speediq99
Arizona
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Joined: 01/17/2004
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Hello,
We are staying in Durango this week. We need some advise going over Ophir Pass. We 'barely' made it through Silverton - Anmas Fork - Hurricane pass - California Gulch in a 4wd Crv. Beautiful but scary in some spots (switchbacks up to hurricane pass). Crv barey had enough power to go up. Is Ophyr worst ? Any other good scenery, less challenging than hurricane pass ?
Mike
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summutt2002
Over here......no, over there!
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Ophir should be easier though it wouldn't hurt to check conditions before you go. Listen to the locals.
Great wife, 3.1 dogs and no money..LIFE IS GOOD
'01 Excursion Ltd 7.3L PSD pulling a '06 Prowler 260RLS, Equal-i-zer, Prodigy
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NGRRFan
Colo. Spgs., CO
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Whatever you do, let us know how it went.
I'm really interested in your experience.
Rich,and Tobi (the rescued dog)
Prowler 5ver, 84 Ford F250
KCOCOLOR78 Weather
Colo. Spgs. CO
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joe b.
Florida
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Ophir is fine, we were over it a couple of weeks ago. Beautiful drive that is not very difficult. Ophir is a much gentler climb than is upper California Gulch. We tried California a week or so ago and it was still snowed in up at the top. The Silverton crew must have gotten it open since then.
Here is what upper California Gulch was like a week or so ago when we tried it. Started to rain, snow, sleet and lightening was in the air. Time to get out of there and back down to Animas Forks area.
Here was on top of Ophir, just on the Telluride side and about the only snow we ran into on Ophir Pass a couple of weeks ago.
mike, I am not too familiar with the Honda that you have. Does it have a low range? Most of the back country trails and roads are much easier to do with a vehicle that does have a low range available. I tend to run my Wrangler in 2nd or 3rd gear in low range much of the time. This gives me a speed of just about a fast walk. You might try Yankee Boy or Red Mountain Trail but you may want to consider renting a Jeep in the area for a couple of days if you don't have a low range.
Last Dollar Road, not really a Jeep trail, but a beautiful drive would be fine in your rig I would think. We drove over Last Dollar a couple of days ago and enjoyed it a great deal. It run from up on Dallas Divide, just west of Ridgway to Telluride. It is rough in places but not too difficult a drive.
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joe b.
South Florida, Stuart
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
Driving a Dodge/Cummins
www.jbpacooper.com web site
http://www.picturetrail.com/jbpacooper Alaska 2004 - Alaska 2006 - Colorado photos
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speediq99
Arizona
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Joe,
We don't have a low range on the CR-V. From Animas Fork to Hurricane Pass, I drove in 1st gear most of the time. The top of Hurricane Pass was incredibly beautiful. The snow on the side of the road was just about as high as the one in your Ophir picture. The CR-V did great from Silverton to Animas Fork. It was way underpowered driving up to Hurricane Pass. You definitely need a V6 or something tuned for high altitude. We barely made it through the 3-4 switchbacks up to Hurricane Pass. I had to let DW and Kids out to make it up to one of them. Interesting experience and amazing views, but I would definitely use a true 4x4 V6 next time.
It doesn't sound like Ophir is more difficult than Hurricane Pass/California Gulch but I am going to keep on researching. We don't have reservations on a Jeep and most of the places we called today were booked for tomorrow.
There is a website around where someone describes all the passes in this area. If anyone knows, could you post the site ? I don't seem to be able to find it.
Mike
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joe b.
Florida
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The best rig is one with a low range transfer case. This increases the power (torque) to the drive wheels. It doesn't take a lot of horsepower out of your engine if it is geared down enough. Just a guess but when I am in low range, 2nd gear, I am probably running close to 2,000/3,000 RPMs and doing less than 5 mph. Higher horsepower, without the low range, will cause excessive tire spin and makes it harder to control the steering, etc. of the vehicle.
My favorite all time mountain Jeep was a 4 cylinder CJ-5 that I restored when we lived in Ouray. It was just for the back roads as I also had a Jeep hard top with auto transmission as my daily driver. This way I didn't have to worry if I broke the CJ-5 or did serious damage to it on the trails. (as long as I could get it home to repair it, LOL)
The following web site is the one I have been using, it is run by Ouray County (?) but is updated only every Monday, which will be tomorrow. At this time of year, 6 days out of date makes a big difference.
