| The annual Colorado Colors run was the idea
of Jack Lobdell, who has since passed on. It was his great vision
and idea of an awesome event that led to great trails and a great tradition!
Well, the Colorado Colors Run 1999 was a great event, unfortunately we
planned it a few weeks too late and missed the fall colors. This
year we unfortunately planned it a little too EARLY. Oh well, that's
Colorado for you, you just never can tell! This year with the help of Gerald
Jarrett and many others we had yet another successful, the event was a
success again.
Various trails had been pre run by Warren Baccus,
Brian Sumner, Tom Davis, Gerald Jarrett, and Ray and Debby Hutchison.
That made the whole process go much smoother.
Tom, Gerald, and the Hutchisons had shown up before
Friday and had chosen to pre run the Poughskeepie trail, to gauge just
how difficult the trail was. These three knew each other from not
only the Moab 2000 run but for Tom and the Hutchisons from Truckhaven 2000.
On Friday various other wheelers had "trickled in" to the Ouray area and
we had a fantastic pot-luck on Friday night. Rod Guajardo and Rob
Robertson pulled in to the KOA extremely late, due to a failing transmission
in Rob's vehicle on their trip out from Texas.
Different Explorer owners had driven from as far
away as Georgia (Scott Bosso), California, Illinois, and Texas. We'd
try our best to prove what Colorado had to offer, and make sure that they
didn't waste a week's vacation for nothing.
The group meeting before departing on Saturday morning
Photo by Tom Davis
Saturday, after a meeting introducing everyone,
quick tuning of several CB's, and checking out everyone's rigs - from Matt's
lights to Rick's solid front axle - we were all ready to hit the trails.
With as many Explorers as we had, of different levels of driver skill and
vehicle modifications, we had decided earlier to split into two separate
groups and combine later.
The "big dawg" group would choose to do
Black Bear Pass, a trail known for its extremely tight, off-camber switchbacks
and extreme shelf driving, as well as its fantastic scenery. The
stock and slightly modified group had chosen to do Ophir Pass to Telluride.
They would meet up at Telluride and conquer Imogene Pass.
Black Bear
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The switchbacks of Black Bear Pass, from Imogene
Pass
Photo by Matt Adams
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The famous house on top of the waterfall - a great
piece of history!
Photo by Matt Adams
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This trail used to be one of the most famous
in Colorado. Some even used to refer to it as the most difficult/dangerous
trail in Colorado. Everyone that went was well aware of the challenge
ahead of them and looked forward to an awesome ride. We were pleasantly
surprised to find a light sprinkling of snow on top that had fallen the
night before! Everyone in the group knew what was ahead of them,
and were excited about the challenge.
The trail continued on past ouray climbing
and dropping through some extremely gorgeous scenery. There were
a few side hills and moderate obstacles to make the trail quite interesting
as well as scenic.
Descending down from the Black Bear summit
Photo by Matt Adams
We crested the peak at approximately 12,500
feet and began our decent. There were several EXTREME pucker factors
on the trail before you even began the switchbacks. One was an approximately
20 foot drop-off, not much until you see the width of the trail.
Anything over the width of an Explorer would have had trouble and could
have been in danger of going over the edge. Several spots the left
tires of the Explorers were ON THE EDGE. Such a ledge makes the driver
tend to steer more towards the cliff rock to avoid going over the side.
This caught Matt Adams as well as Brandon Jacques. A large rock that
you couldn't see very well from the drivers seat prohibited you from going
further forward, and backing up was quite dangerous. I simply put
in four-wheel drive, backed up a bit, and proceeded on. Unfortunately
Brandon shut off his vehicle when his wheel was cranked and locked against
the rock, and as a result could not get the vehicle started again.
After about a half hour of jacking, and finally using a hi-lift to jack
the tire more straight, the vehicle started and everyone was on their way
again. Just below this "pucker factor" was a fantastic photo opportunity
waterfall near some old mining equipment.
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Perry's "purple people eater" on Black Bear Pass
Photo by Perry Schwab
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Matt Adams "Vegas" on Black Bear Pass
Photo by Matt Adams
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After a sharp drop-down Telluride came into
view, though far away. Also coming into view was an amazing waterfall
with a house built on top! The house actually began as an electrical
"power plant" and was recently purchased and made into a private home.
Telluride from Black Bear Pass
Photo by Matt Adams
At this point the group that had completed
Ophir pass could now see the Explorers descending the switchbacks and was
sure to get plenty of videotape before getting their head-start of the
ascent of Imogene Pass. Some of these switchbacks had been
"cleaned up" by telluride and various four wheeling clubs, so they weren't
nearly as scary as they had once been. They were still extremely
tight and required 3 or more point turns by nearly every Explorer on almost
every switchback. Not being exactly on the right line could result
in a nice tippy 2-wheel action if you weren't careful (and even if you
were!)
