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Nothing Special's Ouray 'Wheeling Trip |
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Unkamonkey 
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 Posted: 27 July 2018 at 12:57am |
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Well written. I reminds me of a few trips. I do like the older Broncos even if I have never owned a Ford. We were down at the Great Sand Dunes and a guy had a first generation Bronco with the small 6 popper in it. It was pristine. All of the Toyotas tried the sand hill. The only 2 vehicles that made it up the hill were that old Bronco and my '61 Jeep.
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uncamonkey
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jpet
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Posted: 27 July 2018 at 2:46am |
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Those shots are fantastic!! I can't wait to get back there!! Great Thread!!
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CJ2A #29110 "General Willys"
MB #204827 "BAM BAM" "We do what we can, and we try what we can't" |
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Bridog
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Posted: 27 July 2018 at 8:10pm |
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Great documentation of your adventures in Ouray! It has been several years since we spent more than about a day wheeling in the San Juans and I really do miss the scenery there! We are making a brief visit there this fall, but hope to spend more time there next summer and explore some of the lesser known trails.
I do not see much snow in the pics, was there any on the trail at higher elevations? As I recall the toughest mandatory section on Poughkeepsie Gulch was the part where most of the spectating takes place. The right line having a couple stair steps, middle line is the “Wall” and the far left loose rock climb which has been closed for a few years. Where is the bypass? Does it take off further down from the “staging area” in the your pics and go around the whole play area to the left (when viewed from the bottom) and rejoin the trail up on top? Can you go into more detail about the spur that you describe on Engineer Pass which used to go Yvonne Pass? The reason I ask is if you were looking back towards Engineer Pass when you are on Odom Point there used to be a trail that went straight up the mountain with an option to go right once you got about half way up it. We were told it is called "Dirty Diaper Hill." I never tried it, but it looked like a very intimidating climb years ago and it has been closed for several years. I was just curious if the spur you took would end up at the top of that nasty climb. |
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Nothing Special
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Joined: 02 Feb. 2018 Location: Roseville, MN Status: Offline Points: 845 |
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Posted: 28 July 2018 at 2:41am |
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Thank you, as well as WindyHill, JeepFever, nofender, Stan, jpet, nivrat, and Unkamonkey for the compliments. It was a fun trip and it's been fun to document it! We did not see any snow on the trails. There were occasional patches of snow, sometimes below us, but never on the trails. Of course that part of Colorado has been extremely dry recently, which could well mean that they got less-than-average snowfall last winter. But we didn't see any snow on the trails when we went in 2000 either (although that was a couple weeks later in the year).
Yeah, that pretty well describes the entire area that I've heard called "The Wall". The far left loose rock climb is what I saw closed this year. That means that what used to be the middle of three lines is now the left of two. If "The Wall" only applies to that line, then in Stan's videos above Grampa's Jeep went up the left-middle of "The Wall" and Bam Bam went up the right side of the stair steps. And I only was successful on the far left side of the stair steps
Some time in the next week or so I'll try to get a trail map put together and post it in this thread (I've promised to do that for someone on another board that's going to Ouray next year). That hopefully will make it more clear. But for now, yes, as you go up Poughkeepsie Gulch the bypass starts roughly 0.3 miles below The Wall, and goes left (actually going straight where the "main" trail takes a right). The bypass is about 0.5 miles long and rejoins the "main" trail about 0.5 miles above The Wall (so also above the second, milder play area).
Again, when I get a map posted it should be more clear. But from your description I'm guessing "Dirty Diaper Hill" is behind me and the sign (with the start of the trail visible below the sign) in this picture previously posted:  Here's another view of that trail, from near Odom Point:  If that is the trail you are asking about, then it's still closed and is nowhere near Yvonne Pass. The Yvonne Pass trail isn't visible from Odom Point. It cuts off the Engineer Pass trail much closer to what I'm calling the Animas Cutoff, and goes up the mountain that is directly behind the camera in the picture of me and the sign.
