Silverton Trails July 2019

[BusaDave9]

I took my Jeep to the trails around Silverton CO. These are the same trails we'll be on in a couple of weeks for the 9th Annual Colorado Trail Ride. I didn't want to call the thread "Ouray Trails" because I didn't go to Yankee Boy Basin, Imogene Pass or the other trails that are considered Ouray Trails.

Here's a GPS map of my route:
https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1eec95d1e09016f4f0&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes

There's been a tremendous amount of snow and avalanches this year.
A lot of mature trees were taken down by avalanches.



First I headed up Hurricane pass.







At the top of Hurricane pass I took this next picture of Poughkeepsie Gulch. Parts are dry but many parts are blocked by snow. They don't use the bulldozers on Poughkeepsie Gulch. That is Lake Como still frozen in July.



Then I headed over California Pass and down California Gulch.



Animas Forks Ghost town has very little snow.



I had to take this indirect route to Animas Forks ghost town. This next picture is the road that goes directly back to Silverton. As you can see their is a large avalanche that is still blocking the road. Our Jeep-CJ trail ride will be in 2 weeks. I hope they have this road open by then.



I went as far as I could and parked my Jeep. The avalanche came from behind me. It continued in front of where I now have my jeep. YOu can see a lot of trees that the avalanche knocked down.



This next picture is looking to where the avalanche came from.



I turned around and headed past Animas Forks Ghost Town again.



Next I headed for Engineer Pass. I heard it was still closed due to an avalanche but that turned out to be wrong. It was open and I took it all the way down to highway 550.
This next picture is of Poughkeepsie Gulch.







There was a Toyota Convention going on. I often had to wait till the trail was clear so I could continue.





Next I wanted to head to Black Bear Pass. I knew it was still closed but I wanted to see what kind of shape it was in.

To be continued ...

 

[BusaDave9]

Next I headed onto the highway. At Red Mountain Pass I locked my hubs and turned onto Black Bear Pass.



I reached this fork. As the sign says, going to the left will take you to Porphyry Gulch Trail but as you can see, you won't get far. Snow still blocks the path. I turned right. This leads up to Black Bear Pass.





Before long snow blocked the trail.



Snow was blocking only a short section.


Here's a picture beyond the snow. It's clear for quite a distance.



The bulldozers haven't even started to clear snow on the east side of Black Bear Pass.



Here's another view of Porphyry Gulch Trail covered in snow.



Here's the view coming back down Black Bear Pass to the highway.



Next I got back on the highway and headed for Corkscrew Gulch.

To be continued...

 

[oldjeeplady]

Thanks for checking out the trails! Great pictures! One question, how did your jeep perform?

 

[gert]

man thats beautiful

 

[BusaDave9]

One question, how did your jeep perform?

It ran great!
My jeep has been reliable in previous years but not this year. I've had several problems. I had my lifters and cam replaced. Then ignition problems.

All year I've been trying to get my Jeep up into the mountains to check out the trails but I've always had problems.

Just a few days ago I set out to Silverton. On my way up Hurricane pass my shift lever started banging into my dash so I pulled over to check out my mounts. The transmission mount lost a bolt and the other one broke. I turned around and headed to Silverton. There was no bolts holding on my transmission mount. There is a plate under my mount that had no bold. I stopped 3 times on the trail. Each time I pounded the plate back into place. The only thing holding it there was the weight of the transmission and TCase. Then I took the highway back to my home in Durango. I'd stop to check the mount but that plate never moved at all once I was on the smooth highway.

On this trip yesterday I had no problems and my jeep ran great.

I've been checking my jeep and that's on the top of my list for things to do this weekend.

My jeep has 9,462 bolts and if there is one I don't check it's the one that will fall out leaving me stuck on the trail.

 

[BusaDave9]

I got on the Highway and went to Corkscrew pass. There was a lot of avalanche debris on the trail.

I saw a lot of very large trees that came down with the avalanches.
Look at all this snow! This is mid July. It makes you wonder how much snow there was in the winter before anything started to melt.

At the top of Corkscrew Pass I took this next picture of Velocity Basin and Storm Peak.

After crossing Corkscrew pass I took this next picture. In the upper left you can see Hurricane Pass. This is where I was in the morning.


From here I headed back to Silverton.
I ate pizza at the Golden Block Brewery.

 

[BusaDave9]

Summary of the trail conditions

I wanted to check out the trails to help plan our 9th Annual Jeep-CJ trail ride. I saw a lot of trails that were closed by snow. Actually it was better than I expected. I was actively looking for trails that I was unsure if they were open. I skipped trails that I already knew the condition of.
Imogene is still blocked by snow but the bulldozers are there now clearing snow. The road from Silverton to Animas Forks ghost town is also blocked but I expect that to also be clear before our trail ride. The conditions make it hard to plan what trails we'll be able to go on. The plows are concentrating on the more popular trails. Some dead end trails like Minnie Gulch, Maggie Gulch, Governor Basin are left to melt on their own. These are still worth going to. We can go as far as possible then turn around.

 

[JR74CJ5]

I could google, but how is the weather conditions been? I'm not showing the wife the snow until we get there, she's not a fan of the cold... lol But I'll be nice and tell her to pack layers if it's still cool out.

Edit - did google. Looks warm enough, some chances for rain here and there. About typical right?

https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/81427:4:US

 

[BusaDave9]

It’s warm, very warm. That’s not the issue. We’ve had a hell of a lot more snow then we’ve had for many years. Avalanches have dumped over 100 feet of snow in some areas. That much snow takes a long time to melt.

It’s last winter not this summer that is to blame.

 

[gert]

Wow that picture of the SUV going thru that snow is so crazy it looks like an ant


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