The weekend after our COWBOY WEDDING noted in our last article, Big Don & Sherril joined up with Lil Annee & me for a 4-wheeler trip up in the high mountains of the San Juans. We hadn't taken a long ATV trip in quite a while, and were looking forward to a long day at much higher altitudes. So, we planned to load up our LIL Polaris tanks, pack up a cooler of food and drink, and take off for Ouray and an excursion up to Imogene Pass at 13,114' on the way over to Telluride and the second highest navigable pass in the US.

Loading Up

The nite before, we loaded up the 4-wheelers, then got an early 7 AM start. By just after
8, we were unloaded at the Ouray Ice Park just out of Ouray and ready to hit the trail. Heavy clouds threatened rain, so rain suits were close to hand.

A steady 4 mile uphill run took us to the end of the maintained road, which quickly turned
to a rough track that wound 3 miles up a cliff face with dropoffs of 1000'. Pretty quick we passed Camp Bird, an old mining operation seeming to cling to the steep slopes. A few miles further, we approached Sneffels, an old mining town tucked up in the high meadows.
Here we hit the turnoff to Imogene.

Climbing Higher

Up to this point we thought the track pretty rough, little did we know how much rougher
it would get. Down across a fast flowing creek and on up in the timber we went, steadily climbing. After running along a heavily timbered cliff above Camp Bird, we turned sharply uphill again on another steep pitch up to the next basin.

Halfway Up

Here we found another long abandoned mining camp with lots of rundown cabins. By this time we had negotiated some rough trails and climbed about 3000'. Taking a break, we woofed down a sandwich and a cold drink, while taking in the towering scenery above and around us.

Brunch

Refreshed, we cranked up and headed up the next step pitch to what seemed to be the summit. On the way up , we stopped to take pictures of the gals amid hundreds of acres of wildflowers in full bloom in the high meadows.

Wildflower Girls

Pushing on, we passed hugh snow banks from winter, still slowly melting . By the time we hit the "summit", the threat of rain had passed, and we discovered we still had a 1000' pitch still to negotiate. On this climb, we hit one place so steep, we all dismounted and walked the machines up it.

High Snow Bank

Finally we hit the top of the world and looked right down into Telluride from plus 13,000. We figured we had come about 18 miles by trail, but the view was worth it. While we soaked up the view, several tour buggies chugged up from Telluride with paying passengers.

Cute Couple

Running the ridge a mile we looked down on Ptarmigan Lake, a crystal clear lake that screamed "fish me". Unfortunately we learned from a tour driver that it was private. Damn! While on the ridge, we could look easterly down on the highway over Red Mountain Pass and even see the 4-wheel track up Corkscrew and California Pass off in the distance.

Red Mountains

Deciding we didn't have fuel enough to chance a trip down into Telluride, we headed down our backtrack to check out some waterfalls we passed and to check out the Sneffels basin.

Downhill at Sneffels, we headed up into Yankee Boy Basin, but building thunderheads convinced us to head back to the truck. We sure didn't want to get caught up high in popping lightning. Two miles from the truck it started raining hard, so we suited up for the short trip.

Scenic Cascade

Loaded up and cold, we headed home with thoughts of that beautiful high countrey bouncing around in our head.

Friday before Labor Day, we were joined by good frens Gerald & Sharie Blackwelder for another 4-wheel trip at somewhat lower altitudes. Gerald & I had been ducking last winter over in Black Canyon, and it looked to be a great place to take the gals on a 4-wheel trip.

Gunnison Confluence

Don & I loaded up our machines the nite before and got the gals loaded up by 7 AM and off to Gerald's. When we got there Gerald was loaded up and gave us all a look at his new air boat we'll use ducking up on Salt Lake.

Sharie, Annee, Sherris, Don, Gerald

By 8 AM we arrived at our unload spot up on the lower Black Canyon rim. According to our topo map, a trail headed up the ridge over the canyon, looping around and downhill into the river bottom. So, we headed uphill into the juniper & pinon timber. Slowly the trail began to bend toward the river. After gaining a lot of altitude, we began to lose it fast on the last pitch down. The last half mile was really rough down a steep gully, but we emerged on a hill overlooking the confluence of the North Fork and the Gunnison at Pleasure Park.

What a View!

Following the river downstream we pulled into a grove of huge cottonwoods for a break. I quickly unlimbered my fishing rod to try the river's legendary trout, but couldn't get a bite. Meanwhile, Gerald, never one to miss an opportunity to eat, opened up a box of good fried chicken, and everyone jumped right into it. This happened to be one of several shallow spots for ducking, so we checked it out for the upcoming season.

Eatin' Mo Chikin

Break over, we continued downstream, stopping at another fishing hole. No such luck here either, but we watched several yakers run the whitewater, before continuing on.

Feeshin'

Finally, the rough track broke away from the river and headed straight up the rim. Taking a big loop around, we dropped to the bottoms again for some more fishing. By then, Gerald was ready to eat again, so we took another break and Annee & I fished some more with no luck.

Headed Home

By now it was getting hot, so we headed to the trucks to load up and call it a day. We all had fun, but decided our next trip would be back up in the high country where it was cooler.