4x4 TRAILS & STORIES CAMP SYNCRO PHOTOS SYNCRONAUTS RESOURCES
Trail Links:
Engineer Pass Trail - 12,750 ft
Monday, August 9 th, 2004
By: Jim Davis
Our group of Syncronauts had a quick review of where we were heading today and then motored out of Camp Syncro at Molas Lake about 9:00AM. Our day called for a not-too-difficult and not-too long trip up past Engineer Pass and back. Many people do a similar, but longer trip using both Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass as a loop from either Ouray or Silverton with Lake City as the mid-point. Since this is about eight-nine hours of 4-wheeling & dirt roads, most of us just did Engineer as an out and back from Silverton.
For this trip we traveled north on US Highway 550 about 5 miles to Silverton. Ahhh, it’s great to see a line of Syncros cruising along the open highway and we had six of them on today’s trip.
The roster included:
By: Jim Davis
Our group of Syncronauts had a quick review of where we were heading today and then motored out of Camp Syncro at Molas Lake about 9:00AM. Our day called for a not-too-difficult and not-too long trip up past Engineer Pass and back. Many people do a similar, but longer trip using both Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass as a loop from either Ouray or Silverton with Lake City as the mid-point. Since this is about eight-nine hours of 4-wheeling & dirt roads, most of us just did Engineer as an out and back from Silverton.
For this trip we traveled north on US Highway 550 about 5 miles to Silverton. Ahhh, it’s great to see a line of Syncros cruising along the open highway and we had six of them on today’s trip.
The roster included:
Syncros (6)Jim’s gray 87 Syncro GL
Steve’s silver ’91 Syncro Westy Paul’s tan ’86 Syncro Westy Sue’s blue ‘90 Syncro Westy Steve’s blue ’86 Syncro GL Serge’s silver ’91 Syncro Westy |
Syncro-nuts (18)Jim & Matt (16) Davis with Matt’s friend Jeremie (16)
Steve, Erik (16), & April (11) Best, with friend Bob Paul Connelly Sue Booth, plus dogs Casey & Riley Steve and Jo Ann Wacker Serge, Claire, Mélodie (12), and Ophélie (5) |
Plus, as a “bonus” we had Syncronauts Dan and Danae Hays with friend Woody in a Jeep.
Syncronauts Richard Jones and Bob Stevens hitched rides in other vehicles and left their own rigs in camp. Yeah, I know, you never know where some lunatic you never met (that’s me) is going to take you and get your Syncro messed up.
We stopped in Silverton for a few photos and then on through Silverton on Colorado Route 110 following along the course of the Animas River. As the pavement ends, this road turns into county road 2 and then passes the ruins of ore mills at Howardsville, the original county seat of San Juan County. We continued along the Animas River passing more old mining remnants at Middleton and Eureka before reaching Animas Forks. Until here 4WD was certainly not needed. Animas Forks has several interesting old building and ruins to see and explore. Also, there’s a roadside outhouse here.
Our gang re-grouped on the side of the road near Animas Forks and several people took the opportunity to air down their tires a bit to make the 4-wheeling ride a bit softer and allow the tires a bit better grip. From here, the trail begins a climb and there are a series of 3-4 switchbacks. The switchbacks are often the toughest parts of these mountain roads because they are steep, have a turn, often some rocks, and since you’re making the turn you don’t have a line of sight to the obstacles until you’re upon them. The first switchback proved tougher than it looked for Sue Booth’s “Sea Bus”. She made a couple of attempts before Dan Hays jumped in and was a bit tougher on her van than Sue was. Sea Bus had 15” wheels with stock gearing so she was at a disadvantage even before factoring in the 12,000 ft altitude. At the second switchback, it was decided to leave Sue’s van and she and the dogs hitches a ride in another van for the rest of the ascent. Back at camp, we later discovered that Sue’s throttle cable was misadjusted and also that the “full-throttle fuel-enrichment switch” was not engaging, so those combined with the larger tires teamed up to rob Sea Bus of much needed power.
After a couple more switchbacks our group found itself at the top of “Oh! Point”, nearly the highest point on today’s trip at about 13,000 ft. (My GPS read 12,979.) We lingered for lunch and photos at Oh! Point for a while. We talked with some Jeepers and hear news of a couple who were killed a few days before when their Jeep went off the side of the Black Bear Pass trail. Some sort of freak accident, but even a fraction of a second of inattention can be lethal on these roads if you know what I mean. The 4-wheeling on this trip I’d classify as “mild” on a “Easy – Mild – Moderate – Difficult – Extreme” Scale with the only obstacles being a few rocky spots and the switchbacks.
