Foto ©2001 by John C. Maki
Engineer Pass, 12,850'
July 13, 2001
Friday morning after a long night of rain, I awoke at 05:00 and contemplated climbing Uncompahgre, but it looked like it would be another day of rain and I was pretty stiff after climbing Wetterhorn the day before. I decided to make this a rest day, try to get my gear dried off and make my way to Ouray over Engineer Pass.
Engineer Pass is rated a class 3/4 4X4 trip, difficult to very difficult.
I had never driven on it but I knew the Jeep could handle it with no problem.
As I drove up the east side of the pass I saw many waterfalls. I came across
Thoreau's house and snapped a picture there. I also saw a huge flock of
domestic sheep, covering the road and the surrounding fields.
I was wondering what all the fuss was about the pass while I drove up the east side - it was easy. Soon I reached the pass, and started down the west side. The fun was soon to begin.
The west side of the pass is much rougher, but still nothing too horrific. The Jeep did just fine, and it is stock with 30" tires. There were two spots I hit a rock somewhere underneath, but that was it. I started to encounter many people heading up the pass - I guess the conventional way to drive the Alpine Loop is to go over Engineer Pass from west to east to Lake City, then back down to Silverton over the Cinnamon Pass.
More and more people crept up the rough road. Eventually I made it back
down to treeline and I thought the difficulties were over, but the road was
just as rough if not rougher here. As I drew closer to Ouray and Highway
550, the road started to descend into a deep canyon and I found a rock with
a nice vantage point over the highway and the gorge.
I saw a couple from California driving their Mercedes SUV up the road, and wondered how far they would make it. Their vehicle just didn't have the ground clearance required to make it over the large steps and rocks they would encounter along the way. As I passed them and saw the terrain they had passed I marveled that they got that far. Oh well, nice to see people actually taking one of those things off road, I didn't think it ever happened.
I finally reached the point where the pass road ends at Highway 550, and
I took a deep breath and relaxed a bit, then drove into Ouray. My plan was
originally to find a motel in Ouray and stay Friday night, then drive to
Telluride and take another rest day and play tourist, then camp at the Silver
Pick trailhead and climb Wilson Peak Sunday morning. Since I was in Ouray
so early in the day, I drove up to Cascade Falls east of town and got a
picture for my Mom's
waterfall page, then drove up 550 to Ridgway and across
Dallas Divide to Telluride. I had a nice view of Mount Sneffels' north
face as I crossed the divide. Telluride was too touristy for me, and after
taking some pictures of Bridal Veil Falls and buying a T-shirt I went to
the trailhead to check it out.
The Silver Pick trailhead is reached after a 7 mile drive on the Silver Pick Road from where it meets Colorado 145. The first 5 miles is excellent, then the road gets rougher and filled with big waterholes, too rough for a passenger car I thought. Still, almost to the trailhead I passed a Volkswagen Rabbit on the way back down. So a passenger car with reasonable ground clearance can make the trailhead if driven judiciously, perhaps with total disregard for the undercarriage.
I drove back to 145 and then to Ridgway, where I saw a Super-8 motel and
reasonably cheap gas. I checked in, and my plan was to rest and recover,
dry my gear, and leave bright and early for the trailhead and climb Wilson
Peak. Alas, 05:30 came around and I did not want to get out of that bed.
It had also rained that night and was still drizzling in the morning. I
wrestled around with my options and finally decided that Wilson Peak would
be better left when I was more confident of the weather, and I drove up north
in the direction of Aspen to climb
Castle Peak.