but the cold rain and grey skies adjusted our plans. We headed N/NE towards Taylor Park Reservoir and onto passenger car friendly Cottonwood Pass and onto the ski town of Breckenridge. A nice walk around downtown Breckenridge, checking out the art galleries and such and a essential stop at Breckenridge Brewery and we left to head North to Dillon, CO where welcome conveniences were abound. A walk out of our hotel we enjoyed sushi at Nozawa, where then in the off season all rolls were half off and really good too. Sushi was refreshing after so many days of road food - pizza, wings, burgers, steaks, etc. Jenny and I, now perhaps acclimated to the elevation thought we'd wick it up a bit and well - says the receipt Cucumber Martinis and Sapporo beer well outnumbered the food items.
Lay Z Girl..
Moose turns 100k miles!
Jenny is pleased..
Day Seven/Eight was another agreeable trek back towards civilization. We had plans to check into the Downtown Denver Hyatt in a nice suite where we had plans to visit for two nights before breaking East for home.
Jenny had some old college friends out there who were very gracious and made terrific hosts. They toured us around some of Denver's most hip and trendy areas checking out some incredible restaurants and breweries along the way.
Lunch at Sam's No. 3, this was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
That Friday we had tickets to go see a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater where such notable acts such as The Beatles and U2 have performed and U2's "1983" video was filmed there. It was absolutely and unreal experience there, easily the most sought after concert venue in the US or maybe the World.
Our terrific hosts!
A huge trip East home we made it as far as Columbia, MO before making it back to Columbus, OH the following day. If you're ever in Columbia, MO do yourself a favor and get a pizza at Shakespeare's Pizza.
So there you have it, 3,300mi over 11 days. Some amazing sights, sounds and smells and tastes. One incredible trip that I know we'll never forget.
