SW COLORADO, SILVERTON

Today we rent a jeep and attempt to drive the 75 mile Alpine loop, a scenic by-way. This is an OHV road that is carved through the San Juan Mountains giving access to ghost towns, old mines and railroad grades. We start out going up the Animas River. We soon see several old mines and the ghost towns of Howardsville and Middleton. At the extensive ghost town of Eureka we put it into 4WD where the going gets bumpy and dusty. At Animas Forks we leave the river and put it in 4WD Low. Now the trail becomes a challenge to dodge boulders and loose rocks. We stop at Cinnamon Pass (12,620 feet) to explore old rock piles and let the dogs play in an alpine pond. It's about 40 degrees and we're glad to have brought our jackets. Our downhill route goes through Handies Peak Wilderness Area. It's good to know there are places in this country where you can still go and look for miles and not see anyone. At Lake San Cristobal the road becomes paved and we cruise into Lake City for some lunch. We notice the air becoming cloudy and soon realize it's smoke from a forest fire 70 miles away. We now head up Henson Creek through the Red Cloud Peak Wilderness Area and the ghost towns of Snowden and Capitol City. At Whitmore Falls we again put it in 4WD to get up to Engineer Pass (12,800). It's been a while since I've been this high. We pass by a couple of unmarked turns and it's soon obvious we've taken the wrong road. The grade becomes steeper and I put it into 4WD Low again so as not to use the brakes so much. If jeep trails were classified, this would be a class 5. We continue to head north when we should be heading west. We meet two jeeps coming up and they tell us it's only about 2 miles more to Rt 550. It takes us almost an hour to finish those two miles. At one point we high center the jeep but it finally slides off the rock without turning over. Rt 550 quickly takes us back to Silverton. We clean up the jeep and turn it in two hours late. The owner wasn't too concerned, just glad that we (and his jeep) got back safe.

A man and his toys!

Waterfall on the Alpine Loop.

The Animas River

Spectacular scenery in the San Juan Mountains.

OHV road that traversess the San Juan Mountains.

Ghost town on the Alpine Loop

Remains of old mine.

Poudre driving on the 4-wheel jeep on the 4-wheel road.

Yea, so far so good, the jeep is still in one piece.

Alpine wildflower.

Alpine wildflower.

Meadow of alpine wildflowers.

Peg and Mitch standing at the top of Cinnamon Pass, elevation 12,620 feet.

Poudre, Dixie and Sky playing in an alpine pond.

Whitmore Falls on the Alpine Loop road.

Yellow-bellied Marmot hiding from the dogs.

Top of Engineer Pass (12,800 feet).

Road we traversed on the Alpine Loop.