Perry Schwab on one of the many switchbacks on Black
Bear Pass, son Patrick inside
Photo by Perry Schwab
Ophir Pass
by Ray Hutchison
The Ophir group preparing for their journey
Photo by Trint Ladd
The Saturday group, led by Warren (Wabbit)
and Christine (Kwistine), of Montrose Co. , started the morning by heading
out with the whole group, participating in the head turning Explorer Convoy
through Ouray. We all traveled out highway 550 South, splitting
off from the Black Bear Pass group at the BB Rd. entrance. We continued
on to the entrance to FR 679-Ophir Pass Road, pausing to set the hubs.
Ophir Pass Rd is another shelf Road, for the most part, that takes you
and up over to the town of Ophir. From Ophir we went down the Ophir Loop
rd, to Highway 145, and into Telluride. In Telluride we drove out to Liberty
Bell Mine to watch the Black Bear Pass group, far up on the Mountainside,
inching down the switchback road past Bridal Veil Falls.
Tiring of waiting for the Black Bear group,
we left the village of Telluride, out FR869 up to the Imogene Mine for
lunch and to wait there for the Big Dawgs. From Imogene Mine, the entire
recombined group traveled over the Imogene pass, FR853, down Sneffels Canyon
Creek Rd. joined the Yankee Boy road, passed under the "Colorado Car Wash"
falls and back into Ouray. The scenery was absolutely spectacular, the
shelf roads sometimes terrifying, and the roads fun, but otherwise unchallenging.
Imogene Pass
Group shot at the top of Imogene Pass
Photo by Trint Ladd
The two groups met up at the Tom Boy Mine
on Imogene Pass and after a quick lunch continued up the trail. Overall
the trail was nothing difficult, and a great place to show the stockers
what they were capable of accomplishing. There were plenty of mud
puddles to splash around in, and a few interesting obstacles along the
way.
Ascending Imogene Pass
Photo by Trint Ladd
Imogene runs on sometimes crudely maintained
ledges that give you an awesome view of the rest of the group as you wind
through the valley.
One of the favorite obstacles for the stockers
was that of "horn honking hill" (we named it that). With spotters
such as Tom Davis, every single vehicle made it up the obstacle, when they
could have easily taken the side bypass. The grin on the beginner's
faces as they made it up quite a difficult obstacle was beyond compare.
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Jen Woodley attempting "horn-honking hill"
Photo by Trint Ladd
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Chris Woodley learning what a lease vehicle can do!
Photo by Trint Ladd
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Brian Sumner finessing his way up.
Photo by Trint Ladd
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Saturday the entire group would get together
at True Grit for a great dinner. This time the prize for the furthest
driver went to Scott Bosso and his father for driving all the way from
Atlanta, Georgia! Other prizes were given out for various categories.
Thanks again to Gerald for working with True Grit in setting a great standard
menu with no confusion about prices, etc. We didn't get to see Ray
and Char duke it out in the parking lot like we'd hoped, but it was still
a great evening!
Sunday we once again met at the park in
Ouray, had another brief meeting introducing those that had not been able
to be there the day before, and were ready to hit the trail.
The whole group heading through the town of Ouray.
Photo by Chris Woodley (mmpc)
The groups would start out together and
split up part way up Engineer Pass. The stock and slightly modified
group would continue on Engineer Pass while the modified vehicles would
tackle Poughskeepie Trail (which had been pre run by a few members of the
group on Friday.
Poughskeepie Gulch
This was an excellent trail for the big
dawg group. It had a great combination of shelf roads, shale driving,
and rock obstacles. There were even a few mines to check out on the
way! Things got really interesting in the first "real" obstacle of
the trail. The choices were simple... left, middle, or right.
The left had already been deemed impossible by Tom Davis who had attempted
it on Friday. That wouldn't stop Matt, Rob, and Rick from trying
it though! Perhaps with the solid axle and 35" Baja Claws, Rick could
have made it but a malfunctioning locker kept that from happening.
Indeed, no one would make it up the left.
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Gerald Jarrett ascending the middle.