Edited by Nothing Special - 28 July 2018 at 2:45am |
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Nothing Special
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Posted: 28 July 2018 at 3:50am |
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Nothing Special's Colorado trip, days 6 and 7: Spring Creek Trail
Those five days ended our time in Ouray for this trip. At the end of day 5 I pulled the Bronco's rear driveshaft and got it ready to be towed again. Day 6 was driving up to Denver and setting up camp at Chatfield State Park. We then had dinner with some new old friends (a couple we met on a cruise last year). On Day 7 we drive west on I-70, just past Idaho Springs, to Spring Creek Trail. As I noted in the first post in this thread, Spring Creek has a really special place for me. I started reading 4 wheel drive magazines when I was 11. I got a 4WD pickup (an '85 F-250) about 10 years later and did some mild 'wheeling with it in the midwest. But my first "real" 'wheeling trip was in a friends brand-new stock '87 Wrangler. We did a bunch of pretty easy trails (and also a bunch of hiking) for a week before ending with Spring Creek. We made it past what I've recently heard of as Obstacle 3 (although we never saw Obstacle 1), but ended up deciding that discretion was the better part of valor in the boulder field above Obstacle 3, so we turned around and went back. That was about the time I started building my '75 CJ5, and as I built it I had the specific goal to drive it all the way up Spring Creek. In 1993, less than a month after I finished the build, I went out with a pretty big group of people, but only one other Jeep (also a CJ5). He had to winch over Obstacle 2, and in the boulder field, but I drove my Jeep the whole way! Edit, added in December 2021: I finally started a YouTube channel, so now I can post a video from that trip with my CJ5 back in 1993. A year later I was out in Colorado with a friend for a conference, We were in my stock '85 F-250. We did a few days of mild 'wheeling, with Spring Creek being the toughest trail we did. It was a BEAR with two open diffs and no winch, but we did make it. Then in 2000, at the end of our first Ouray trip, we swung by Spring Creek again, and I ran it in my CJ5 with my wife and (at the time) 4 and 6 year old boys (yes, they were in the Jeep on Black Bear and Poughkeepsie on that trip too). Since then we've done much harder trails in the Black Hills, but I've always wanted to do Spring Creek again (and again!). In planning for this trip I looked up video of Spring Creek on YouTube and saw that it might be a lot harder than it used to be (I also got the imaginative names of obstacles 1, 2 and 3). So on day 7 we started up! About 0.3 miles up there's a fork to the left that goes to Obstacle 1. I had taken the main trail / bypass on previous trips, but we took the left fork this time. It gets shelfy pretty quick and goes around a corner with a steep wall up on the right, a steep drop off on the left and some boulders and holes in the trail as you climb up. My wife decided to get out and take pictures. The trail then continues along the shelf for a bit before turning right to go up Obstacle 1. I know, pictures or it didn't happen. Well, no pictures and it didn't happen. I think I could have got up it with my son's help spotting (or driving while I spotted). But he wasn't there. And I know I could've got up with the winch. But my wife didn't want me to start up a climb, solo, where I knew I'd need to winch. So we turned around and headed back to the main trail / bypass. Here are a couple of pictures from coming back down the corner I mentioned. In the first one you can see what happens when you drop the left front tire of a Bronco in a hole with a full tank of gas but you forgot to put the gas cap back on! Look behind the driver's side mirror and you can see that I sloshed a "little" gas out! (I capped it when my wife told me what she saw).   At about 1.3 miles the trail gets pretty shelfy again, and at 1.8 miles we reached Obstacle 2. This had been no trouble for a stock YJ in '87, or a CJ5 with a rear locker in '93 and '00. It was a significantly technical section for the truck with open diffs in '94. But I didn't even recognize it now! I recognized the turn in the trail, and the location. But the trail itself was completely different. Gone was the mild rut that was at an awkward angle to allow you to keep all 4 tires planted. In its place were ROCKS. It still wasn't all that difficult for the Bronco with 2 lockers, but I was expecting this part to not be worth any photos. It was.   And in the last picture, no I wasn't trying to pull a "Marlin Crawler" driverless rock crawler stunt. My wife was shooting videos while I drove, she shot some stills while I was out spotting for myself. Edit, added December 2021: and here's the video she was shooting: So we continued on. The trail up to Obstacle 3 is kind of long (1.9 miles / 1 hour). Parts are shelfy, parts are steep. There are a few sort of big rocks, but nothing technical. Obstacle 3 is at the start of what looks like a switchback to the left with the main trail continuing straight ahead. It's SO different from 18 years ago that I didn't recognize it so I went straight. What looks like the main trail actually dead-ends in about 0.2 miles. So we went back to Obstacle 3 and I felt sick. What used to be a main trail so narrow that it took about a 15 point turn to get my F-250 up is now well over 2 vehicles wide. And the obstacle, which used to be a fun challenge with 2 open diffs, now has boulders with holes between them that eat 37" tires. In fact, while we were on the dead end a group of 2 JKUs and a JLU, all with at least 37" tires and 2 lockers, had caught up to us and were starting up Obstacle 3. They made good use of their rock sliders in the process! There were able to get all three up, and offered to help me get over it as well. But it had rained briefly while we were there, there was thunder, it was the last day of our trip, and I don't have rock rails. So we bailed. We were about 1/2 hour down when I asked my wife if she had thought to take pictures. She had put the camera away when it started to rain, and hadn't got it back out again (and lest it seem that I'm blaming her, I didn't think of it until 1/2 hour later either). So no pictures. But I guess that's appropriate since it didn't happen anyway. So we had to go back down, but at least got to have a little more fun on Obstacle 2. I wish the second picture below showed the left rear, because I'm pretty sure I picked it up quite a ways!    Overall it took us about 5 1/4 hours to drive 8.8 miles (~4.4 each way), which included the stops at the various obstacles and for lunch. It was disappointing to not get to do the trail, but I simply wasn't prepared for the trail as it is now. Next time (and there WILL be a next time!) I'll come in from the top so I can see (and hopefully drive) the boulder field. I'll come down to Obstacle 3 and decide if I want to do it or not, but then turn around and go back out the top (the trail ends on the Mt. Evans Highway 103).
