September in Southern Colorado - Stony Pass, Cinnamon Pass, and Trout

[High_Country]

Sharing a few pics from a recent trip to southern Colorado. We caught the aspens turning at just the right time. We base-camped in Creede - an awesome little ex-silver mining town. Spoiler alert - there's no wild or exciting off-road photos here. Truth be told, in the hairier sections of the trail I was more concerned about navigating the sections safely (was the only vehicle) rather than stopping to get out and take pictures to try and impress you all. You know what these things can do anyways!

Hopefully you enjoy the pics and it inspires you to get out and enjoy the great outdoors yourself.

Fall color...

Camp...somewhere...on Stony Pass

The new drawers worked out great. Thanks again to [MENTION=47340]Titanpat57[/MENTION]

If you look close, you'll see the moose...

Colors and more colors...

 

[High_Country]

Continued

And a few more...

'Proof' shots :tongue:

Coming in to American Basin

On the Lake City side of Cinnamon Pass...

About the only gold you'll find up there these days...

Just above Creede...

Double rainbow!!!! haha...look it up...

A couple for [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] - prettiest trout I ever did catch...

 

[High_Country]

The last few

The last few pics

The mining 'ruins' above Creede. I've seen these 100 times, but it always amazes me to think how they built these things up here 100+ years ago. Also, those of you that frequent expeditionportal.com may recognize this as the backdrop to one of the photos for the Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel review...

Mulies...

Freemon's General Store - burgers, ice cream, hunting licenses, fishing tackle, toilet paper, and beer. That about covers all the basics, huh?

One out of three ain't bad...

Bristol Head mountain...

Sunrise on my last morning..."thanks mountain"

 

[MeefZah]

Looks great!

I think everyone who has done Cinnamon has some version of this photo... LOL!

Yours...

Mine...

 

[Titanpat57]

Sharing a few pics from a recent trip to southern Colorado. We caught the aspens turning at just the right time. We base-camped in Creede - an awesome little ex-silver mining town. Spoiler alert - there's no wild or exciting off-road photos here. Truth be told, in the hairier sections of the trail I was more concerned about navigating the sections safely (was the only vehicle) rather than stopping to get out and take pictures to try and impress you all. You know what these things can do anyways!

Hopefully you enjoy the pics and it inspires you to get out and enjoy the great outdoors yourself.

Fall color...

Camp...somewhere...on Stony Pass

The new drawers worked out great. Thanks again to [MENTION=47340]Titanpat57[/MENTION]

If you look close, you'll see the moose...

Colors and more colors...

Awesome job on the drawers...great trip report, thanks for sharing!

 

[3wbdriver]

Beautiful. Update your sig line. No awning, drawers, or maybe other new stuff added. I'm personally curious about the awning, if that is what is hanging off the side of the rack.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Great pics brother. Colorado native here and proud to have people (who respect what we have and take only photos and leave only footprints) come here and see the beauty.

 

[filoufil]

I am curious about your roof rack. I took a look at your website but it seems like you changed from your Yakima warrior

 

[3wbdriver]

I am curious about your roof rack. I took a look at your website but it seems like you changed from your Yakima warrior

He made his own. That particular is in his sig line.... :biggrin2:

 

[High_Country]

Beautiful. Update your sig line. No awning, drawers, or maybe other new stuff added. I'm personally curious about the awning, if that is what is hanging off the side of the rack.

I struggle a bit with what should go in the signature and what's not important.

That is indeed an ARB 2500 awning. It came in very handy during the middle of the days when the sun was high and intense. It was a great spot for the family to lounge while I warmed up lunch.

Also mounted on the rack are a pair of maxtrax. But that's pretty self evident.

Thanks for the kind words!!!

 

[High_Country]

I am curious about your roof rack. I took a look at your website but it seems like you changed from your Yakima warrior

It is indeed a homemade rack and I've been super happy with it. I don't have a website so maybe you've confused me with another member? I've got a thread on it here somewhere. "Homemade roof rack..." or something like that.

 

[High_Country]

Great pics brother. Colorado native here and proud to have people (who respect what we have and take only photos and leave only footprints) come here and see the beauty.

Thanks for the response. I've love that area. Been going there since a kid. And, I'm a big believer in treading lightly and conservation when it comes to all game and the general wild environments our country provides us with the privilege to access.
It really frustrated me to see where people had driven around mud puddles (and off the trail) only to make the trails that much bigger and more of a mess.
Anyways, I digress. The family and I would love to figure out a way to make the area home, but that's a lot of head scratching and risk.

 

[MeefZah]

The family and I would love to figure out a way to make the area home, but that's a lot of head scratching and risk.

If I can sort of hijack your thread (sorry)... my wife and I recently struggled with the decision to move cross country; we had no friends or family waiting on the other side... we just wanted to move to a place that afforded great beauty, recreational opportunities, and a chance for us to spend the rest of our lives in a setting that wasn't as bleak and uninspired as the mid-west. We considered waiting until retirement (we're both just about 40) but figured that there's no time like the present - and you never know what tomorrow is gonna bring.

