San Juan Mountains, Colorado

[Materdaddy]

Everyone is on their way home now. This thread will explode in the next week as we guestimated that the group took 50,000 photos and 250 hours of video.

Wow!

In order to stop making me even more upset that we couldn't make it, I'll be locking all threads regarding this trip and banning anybody who posts pictures. :gun:





Seriously though, I can't wait to see the pictures and hear the stories!

[clcoyle]

Everyone is on their way home now. This thread will explode in the next week as we guestimated that the group took 50,000 photos and 250 hours of video.

Doug-

We made it home safely and wanted to say thank you for organizing this trip, we really enjoyed meeting all the new people and running so many amazing trails, Thanks for all your hard work in making this trip happen and for making the necessary arrangements, particularly the food on the bus home from Durango.

We will never forget this trip, photos to come shortly.

Chris, Mim and Alistair.

[mkjeepers]

Looking forward to more pix and video's - I'm ready to go back again.

[HookandLadder]

Home safe...no deer strikes on the return trip, will post pictures soon. Damn I get all freaked out now when I see a deer sign!

[RAT]

Home to 100 + degrees. WTF? Long trip back but had a blast. Drove route 66 from seligman to the river. Saw a long horn sheep, some cool wild burros, and a whole lot of bucket list stuff. So far, 1200 photos and counting. About 6 hours of video. Should be fun... Thanks doug. A true masterpiece of a trip.

[dirtman13]

What an incredible trip. I have so much video to weed through. It could take months. Doug, outstanding job. A truly epic adventure.

We visited the Grand Canyon on the way back and decided to avoid the insane crowd at the visitors center and took a helicopter ride instead. I highly recommend it. Put this together last night. Sorry for the crooked shots but I didn't want to look through the camera the whole time.

[6spdYJ]

Thanks to all for sharing!

[Mike]

Tuesday

Dang it's hot here! Made it home safe with 2300 extra miles put onto the Jeep for this trip.


On Tuesday, we ran Black Bear Pass, Imogene Pass, and Yankee Boy Basin. Dinner was in Ouray at Buen Tiempo.

Black Bear Pass:










Imogene Pass:












Yankee Boy Basin:

[Mike]

Wednesday (Mike's version)

On Wednesday, the group went up Stony Pass across the continental divide to the head waters of the Rio Grande. Afterwards, folks went several directions. Most of us went to the Buffalo Boy Tram Station. Russ went to explore further on the far side of the divide.

After Stony Pass, the majority of the group went to ride the Silverton to Durango narrow gauge steam train. Sergio (50yj), Sharon, and I went to explore the Red Mountain Mining District.

Ryan's Bain:


Head waters of the Rio Grande:


Buffalo Boy Tramway Station:




Red Mountain Mining District:


Yankee Girl Mine:


Gennessee Mine:


National Bell Mine:


At the National Bell Mine, a gentleman in his 70's named Charles was nice enough to tell us about the mine and the area. He also showed us to a grave site that very few know is there and that is not easy to find:


Longfellow Mine:


We drove a high ridge above Hwy 550. The ridge was above 12,000 feet:


The Brooklyn Mine:




We had dinner at the Handlebars Saloon:




It was a great day. But the rest of the folks will have to share their versions of Wednesday's adventures.

[Mike]

Thursday

Thursday was a big loop that had the most pavement involved of the tours. We ran up and over Ophir Pass and down to the edge of Telluride. Then we took Last Dollar Road to Ridgeway for dinner at True Grit Cafe.

Ophir Pass:


Sign at the edge of town:


We went up to Alta Lakes as a side trip:






Lot's of Marmots on most of the trails:


It hailed and rained, with lightning and thunder, on us for parts of the Last Dollar Road, but it really made the trip even more special:


The house of the Three Little Pigs!:


Last Dollar Ranch is for sale if you are interested:


Dinner at the True Grit Cafe in Ridgeway:




Afterwards, we gathered around the campfire until late into the evening:

[mkjeepers]

Nice pix Mike, we were hoping to get up to the Alta lakes and Clear lake, but ran out of time - and thanks Chuck for taking us on the helicopter ride through the GC.

[Mike]

Friday

Friday was a great day for pics. We ran Mineral Creek, Poughkeepsie Gulch, California Pass and Gulch, Placer Gulch, Picayne Gulch, Hurricane Pass, Hurricane Overlook, Gray Copper Gulch, and Corkscrew Gulch. Whew!

What that really means is that we saw some amazing things and most of them were at over 12,000 feet.

Mineral Creek:


Waterfall at the start of Poughkeepsie Gulch:


Poughkeepsie:










Lake Como:


California Pass:


Placer Gulch:




Picayne Gulch:




'MJR' Overlook:




Making shadows on the mountain below us:


The road back down:


Gray Copper Gulch:




Corkscrew Gulch:


Dinner was at Grumpy's in Silverton:

[Mike]

My version of Saturday

Doug had more trail runs on Saturday, but I wanted to see the Mesa Verde NP. Chuck's pics were awesome and I wanted to see the park for myself. It also put us closer to home since I had to be a work on Monday.

In the morning, I stopped by the Miner's Shrine and got to over look the town of Silverton:






We stopped at the Pinkerton Hot Springs on the way to Durango:


We toured the Spruce House then met Sergio for a tour of the Balcony House. The entrance:


The Balcony House:


The door!:


Next we toured the Cliff Palace:


We weren't the only visitors:


We made our way towards home after the park:


We stopped at Four Corners before working our way to Bellemont, AZ for the night:

[Mike]

Going Home

On the trip home on Sunday, we met up with Randy and Carmen in Seligman, AZ for a late Breakfast at the Roadkill Cafe:







We took the rest of that loop of the old Route 66 to Kingman, AZ just for fun. Here we are playing around at a historic gas station in Peach Springs:


Amber suggested another section of the Historic Route to explore so we took the detour. We stopped by the Cool Springs Station:


On the winding road over to Oatman, AZ, we found a majestic Bighorn watching over us:


Oatman is an old mining town that let's the wild donkeys have the run of the town:






All-in-all, the detour was a great teaser for another adventure! I can't wait to learn more about the area.

2300 miles on the Jeep and a huge file of pics and video. These are just a sampling. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's photos and reading about their added adventures!

[RAT]

Thanks Mike. Great pics. I've downloaded all of my pics and vids finally. I'll add some more to the thread today when I have time. This was one of the best trips ever!