Edited by Nothing Special - 31 Dec. 2021 at 3:04pm |
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Nothing Special
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Posted: 28 July 2018 at 4:08am |
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Well, that was the end of my trip. It was a lot of fun. Not as much technical as many of my recent trips have been, and a lot more "trail riding". But it was great to go on a 'wheeling trip with just my wife now that we're (sort of) empty-nesters and enjoy it!
The Bronco worked great too. I couldn't be happier with how the new front OX locker complemented the rear Detroit. I left the carb jetted for my 700' elevation home, and it still worked well, even on 13,114' Imogene Pass. My fuel mileage stunk as bad as my exhaust, and it took a lot of cranking and throttle to get it restarted. But it never stumbled while it was running. Although I certainly noticed often having to use one gear lower than I'd have guessed due to lower power output, mostly from the high elevation, but probably some from the rich mixture as well. I did add some new gouges to my nice aluminum wheels and to my Warn hubs. And I had a hard time finding traction on Poughkeepsie. My plan after my last trip was to get some different tires for 'wheeling. I'm thinking 35-12.50x17 mud tires (maybe Falken WildPeak MTs?) on beadlock rims, and save my '95 F-150 Alcoas with 33-10.50x15 BFG A/Ts for street and very mild trail use. I'm thinking now i might get more serious about that. And I also need to add rock rails. The only issue I had was that my oil leaks got worse, including a valve cover that is leaking oil onto an exhaust manifold. So very soon I'll be digging into that. So this now ends my trip report. As I promised Bridog above, I plan to add a trail map faily soon. And I certainly welcome more discussion. But I have nothing more to report on  |
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Nothing Special
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Posted: 29 July 2018 at 3:23am |
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Here's the map I promised. Or actually two. The top one is sort of the entire area. The lower one is zoomed in to the area I spent most of my time.
Brian, the lower map shows where the Poughkeepsie Bypass is, and where Yvonne Pass splits off the Engineer Pass trail (Engineer Pass is where the green trail turns black).   In both maps the trail colors just indicate different trails, with the trail names in (roughly) the same color as the trail. All of the colored trails are actual tracks from my GPS. The black tracks are estimates from the electronic map I have. They should be pretty good, but I don't guarantee the accuracy, and I have little idea what the trails are like (although I think most of them are pretty easy). Towns are listed by name, and I show where we found restrooms on the trails (important when you are traveling with your wife!). There are a few places on the top map where I couldn't get the marker or label in the right place, so I use a white line to show where it really goes. |
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Bridog
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Posted: 29 July 2018 at 4:10am |
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Thanks Bob for the maps. I drew a short blue line on your map to indicate where I remember dirty diaper hill being located. It is close enough to Yvonne Pass that I think I might take your spur and see if it comes out at the top next time I am near the summit of Engineer Pass.  You really got my attention last night when describing Spring Creek Trail! I really enjoy new trails and had never heard of Spring Creek Trail. I quickly found a few YouTube videos of it last night. It is always kinda hard to see how narly a trail is by the videos, but the few videos I found all had some well built rigs having to winch. I am going to have to try it! Doubtful if it will be this Fall when we are in CO, but I am hoping to spend some time about this time next year traveling around CO taking in some trails so maybe that will be my opportunity. Not sure when you are planning on trying it again, but if the opportunity arises and it works out to run it with you I would enjoy it. |
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Nothing Special
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Posted: 30 July 2018 at 10:10pm |
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Brian, I don't recall a trail where you marked, but yes, it sure looks like it could connect to the spur I took. And to clarify, in my understanding that trail USED to go to Yvonne Pass, but that part of the trail was wiped out a long time ago, so now the only thing left is the spur up Engineer Mountain. But my source still called it "Yvonne Pass" so that's what I'm calling it too.