We did some research, threw some feelers out for jobs, and ended up pulling the trigger - and 6 months later are very happy with the decision. Life is hugely uncertain, and everything we do involves an element of risk. Some people choose to try and minimize that risk and adhere to the status quo, and that's fine... for those people. Some people are relentlessly unsatisfied and always searching for something more, something different; and that's fine... for those people. The trick is figuring out which sort YOU (and your family) are, and not making the mistake of trying to be the other.

 

[gm350reratliff]

Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing! I absolutely love that area.

 

[darkstarjam]

Is Cinnamon Pass fine for someone (me) whose only offroad experience is Shafer Trail in Utah?

2010 Limited with decent A/T tires.

Have a couple of weeks in CO staying with a buddy in Buena Vista and looking to do some solo exploring/camping between Del Norte and Telluride, either before or after the bluegrass festival in Del Norte.

 

[fkheath]

Is Cinnamon Pass fine for someone (me) whose only offroad experience is Shafer Trail in Utah?

2010 Limited with decent A/T tires.

Have a couple of weeks in CO staying with a buddy in Buena Vista and looking to do some solo exploring/camping between Del Norte and Telluride, either before or after the bluegrass festival in Del Norte.

Cinnamon pass is relatively easy and should not be a problem if you have any off road experience. Go over Cinnamon to Lake City, get an ice cream at the great ice cream store there, then go back to Animas Fork via Engineer pass.

When you get back to Animas Fork go south to Silverton; DO NOT continue on Engineer to highway 550, sometimes called Mineral Creek, for that route is really bad. I mean really, really bad.

I was there just two weeks ago and some of the jeep trails were still closed due to snow, so check with the visitor centers in Ouray or Silverton. At that time California and Hurricane were still closed so I went north from Silverton to Gladstone, then over Corkscrew; on the Corkscrew route there were cuts through snow banks the walls of snow were over twenty feet above the car.

Other suggestions:
Take a swim in the hot springs pool in Ouray.
Take the short hike to Box Canyon falls in Ouray. They just installed a new extension to the "trail" so you are directly below the falls.
Drive to the top of the falls in Telluride (4X4 only) and see the power plant there.
Ride the free gondola from Telluride to Mountain Village.
Go to Ames, just outside Telluride, and see the first A/C power generating station is the world installed by George Westinghouse and Nikolai Tesla. (used to light the mines in the 1800s).

Another fairly easy 4X4 road is Ophir Pass (my dad was born in Ophir). That has some of the sharpest switch backs in the area, but the drop off beside the road can be intimidating.
Last Dollar road is fairly easy, but still a 4X4.
Brooklyn Mine road is easy with spectacular views.

When you get more time and experience try:
Clear Lake
Imogene (quite difficult)
Yankee Boy Basin (do not go beyond the forest service rest rooms -- very difficult)
Governor Basin

Have fun, but be safe.

 

[comtn4x4]

Is Cinnamon Pass fine for someone (me) whose only offroad experience is Shafer Trail in Utah?

2010 Limited with decent A/T tires.

Have a couple of weeks in CO staying with a buddy in Buena Vista and looking to do some solo exploring/camping between Del Norte and Telluride, either before or after the bluegrass festival in Del Norte.

It's a fairly mild trail. When will you be going? Will another vehicle be traveling with you? Will you have the means to "unstuck" yourself if necessary? (Some of this trail is above tree line so getting unstuck can prove challenging without trees to tie off to) Do you have a means of emergency communications if necessary?

Not trying to be an alarmist

 

[fkheath]

It's a fairly mild trail. When will you be going? Will another vehicle be traveling with you? Will you have the means to "unstuck" yourself if necessary? (Some of this trail is above tree line so getting unstuck can prove challenging without trees to tie off to) Do you have a means of emergency communications if necessary?

Not trying to be an alarmist

Good point. Cinnamon is one of the more popular routes, thus there will always be others there to help if you get in difficulty. Off roaders with 4X4 tend to be very helpful to others; can't say the same for the ATV crowd.

 

[darkstarjam]

It's a fairly mild trail. When will you be going? Will another vehicle be traveling with you? Will you have the means to "unstuck" yourself if necessary? (Some of this trail is above tree line so getting unstuck can prove challenging without trees to tie off to) Do you have a means of emergency communications if necessary?

Not trying to be an alarmist

Definitely appreciate this. I'm an eagle scout so not completely worthless in the wilderness, just don't know the first thing about offroading really.

Would try to get a friend to ride shotgun or else caravan, but might not be an option. Is that necessary or just recommended?

What's the typical solution for emergency comms? Have a Rocky Talkie if that's suitable.

 

[thatoneguy]

I'm doing a similar route next month. Please tell me about Stony Pass in particular, I've heard nothing about it so far. I'm sure my stock ORP on stock size SL-rated Wildpeak AT3W's will do fine.

Our route is Corkscrew/California, Engineer, Cinnamon, over to Silverton, up to Clear Lake and back, then back over Stony Pass, and past the Creede area. Also doing more stuff over by Leadville/Aspen.