Telluride Summer Trip 2020

Aug 1, 2020
4 min read

Our summer Telluride trip was amazing. It was a weeklong off-road and camping excursion through the San Juan Mountain range passing from Telluride, Ouray, Silverton and several other small mountain towns along the way.

Day one we started from Phoenix and pushed into Monument Valley for the night. It was just a quick night for us with no real exploring other than finding camp. An early night lead to an early morning to pack up and finish the trek to Telluride. We got in to Telluride around lunch time and met up with the rest of our group at base camp. We had established base camp near Alta Lakes. We pushed into town for fuel then proceeded to the Telluride Brewing Company for a nice dinner and beer before heading back to camp. We also made a pitstop up at Bridal Veil Falls which is an iconic waterfall that can be seen from town. As the fire burned into the night we laughed and caught up on everything that’s been going on through the covid era.

Day three was an early start again. We stopped at Baked in Telluride Bakery to get the best spinach and cheese croissant I have ever had. This was our first full trail day. We took Last Dollar Road up and over the range. On the way back we took Ophir Pass. This was not technical but the views were absolutely stunning. We stopped before cresting the top to have a small picnic and beer. As we continued back down the other side the trail got much tighter but nothing to rough.

Day four was probably one of my favorite trail days. We packed camp and headed towards Imogene Pass. This was one of the more pucker factor trails we had ran. Tight corners with fully exposed cliffs just inches from your tires. With no room to pass on the way up, driving through tunnels in the rock and jaw dropping views made it an epic day. We stopped for lunch near the old mining town of Tomboy. As we came down the backside there was a cool cliff to park the truck on the edge for some pictures. I was the only one to drive out on the rock and park. We got down and began searching for a campsite. We ended up finding a spot up fairly far in the mountains. Once we set camp up, we headed back into town to visit Ouray Brewing Company for dinner and beers before heading back to camp for the night.

Day five started with another early morning pack up and headed back into Ouray to get fresh homemade donuts at Timberline deli. After finishing breakfast, we headed towards Engineer Pass taking Corkscrew Gulch. Our first pass of the day was California Pass. It overlooked a beautiful alpine lake that was so clear and blue. We continued our way stopping for lunch and exploration around Animas Forks, which is a preserved old mining town with buildings from the mining days still intact. Back on the trail and up towards the saddle to make the cross over to the backside. As you pull up on Engineer Pass, you can see so many mountain peaks in every direction. This was one of the more aweing views. You are literally in the middle of the mountains with no town, or anything else in view in any direction. This was a spot that makes you feel small as a human. We made our way down to try and find a camp spot. We ended finding a great little spot nestled in the trees right next to the creek with a little waterfall to put us to sleep. We had a couple deer join us as we cooked dinner. Brisk mountain water made for great naked creek bathes before we crawled into the tent for the night.

Day six was the last trail day. We packed up camp and hit the trail to get into Silverton. We crossed up and over Hurricane pass and continued pass some old mines. We came up on Cinnamon Pass, our last pass of the trip. We got back on pavement in the early afternoon and stopped at Avalanche Brewing for pizza and beer. Did a fuel and water fill and headed towards Purgatory. We found a great campsite next to another waterfall that had lots of room and not really anyone else around. This was collectively one of our favorite spots that we camped. This was our last chance to finish the beer and food we brought so we had a wonderful last feast. Nothing like some pancakes, sausage, bacon, hash browns and eggs for dinner!

Day seven started the long journey home. We packed up and headed towards Durango stopping at Durango Joes for coffee and breakfast which fueled the long drive back. Pushed through New Mexico and back into Arizona. We stopped for dinner at the Red Onion in Heber, one of my go to’s when passing through that area. Lastly arrived home later that night. Overlanding through the Rockies was so epic. Every turn was epic views along with mountain peaks and trees and everything in between. Over the week we had great beer and food every day. This is definitely a trip for the books and look forward to doing it again next year. Having three trucks was the perfect amount and the folks in our group made the trip ever more enjoyable. Overall one of my most favorite off-road and camping excursions I have made!