I'd love to do Spring Creek with you some time! I'm pretty sure next year won't work for me (we have two cruises planned, for April and August, great trips but they really cut into the funds and vacation time needed for 'wheeling trips). And I definitely need rocksliders and new tires before I try it again! So nothing scheduled yet, but I'm gonna make something happen, and it would be fun to do it with a fun group! Spring Creek shouldn't be too hard to find, but PM me if you want any details on where it is or anything.
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Nothing Special
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Posted: 30 July 2018 at 11:46pm |
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Oops, I realized that instead of posting the picture of the Yvonne Pass road in the "day 4" post I actually reposted the picture from Odom Point. I've corrected it in that post, but since people aren't likely to see it there now, here is the Yvonne Pass picture I meant to show. The peak in the foreground is a "false summit." The top of Engineer Mountain is either the back peak, or possibly still something out of view.
 And while I'm posting pictures out of order, here's another from Imogene Pass on day 2. This is only the second time I've ever hit a really good wildflower bloom in Colorado. It's been really dry there all year, with fires on the national news. But they got quite a bit of rain right before we arrived, so we saw this. Ad only 2 days later all the flowers we saw were pretty wilted. So it really is about being in the right place at the right time.  |
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Unkamonkey
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Posted: 31 July 2018 at 12:15am |
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Yeah, I used to read Playboy for the articles. We enjoy the pictures. Years ago I lived in Glenwood Springs and ventured out in my '64 bug to do Schofield Pass. I made it up to the big snowdrift at the head of a canyon. About 20 trucks are sitting there in the sun having a meal. If you looked past the huge snowdrift there are a few vehicles that had made it up from Crested Butte. Nobody made an attempt on that snow. If my mind works, many years ago I drove that road with my father in a 2WD Suburban. That old guy really did know how to drive.
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uncamonkey
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Nothing Special
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Joined: 02 Feb. 2018 Location: Roseville, MN Status: Offline Points: 845 |
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Posted: 01 Aug. 2018 at 6:32pm |
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These aren't current pictures, but I do have a picture of that trail that's now closed from our last trip to Ouray in 2000. This was the farthest left line (as you look up the Wall). As Brian described it, this far left line was a loose rock climb.  And while I'm digging up old pictures, here's one of the "signature" building in the "ghost town" of Animas Forks. The town is actually being actively maintained as a historic site, and this building now has glass in all the windows and, from the road at least, it looks like it's ready for you to move in.  |
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leecarr
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Posted: 01 Aug. 2018 at 11:17pm |
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You're lucky to have such a beautiful playground near by.
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Unkamonkey
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Posted: 01 Aug. 2018 at 11:51pm |
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You still remind me of past trips. I would go out with my parents and we would head off to an old town and anything that was metal is in a pile in the center of the town. I looked for tire tracks and there are none. We would head up a road outside of Lake Dillon and we found a old building and we would look at the desks in the office. We had to clean the dust off but it was old paperwork that was still there. It was called the Jonny London mine. We walked out to the shop areas and there were no trucks but there were piles of old parts. I imagine that the EPA has cleaned out everything.
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uncamonkey
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Nothing Special
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Posted: 02 Aug. 2018 at 3:22am |
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If you call 1200 miles "nearby"!
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Nothing Special
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Posted: 31 Dec. 2021 at 2:51pm |
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I finally started a YouTube channel so now I can post the videos we took on this trip three years ago. I'm editing the videos in back where they fit in this thread, but I'll stick all of them from this trip here at the end as well.
This first one is just a very short clip of part of "The Steps" on Black Bear Road. The next one is Poughkeepsie Gulch on the day when we actually drove up The Wall. There's a short clip of an optional line a little below The Wall, and then video of many of my attempts (and eventual success) on The Wall. Finally is a short clip on Spring Creek Trail on Obstacle 2 Thanks for watching!
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Bridog wrote: