On Tuesday, July 26th, we got up about 7:30am to Colorado blue skies!  We had to pack up our stuff all wet, but we were ready to go at 8am.  It was a welcome site to see blue skies and morning sun.  We headed up Hwy 550 to near the top of Red Mountain Pass.  The trailhead was just before the Pass off the highway (I locked up for the hill climb to tread lightly).  Black Bear Pass is not a rough difficult road, but it is rated ‘difficult because of it’s tight switchbacks and some rocky sections.  Because of the switchbacks the trail is a one-way into Telluride.

   This has to be by far the best Black Bear ride I've done!!  The skies were clear, the tundra a deep green, the wildflowers in full bloom contrasting with the white of the snow, and waterfalls everywhere!  I was happy to have my new Nikon Coolpix 5900 close by to take pic after pic!  The 1st climbs above the trailhead the trail are quite easy but steep. Numerous switchbacks open up views below.  We made our way up the switchbacks to a small ravine (part of the trail).  A lingering snow bank with some cascading water was fun to climb up.

   On the top of Black Bear Pass (12,840'), we stopped for some poser shots.  The same rock where Ken Brubaker took a shot of Molly and I in 2002 (Silverton All-4-Fun) and published the photo in his Jeep 4x4 Calendar (we were July 2004) last year.  We were one of the 1st Jeepers to do Black Bear, as it had just open the week before.  We didn't see anyone til we reached the Bridal veil Falls area above Telluride.  The trail descends rapidly into Ingram Basin and it gets a bit more rocky then the ascent. Passing by Ingram Lake, the views of the Telluride Valley start to open up.

   The snowmelt the weeks before in the upper Ingram Basin was the highest I've ever seen.  Even the trail had some minor erosion as the snowmelt ran down everywhere.  The waterfall below was also the highest I'd ever seen running.  Working our way down Ingram Basin, we arrived at an intimidating corner of loose medium-sized rocks with a roaring cascade 30  feet below to your left, and a 200' drop just ahead!  We each went thru and on down to the waterfall and mine site below.  Water everywhere, as it was running down the trail, then off the cliff face.  Over spray from the falls was everywhere.  We stopped for a second, then headed down to the 1st set of tight switchbacks. 

   With a few tight turns and some uneasy clutch engaging, we made it down the tight switchbacks and to the Bridal veil Falls Power Station (Black Bear is one-way down only to the power station).  I made my Detroit lockers work (well they made me back up more).  We walked up to the Power House, but access was closed to visitors.  Heading down, the road was SUV-like.  We slowly passed hikers up the road as we headed down into Telluride. 

   With some gas station food in our bellies, and gas in our tank (the Jeeps that is), we headed back to Telluride (Telluride has no gas stations in town), and on up the Imogene Pass Trail off Oak Street (take Aspen off Main Street).  This section of trail is fairly easy with some small rocky sections.  The trail heads above the north-side of Telluride on up to the Tomboy Mine & Savage Basin.  The main 'attention getter' is the shelf road below Savage Basin.  The mill ruins don't seem to change much, though time does take a toll on wood.  The Tomboy Ghost Town was also here in the late 1880's.

   We headed on towards Imogene Pass.  One guy in a new Cherokee was letting me pass and almost rolled down the hill by trying to pull off into a bank.  Wow!  Told the guy he almost rolled, he laughed (I didn't).  Humm, I would of stopped him from going down the mountainside (I was below him),  it's just that some people should stick to pavement.  At 13,114', Imogene Pass is the 2nd highest pass in North America (1st is Mosquito Pass).  We stopped over at the eastern viewpoint (best in the San Juans), then it was down FS road 861 into Imogene Basin.

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