JoeBand
Member
maybe sometimes the signs are for a reason?
Colorado's Black Bear Pass remains closed after drivers got stuck
Colorado's Black Bear Pass remains closed after drivers got stuck
T4r Ass Clown on Black Bear Pass
- Thread starter JoeBand
- Start date
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Yep, Jalopnik had this featured a day or two ago. Apparently the group of them heard the pass was "unofficially open" and tried to drive up the switch backs from the Telluride side. Did not go well, but at least didn't end in a roll over which is a common occurrence for ass-hattery on this trail
.Looks like an Overlander Bro from Texas
.Texas license plates. Not to disparage anyone, I call them "flat landers" because they don't know how to drive in the mountains.
Did not go well, but at least didn't end in a roll over which is a common occurrence for ass-hattery on this trail
The most common place for going over the side of the road, and rolling to the bottom, in this area, is Ophir Pass. Ophir Pass is crazy narrow in spots, and the dumb people that aren't courteous enough to plan passing oncoming traffic (the rule is supposed to be the uphill traffic has the right of way) cause the most problems. That is why, when I go over Ophir Pass, I always take the uphill side of the road. That way if the people that force passing in unsafe areas will be the ones to go the bottom of the canyon, not me.
There is always several people that go over the side of Ophir every year. At least Black Bear is supposed to be one way but there are always people who don't believe the rules apply to them.
Jetboy
New member
FWIW - the pass at least historically was normally open to 2 way traffic up to the waterfall (only 1 mile of the entire road is one-way). I think this is where they are, but I haven't been there in about 5 years and don't remember exactly where that is. Maybe someone local knows, but it seems like it's the kind of place where the bottom part is still used when the "pass" is closed. It's just a very rough gravel mining road up to the bottom of the waterfall there. I've seen plenty of CUVs there. In the other pics are vehicles on both sides of where he was stopped - so there were at least a few other folks up there doing the same thing.
The pic below of BB Pass is where I think they were - at the Orange arrow. The red arrows show the one-way part. The blue triangles are the two way part of the road as I understand the regs. There's a clear sign where the one-way part starts. So, if they are where I think they are, they probably were not going the wrong way.
It looks like the 4Runner didn't know how to rig up his winch an/or how to drive on the road without going off the edge. Stupid place to go learn some basic skills.
The soft closure is super common in Alaska. Like this sign - what does this actually mean? (in practice - this sign means the road is open).
The pic below of BB Pass is where I think they were - at the Orange arrow. The red arrows show the one-way part. The blue triangles are the two way part of the road as I understand the regs. There's a clear sign where the one-way part starts. So, if they are where I think they are, they probably were not going the wrong way.
It looks like the 4Runner didn't know how to rig up his winch an/or how to drive on the road without going off the edge. Stupid place to go learn some basic skills.
The soft closure is super common in Alaska. Like this sign - what does this actually mean? (in practice - this sign means the road is open).
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STX4Runner
New member
Yeah, I was instantly mad, ashamed and upset when I saw the Texas plates and knew the hate would come. We're not all idiots who don't know how to drive or offroad, but stuff like this doesn't help the stereotype.
You are right, the two way part is to the top of the water fall where your orange arrow is.
I was to the top of the water fall (your orange arrow) just this last June. Beyond that (supposed to be one way down hill from the pass) was full of snow and obviously impassable at that time.
So that means the problem was above that where your red arrows are.
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Whippersnapper02
Senior Member
Widdle wadder and Jeep stripe things.
blakjack23
New member
I don't drive on mountains myself living in MN...but to me it looks like that 4R should be able to drive out of that. What's making it 'stuck'?
With a tire over the edge, if the back end walked at all that thing is probably going over and tumbling for a very, very long time.
Pics don't do it justice. I'm not sure exactly where on black bear that is, from reading the article I'll assume they are trying to go up the switchback section which has been downhill only for as long as I can remember. In that photo he has already dropped a wheel over and the ground/rock/scree is very loose and as someone already said trying to climb that wheel back up the rear would slide around and off and it's a long long way down. Black bear is a beautiful pass and definitely doable but you have to be careful. I was out there on the date this happened, we did Imogene, Ophir and yankee boy basin, we were told black bear was closed. I've seen Subarus do all the aforementioned trails, but they are all dangerous. A gladiator went over the edge at yankee boy last year and killed three people, the driver was a guide. These roads are dangerous and should be respected
Didn't want to create a new thread, but figured folks who read this one could easily find this amusing:
There’s a New GMC Canyon AT4 Stuck on a Colorado Hiking Trail at 14,000 Feet
Hey, at least it's not a 4Runner owner this time!
There’s a New GMC Canyon AT4 Stuck on a Colorado Hiking Trail at 14,000 Feet
Hey, at least it's not a 4Runner owner this time!
Jetboy
New member
The Canyon looks like it could damn near just be driven out of there with a driver with a bit of confidence. It's not that steep of a sidehill. I don't think it was at much risk of a rollover although for a novice driver I'm sure it felt like it. I don't think it was actually hurting anything out on that rock field, but also not sure WTF they were thinking trying to go there in a stock Canyon pickup.
Also - this is a perfect place for crawl control. Very slow controlled speed would make that recovery a whole lot easier. And the fact that you can let it do its thing from outside of the cab can be really handy in a situation like this if it was too dangerous to drive. You could walk beside and steer and then be clear of the vehicle if it slid down the mountain.
Also - this is a perfect place for crawl control. Very slow controlled speed would make that recovery a whole lot easier. And the fact that you can let it do its thing from outside of the cab can be really handy in a situation like this if it was too dangerous to drive. You could walk beside and steer and then be clear of the vehicle if it slid down the mountain.
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Not saying it couldn’t be done, because I’d probably agree, but the scree on that part of Bross is A LOT looser than it appears in pictures.
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