One of the back country Jeep trails books I have rates Ophir as a 3 and California/Hurricane as a 4. I would tend to agree with it, on a very subjective scale.
http://ouraycolorado.com/Jeep%2BRoad%2BConditions
We were down to Ouray on July 4th and I saw that Riverside gas station, motel, camping and Jeep rental, still had a Jeep or 2 setting outside their building ready to go. I think this is the name of the place as I am used to it as "Polly's."
Here is a photo of my old CJ-5 with my daughters in the back up on Engineer Pass road, somewhere close to Mineral Point. Hope my old Jeep is still alive and well somewhere, helping someone else enjoy the mountains. Probably is running around somewhere, as old Jeeps in this part of the country just keep getting rebuilt, unless totally destroyed somehow.
on edit: Here is a web site listing some of the Jeep rental places in Ouray and one in Silverton. In addition to the 6 places listed for Ouray, the Twin Peaks Motel also rents Jeeps. Believe I counted 6 or 7 new units parked out front a couple of weeks ago. I rented from them last year at $145 a day, for a new Jeep.
http://ouraycolorado.com/Jeeping
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4runnerguy
Glenwood Springs, CO
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Hint on Ophir Pass -- if you're going east to west, once you crest the pass and start down the other side you'll get to a switchback. From there you can see most of the road cut in the mountainside curving around the head of the valley. Before you proceed, stop and look to see if there is traffic coming. If so, wait until they pass you. Once on that section of road, the passing zones are few and narrow. (It's only about a mile long section -- not difficult unless you have to pass someone.)
Here is a good resource descriping some of the trails with pics:
http://www.narrowgauge.org/4x4/html/4X4.html
Ken & Allison
2 Camping Cats (1 diabetic)
1996 4Runner, TRD Supercharger, Edelbrock headers
2007 Fleetwood Arcadia, Honda EU2000i
4 mountain bikes, 1 canoe, 4 tents, 8 sleeping bags, 2 backpacks
(You get the idea!)
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joe b.
Florida
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Speediq99, I am somewhat surprised that you made it on the way up to Hurricane Pass or on the climb up to California Pass without a low range transfer case. We drove down to Silverton this morning, then the route you took, up to Gladstone, up Hurricane Pass (had a picnic lunch at the top pull off), then down and back up to California Pass and on into Animas. From there we decided to check out Engineer Mtn and made it to the top. It was raining, snowing and cold up on top so we didn't stay long. The 3 switch backs on Engineer were a real handful to get up with the slick rocks, mud and just plain rough going over the rocks. That will probably be my venture up Engineer for this summer, but we will see.
You must have done a good job driving to make the route you did in your CR-V. Lots of 4 wheelers out today but not too many of the enclosed vehicles. Did meet one Hummer on the way between Animas and the base of Engineer. IMHO they should ban those wide beasts from the trails. They take up well over half the road/trail. Suspect if I had one I might think differently, but since I don't, we need to ban them. LOL
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speediq99
Arizona
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Joined: 01/17/2004
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We did the Ophir pass today (East to West). It was rainy but the roads were fine. The climb was much easier than I thought w/o any major challenges. No problems whatsoever w/ the CR-V. The road going down was mostly lots of loose rocks at the top and a few potholes at the bottom so we had to go down really slow. I stopped at the 1 switchback on the way down to let 2 people come up. There is still snow up there but not as much as what we saw in Hurricane Pass. It was really beautiful from both sides. The only real challenge was at the bottom crossing the river. It was running pretty good and the road that goes through it wasn't well maintained. I had to gas it up a bit so I didn't get stuck. I hit bottom. Fortunately, it is mostly fine river rock so no harm done.
Overall this was an easier drive than Hurricane Pass. I would not try to go west to east on this pass. The last leg of the road would have been challenging w/o low gears.
Regarding Hurricane Pass, I was very surprise to make it to the top w/ the family on board (600+ lbs). It was a matter of 'honey, there is no way to turn around'. If I ever do this one again, I will spend more time at the top and bring something w/ low gears. It was really pretty there. The family was all shaken up so I had to get them down fast.
Mike
Here are a few pics from yesterday
Climb to California Pass
Road in the back was the killer
A few obstacles climbling up to California Pass.
View from Hurricane Pass
View from Hurricane Pass.
View from Hurricane Pass
View from top of California Pass.
Hurricane Pass in the background.
Decent rocks in the way up. I hit bottom once.
Sun was not out but wildflowers were. Nothing but beautiful.
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speediq99
Arizona
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Joined: 01/17/2004
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Thanks for all the helps/tips.
We are going to be in the Durango, Silverton, Ouray area one more day and then we are heading for South Fork/Lake City for a week. Any advise on trails/passes in that area ?
Any must do with the family ?
Mike
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