Imogene & Black Bear Passes, Telluride, CO

[dtech]

Vehicles stranded on black bear pass on Sat, 15 people "rescued":

https://www.outtherecolorado.com/ne...cle_8c7864e8-1bee-11ed-8f26-f35d13e82131.html

Decided to drive Imogene Pass on Friday, hadn't been up there in a number of yrs but this time was with the wife who was freaked out a good deal of the ride and intermittently whining/pleading to turn around - I did not. Bridal Veil Falls though was gushing with water.

Always when traveling take note of the various vehicles, didn't notice any Rangers but a good many Jeep Wranglers - most were Rubicons , saw one gladiator, 2 Rivians, and a few Broncos - which if I was in the market for a Jeep like vehicle I'd probably choose the Rubicon, as Jeep is the real deal whereas the more I see of the Bronco - to me it's mostly a Jeep wannabe. Don't see many Grand Cherokees anymore.

The Ranger being smaller has an advantage over full sized pickups going up narrow winding roads with sharp turns, was behind a Dodge Ram 1500 and it had to backup multiple times to navigate the sharp turns.

Did see parked in town what looked to be mostly original Ford Mustang Vert, 65 white with red interior , 4 speed.

Love going to Telluride, catch multiple music festivals there and the scenery is spectacular.

 

[26point2]

Firing up my C.W. McCall play list.

"the road looked like a bunch of Z's and W's."

 

[D Fresh]

Afternoons in July and August are not the time to be playing in the mountains for this very reason. Glad you guys stayed safe.

 

[dtech]

Afternoons in July and August are not the time to be playing in the mountains for this very reason. Glad you guys stayed safe.

thanks, I think my wife will recover, I told her to quiet down or I'd make her take the wheel - that would have been the end of the Ranger, lol.

Noticed a number of guided tours up Imogene, basically pickups with the bed removed and replaced by benches, chatted with a driver when we were stopped at the Tomboy mine - they charge $100 for the ride to the top of Imogene which considering gas and vehicle wear and tear - plus risk element, it seemed like a reasonable price. With so many off road vehicles these days it wasn't a surprise for Tomboy Road to be more crowded this time of year and there are numerous stretches of the road that lack places to pull off, so one may have to backup a long way.

The monsoon is relentless in SW CO this year, everything is a healthy green, a few weeks back Pagosa received over 3" in a 5 day period.

 

[D Fresh]

thanks, I think my wife will recover, I told her to quiet down or I'd make her take the wheel - that would have been the end of the Ranger, lol.

Noticed a number of guided tours up Imogene, basically pickups with the bed removed and replaced by benches, chatted with a driver when we were stopped at the Tomboy mine - they charge $100 for the ride to the top of Imogene which considering gas and vehicle wear and tear - plus risk element, it seemed like a reasonable price. With so many off road vehicles these days it wasn't a surprise for Tomboy Road to be more crowded this time of year and there are numerous stretches of the road that lack places to pull off, so one may have to backup a long way.

The monsoon is relentless in SW CO this year, everything is a healthy green, a few weeks back Pagosa received over 3" in a 5 day period.

They run a lot of those "Jeep Tours" out of Estes over her on the Front Range too.

Watching the weather radar maps you guys have been getting it good.

We've been getting enough for me to leave my sprinklers off. That's good enough for me.

 

[whoisdp]

I remember doing those as a kid with my dad in his old Bronco II. Scared the hell out of me as a kid/passenger. Maybe someday when I'm home I'll attempt them. Glad everyone made it out ok. Those storms are no joke.

 

[dtech]

FYI should anyone have an interest in mining history of the West, this site has a lot of great photos, including the Tomboy mine 3,000 above Telluride which besides bars and brothels had a school, bowling alley and tennis court:

https://westernmininghistory.com/2683/incredible-colorado-mining-scenes/

 

[mtbikernate]

Decided to drive Imogene Pass on Friday, hadn't been up there in a number of yrs but this time was with the wife who was freaked out a good deal of the ride and intermittently whining/pleading to turn around - I did not.

I took my wife out on a little drive awhile back. Nothing that really tested the capabilities of the Ranger (let alone the OEM Hankook tires) or my ability to drive offroad, but apparently it was WAY outside of her experience and so had no idea what I was talking about when I described what to expect. She lost her mind on the short little 3mi section of 4wd road we were on.

I've looked at Imogene and Black Bear Pass on satellite imagery, and I think she'd probably hike the whole thing before she rode in the Ranger.

 

[dtech]

I took my wife out on a little drive awhile back. Nothing that really tested the capabilities of the Ranger (let alone the OEM Hankook tires) or my ability to drive offroad, but apparently it was WAY outside of her experience and so had no idea what I was talking about when I described what to expect. She lost her mind on the short little 3mi section of 4wd road we were on.

I've looked at Imogene and Black Bear Pass on satellite imagery, and I think she'd probably hike the whole thing before she rode in the Ranger.

yeah I briefly considered telling (asking) my wife to keep her head down in a place where she couldn't see anything and of course wouldn't be able to talk but besides that possibly not being well received it probably wasn't ideal from a distracted driving standpoint, a clear example why a self driving vehicle might be quite useful.

 

[dtech]

I remember doing those as a kid with my dad in his old Bronco II. Scared the hell out of me as a kid/passenger. Maybe someday when I'm home I'll attempt them. Glad everyone made it out ok. Those storms are no joke.

Saw this (below) in an email, past Ford Broncos, had a friend with a light blue Bronco II and recall it was decently off road capable as we took on backpacking trips up some rugged roads. Conversely had another friend with a Chevy Blazer and I think he may have went thru 2 or maybe 3 trannies.

https://www.autoweek.com/g40860487/gallery-ford-bronco-and-bronco-sport-heritage-editions/?slide=20

 

[madchassey]

I was just up there last week and it was awesome! A bit rainy but other than that - it was perfect weather. I did Imogene and then went to Ophir and did that too

 

[madchassey]

 

[whoisdp]

Truck looks great. I was just in Colorado. Wish I had my truck with me to do some trails. Do you have an IG?

 

[dtech]

Did you go to Silverton or further down 145 thru Rico - San Juans are stunning in that area, could see a few scrapes on your tires but looks like you have a lift on the truck. For me Imogene is worth the drive just seeing the magnitude of the Tomboy mine operation. Back to Telluride in a few weeks for the Blues n Brews festival, aspens are usually in full gold array by then, I just hope this seemingly perpetual monsoon has run it's course by then

 

[madchassey]

Truck looks great. I was just in Colorado. Wish I had my truck with me to do some trails. Do you have an IG?

I do - its @sd.tremor.