dude really your awesome and so are your pictures. lookin at your stuff last night got me to plan a trip with my daughter this friday and saturday! so after you done in colorado are you moving somewhere else? lol jk

 

Colorado and Utah will probably keep me busy for the rest of my life

 

true true

 

Day 2: Marshall to Weston Pass


After finishing up Tomichi Pass at US Highway 50, we headed east a short ways towards Sargents and turned off to follow the old railroad grade over Marshall Pass.

Start of Marshall Pass


Easy road the whole way




An old foundation at the pass


We stopped and had some lunch up there


Headed back down to meet up with US Highway 285


We finished up earlier than planned, so we had plenty of time to check out a few more trails. We made our way north towards Fairplay to check out Browns and Breakneck Passes.


In the trees at the starts of Browns Pass

 

Old cabin ruins




More cabin ruins


Headed to Breakneck Pass along Sheep Creek






An old cabin near Breakneck Pass

 

Headed back down






Instead of hopping back on the highway, we took a right and headed west over Weston Pass






Some storm coulds in the distance




It rained for a short time but cleared up quickly


Soon we were back on the highway headed south. We ended up stopping at Jan's in Buena Vista for some dinner before heading back to camp for the night. It was another great day.

That's it for Day 2. Day 3 to come....

 

Day 3: Sangre de Cristo Mountains & The Great Dunes


Day 3 was spent exploring the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, including some time at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. We started out heading south on US 285 to Villa Grove, where we turned off the pavement and took Hayden Pass over the mountains.







After reaching the pavement again we headed south and topped off the gas tank in Westcliffe before making our way over to Medano Pass. I'll also mention that right before the turnoff to Medano Pass, we had a bear run across the highway in front of us....it was actually our first bear sighting.

Start of Medano Pass


Sandy two-track




Entering the National Park


First spotting of the dunes, straight ahead

 

Looking back on the sandy trail




Finally getting closer to the dunes

 

Soon we reached the pavement in the park and headed over to the dunes to do a little exploring on foot. A few photos...







A storm started rolling in as we were leaving.....it got VERY windy.


The sign as we left the park


After spending some time at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve my original goal was to check out Hermit Pass, so we headed east again and took Pass Creek Pass Road back to Colorado 69 and headed north. By the time we reached Westcliffe again, it was starting to get late so I decided to skip Hermit Pass this trip.....so I'll have to return another time. We continued north and eventually made it back to Johnson Village, where we had a good dinner at the Coyote Cantina (one of my favorite places to eat in the area).

That's it for Day 3. Day 4 to be continued...

 

WOW!!!

 

It's funny you mention a bear sighting there!! My first bear sighting in CO was there on Medano. I have seen one since, near Divide in the Phantom Creek area, but that was my first as well!! And, as always, great pics Randy!!

 

Day 4: Independence & Pearl Pass


On Day 4 we slept in a little bit longer than on the previous days before getting up and breaking down camp. As I stated in the first post on this trip report, Amanda only had 4 days with me before she had to go back to work. Being the 4th day, we needed to head back to Grand Junction this day. There was one trail that I was not able to check out earlier on the trip because it was not yet clear of snow accoriding to my research before leaving, however, after checking again the night before, I knew it was now passable......so we made our way over to Pearl Pass on our way home.

In order to get to Pearl Pass we needed to head over to Aspen. I decided to head over Independence Pass. Even though it's paved, I figured since I had not drivin it before, I might as well check it out at least once...



Once in Aspen we headed up Express Creek Road to the start of Pearl Pass. This was an amazing trail and probably one of my favorites in the state! So let me warn you, I was a little camera happy and took a ton of photos......and I'm going to post a bunch of them. So if you don't like looking at photos of great trail scenery, then you may want to go read another thread instead On to the photos....

Start of the trail




Waterfall along the trail


Recently repaired bridge


Now above the waterfall


Another sign as we climb higher

 

You can see the Montezuma Basin trail in the distance

 

If you look closely in this one, you can see Pearl Pass on the left....there is a narrow shelf road leading up to it.

 

Getting closer to the pass


This was the only section of snow we encountered, and as you can see, there were already a few tracks through it.




Finally, at the pass!