Photo by Rick Horwitz
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Robbie Jacques (RobbieJ) being led by Tom Davis
Photo by Matt Adams
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Perry Schwab's Purple people eater
Photo by Matt Adams
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Rob(Gofast) attempting the left side
Photo by Rick Horwitz
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Middle would be the path everyone chose to
take. It was a rock that is sloped to the right, and if you get to
close to the right the possibility will definitely exist that you might
make body contact with the rock to the side. It would take the perfect
line to make it up, and most would make it up within a few tries with expert
spotters such as Tom Davis and Ray Hutchison. Others (Gerald, Matt,
Brandon, and a few others) would take the wrong line, and come very close
to tipping it in to the rock. Gotta watch out for that, and be sure
to trust your spotter! The right side was the easier path and no
one elected to take the easy way up. There were several more obstacles
along the way, ranging from rocks to climb over to quite off-camber spots.
The trail would finally wind through engineer
pass and cinnamon gulch and emerge at Animas Forks, a surprisingly well
preserved ghost town from the mining days. There were several structures
still standing including a large victorian house.
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Just some of the excellently preserved buildings
at Animas Forks.
Photo by Tom Davis
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Matt Adams' Explorer "Vegas" near a mining structure
at Animas Forks.
Photo by Matt Adams
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While the stock group would take Cinnamon
Pass back to Ouray, the Big Dawg's elected to go through Lake City and
take the highway back to Ouray. One blown tire on Brandon's vehicle
along the way would be quickly taken care with the help of the group.
Cinnamon Pass
by Trint Ladd
After lunch, the stock group made their
way over Cinnamon Pass. We took a leisurely pace and enjoyed all
the great scenery. We never did see group two again until we got
back to base camp.
Trint fixing a flat on "Bam-Bam"
Photo by Tammy Ladd
While we were checking out a great ghost town,
someone heard Trint's vehicle hissing. Thank goodness he was a good
boy and packed his tool box with all the trail essentials (HINT HINT!!!).
He had his tire plug kit and compressor on board. Special thanks go out
to Scott for the use of his ARB compressor. It was ten times faster
than the 12V compressor and probably saved us about half an hour.
Scene from Cinnamon Pass
Photo by Trint Ladd
Cinnamon Pass, like Ophir Pass, but much more
visual then technical.
Sunday night with the help of Chris Woodley's
VCR, and Rod Guajardo's TV we were able to watch some various tapes people
had taken over the weekend. It was also a great opportunity to finish
up the leftovers from the Friday pot luck.
It was also a great opportunity for the
participants with aftermarket lights to compare their lights to Matt Adams'
lights. Ray Hutchison, Brian Sumner, Rick Horwitz, Brandon Jacques,
and of course Matt Adams put their lights against each others. Of
course Matt demonstrated the greatest lighting ability, but it was great
to compare different brands and different kinds as well. After videos
and light comparisons, a few participants said their good-byes while others
made decisions for Monday wheeling.
Monday several other participants said
their final good-byes to the rest of the group and continued on their way
home. No one did any more wheeling but they did hang out with the
rest of the group for a good portion of the day. Overall everyone
had fun and no one had damaged their vehicles seriously, and everyone went
home safely, hopefully with a great experience of yet another awesome Serious
Exploration!
PARTICIPANTS
| Matt Adams "Vegas" |
Littleton, CO |
'94 XLT "Big Dawg" |
| Rick and Char Horwitz |
Phoenix, AZ |
'93 XL "Big Dawg" |
| Thomas Davis |
Oakland, CA |
'93 Navajo "Big Dawg" |
| Ray and Debby Hutchison |
Dana Point, CA |
'93 XLT "Big Dawg" |
| Rob and Jackie Robertson |
Mickenney, TX |
'94 XLT "Big Dawg" |
| Gerald Jarrett |
Dallas, TX |
'99 EB "Modified" |
| Rod Guajardo and Kelly Walkins |
Round Rock, TX |
'97 Sport "Modified" |
| Perry and Teri Schwab; son Patrick |
Loveland, CO |
'94 XLT "Modified/Big Dawg" |
| Scott Bosso; father SJ |
Atlanta, GA |
'93 Ranger "Modified" |
| Dennis and Lisa Myers |
Chicago, IL |
'94 Sport "Modified" |
| Robbie Jacques |
Albuquerque, NM |
'91 XLT "Modified" |
| Brandon Jacques |
Albuquerque, NM |
'93 Ranger "Modified" |
| Chris Woodley |
Littleton, CO |
'98 Sport "Stock" |
| Jen Woodley |
Littleton, CO |
'00 Sport "Stock" |
| Warren and Christine Baccus |
Montrose, CO |
'91 XLT "Stock" |
| Trint and Tammy Ladd |
Colorado Springs, CO |
'94 XLT "Stock" |
| Brian Sumner; Father Jim |
Albuquerque, NM |
'91 XLT "Stock/Modified" |
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