|
|
| The ticket to 'ride' on the Power Gulch Tour... |
On Sunday July 28th, as the official trail runs of All-4-Fun begin with some 13 odd trails heading out from base camp in all directions into the San Juan's from 8am-10am. The All-4-Fun trail boss put together some great trips including the POWER GULCH TOUR I led. Power Gulches refers to the 4 gulches traversed throughout the day centered in the heart of the San Juan's.
|
|
| Wahooo! The 1st trip of the week!!! Line up everyone! |
All who were eager to Jeep Power Gulches met up before 9am on line 'A' ready for a fun day. The day's group included: Myself and my jeepin-sidekick Molly (CJ7), Bob Daniel & Virve Stred (TJ), Rick Fitzsimmons (Bronco), Scott Marshall (CJ7), Justin Olsen (TJ), Jeff Carr (CJ7), Bobbette Mathews (TJ), Craig Olson (48 Willys restored original), Hilleman (Cherokee), and Jim Priest & Family (CJ5) from Arizona.
|
|
|
|
The road up Animas River... |
Numerous mines dot the area... |
|
|
| Animas River... |
The Power Gulch Tour includes the Picayne Gulch/Placer Gulch/California Gulch/Poughkeepsie Gulch/Engineer Pass Trails. We headed out promptly at 9am north of Silverton on County Road 110 about 2 miles south of Animas Forks to the trailhead of Picayne Gulch for the 1st airdown of the week. The drive up was a bit dusty and cool, since the area has not seen a lot of rain this summer. After some organizing and getting Craig's Willys in 4wd it was on up to side trail to an overlook and a nice group photo.
|
|
| At the air down (looking south), this road heads to Burns Gulch... |
|
|
|
Airing down for the week...feel the excitement? |
|
|
|
Craig Olson's 48 Willy's tooling along... |
|
|
| My Molly was digging the ride... |
|
|
|
Great friends and fellow wheelers out for a nice ride... |
Back on the Picayne Gulch Trail we climbed some 2000'+ along numerous switchbacks to reach the ridgeline above timberline near Treasure Mountain. The winds were picking up, but the cool breeze was far better then any heat wave anyone had felt the week before back home. Once down the ridgeline after a 10-100, were reached the Gold Prince Mine where we stopped to regroup and explore. From the mine, an old trestle can still be seen heading NE towards the Bagley Mill near Animas Forks.
|
|
|
Old cabins along the trail up Picayne Gulch... |
|
|
|
Same site looking east down the Gulch... |
|
|
| Heading up Picayne Gulch above timberline... |
|
|
|
10-100 at 12,000+... |
|
|
|
Bobbette crests the ridgeline along Treasure Mountain... |
|
|
|
Starting down Placer Gulch... |
|
|
|
|
Some opt for the creek crossing... |
Stopping at the Gold Prince Mine to re-group... |
Together again, we started down Placer Gulch where we intersected another All-4-Fun group of about 12 vehicles coming up. Reaching California Gulch at the bottom of Placer Gulch, we took a left and headed up west past the Mountain Queen Mine to the top of California Pass near 12,000'. Just below the pass lies Como Lake and Poughkeepsie Gulch. Hobo Jed McClelland was leading another All-4-Fun trip up Poughkeepsie Gulch and was also stopped at Como Lake for lunch, so we headed down FR 876.2 to join them.
|
|
| Heading up California Gulch... |
|
|
|
The 'train' makes it up the last switchback... |
|
|
|
Looking down at Como Lake and lunch soon... |
|
|
|
We meet up with Jed McClelland's Poughkeepsie group for lunch... |
After lunch, it was all down hill along Poughkeepsie Gulch. Rated a lot harder going up, the trail still presents some challenges going down. At one spot in particular, a lot of time was spent getting everyone in our group safely thru. With 3-4 choices of obstacles to go down, everyone made it ok. Those of note were: Craig Olsen guiding his 48 Willy's thru the only line he could take and making it. The most excitement came when a guy with a stock TJ took a wrong turn and ended up on the trail with us. He was online with the spotter until he goosed it off line and got very tippy. His automatic with highway gears didn't hold him back at all. Once thru, all jumped back into their Jeeps and we headed on down to the turnoff towards Engineer Pass.
|
|
| Down Poughkeepsie Gulch, the trail gets tougher... |
|
|
|
Rick Fitzimmons tackles the right (north) obstacle... |
Being it was around 2pm, I gave everyone an option to head down a couple of mile to highway 550 and pavement back to Silverton. The rest who wanted more headed east and up the Engineer Pass (CR18). I took a side trail and stopped at the San Juan Chief Mill site. We explored around the mill a little then headed up the main trail that meets up with the main CR18.
Not having a chance to see Oh Point and Engineer Pass, I led the rest of the diehards (some headed back to Silverton thru Animas Forks) up the switchbacks and to one of the best viewpoints in the San Juan's---Oh Point! Oh Point is a breathtaking 360 degree view of the northern San Juan's. We met up with the Jeep Exclusive Club out of Amarillo there too. Being it was late afternoon and a bit hazy, the view wasn't as good as in years past. Mornings are best for viewing off to the west.
|
|
| On top of 'Oh Point' looking east... |
|
|
|
The awesome view off 'Oh Point' looking NW (photo from 2000)... |
Seeing it was around 5:30pm, we headed down the pass. With no rains in days, the trail was a bit dusty. We followed a big group of Jeeps all the way into Silverton (dusty, dusty) slower then normal, and arrived just in time to cleanup and grab some beers for the local Silverton door prize giveaway under the big top that started at 7pm (must be present to win). I won a $50 gift Certificate to Eagle Nest Leathers in Silverton. On Wednesday, I got a nice pair of leather driving gloves. What a nice ending to the 1st official day of a fun week in Silverton!
Bill Hallinan HoboJeepers
Other All-4-Fun 2002 Trip Reports
Sat: Kendall Mtn. Sun: POWER GULCH TOUR Mon: Cinnamon Pass/Carson Townsite
Tue: Brown's Gulch/Corkscrew Gulch/Ross Basin/Colorado Basin
Wed: Manufacture DayThur: Black Bear Pass/Imogene Pass Fri: Stony Pass/Kite Lake
Jeep is a registered trademark of Daimler Chrysler Corporation