After our relaxing time at Oh! Point it was on to Engineer Pass. The “Pass” is actually lower than some other spots along this trail, but it is the place where the trail crosses from the west to the east side of the Continental Divide and begins the descent down towards Lake City. More photos at the pass and time for a bit of playing around. Steve Best and Rocky went down a hill to explore a nearby “4WD playground” of sorts with hills and other obstacles. Most watched from our grandstand like vantage point. We even found enough snow here to have a couple of us get a snowball thrown at them or a handful down the back! Weather was spectacular here with the temperature about 72˚F, skies were blue with a splattering of “cotton-ball” clouds, and a slight refreshing breeze. The scenery amazing too with a horizon-to-horizon view of nothing but mountains in all directions! The best part? The Syncro-families of course. It’s fun to do a bit of 4-wheeling and then pal around with friends, even friends with snowballs in hand. Yes, Ophélie, I mean you!
From the pass, some decided to make it a long day and go all the way to Lake City before heading back. The “long day” group was Dan, Danae, and Woody with the Jeep, and Paul Connelly in his Syncro and they did make it back before dark! The rest of us headed down the way we came, collecting Sue’s Syncro along the way, and some spent a little time exploring Animas Forks before heading back to camp.
All in all, a great day to be at Syncro Safari!
Syncronauts Richard Jones and Bob Stevens hitched rides in other vehicles and left their own rigs in camp. Yeah, I know, you never know where some lunatic you never met (that’s me) is going to take you and get your Syncro messed up.
We stopped in Silverton for a few photos and then on through Silverton on Colorado Route 110 following along the course of the Animas River. As the pavement ends, this road turns into county road 2 and then passes the ruins of ore mills at Howardsville, the original county seat of San Juan County. We continued along the Animas River passing more old mining remnants at Middleton and Eureka before reaching Animas Forks. Until here 4WD was certainly not needed. Animas Forks has several interesting old building and ruins to see and explore. Also, there’s a roadside outhouse here.
Our gang re-grouped on the side of the road near Animas Forks and several people took the opportunity to air down their tires a bit to make the 4-wheeling ride a bit softer and allow the tires a bit better grip. From here, the trail begins a climb and there are a series of 3-4 switchbacks. The switchbacks are often the toughest parts of these mountain roads because they are steep, have a turn, often some rocks, and since you’re making the turn you don’t have a line of sight to the obstacles until you’re upon them. The first switchback proved tougher than it looked for Sue Booth’s “Sea Bus”. She made a couple of attempts before Dan Hays jumped in and was a bit tougher on her van than Sue was. Sea Bus had 15” wheels with stock gearing so she was at a disadvantage even before factoring in the 12,000 ft altitude. At the second switchback, it was decided to leave Sue’s van and she and the dogs hitches a ride in another van for the rest of the ascent. Back at camp, we later discovered that Sue’s throttle cable was misadjusted and also that the “full-throttle fuel-enrichment switch” was not engaging, so those combined with the larger tires teamed up to rob Sea Bus of much needed power.
After a couple more switchbacks our group found itself at the top of “Oh! Point”, nearly the highest point on today’s trip at about 13,000 ft. (My GPS read 12,979.) We lingered for lunch and photos at Oh! Point for a while. We talked with some Jeepers and hear news of a couple who were killed a few days before when their Jeep went off the side of the Black Bear Pass trail. Some sort of freak accident, but even a fraction of a second of inattention can be lethal on these roads if you know what I mean. The 4-wheeling on this trip I’d classify as “mild” on a “Easy – Mild – Moderate – Difficult – Extreme” Scale with the only obstacles being a few rocky spots and the switchbacks.
After our relaxing time at Oh! Point it was on to Engineer Pass. The “Pass” is actually lower than some other spots along this trail, but it is the place where the trail crosses from the west to the east side of the Continental Divide and begins the descent down towards Lake City. More photos at the pass and time for a bit of playing around. Steve Best and Rocky went down a hill to explore a nearby “4WD playground” of sorts with hills and other obstacles. Most watched from our grandstand like vantage point. We even found enough snow here to have a couple of us get a snowball thrown at them or a handful down the back! Weather was spectacular here with the temperature about 72˚F, skies were blue with a splattering of “cotton-ball” clouds, and a slight refreshing breeze. The scenery amazing too with a horizon-to-horizon view of nothing but mountains in all directions! The best part? The Syncro-families of course. It’s fun to do a bit of 4-wheeling and then pal around with friends, even friends with snowballs in hand. Yes, Ophélie, I mean you!
From the pass, some decided to make it a long day and go all the way to Lake City before heading back. The “long day” group was Dan, Danae, and Woody with the Jeep, and Paul Connelly in his Syncro and they did make it back before dark! The rest of us headed down the way we came, collecting Sue’s Syncro along the way, and some spent a little time exploring Animas Forks before heading back to camp.
All in all, a great day to be at Syncro Safari!
Here’s some trail information from published trail guides with comments before Syncro Safari:
Monday, August 9, Engineer Pass:
I'm proposing an out and back trip over Engineer Pass & back. This trail is often done as a loop trail combined with Cinnamon Pass and constitutes what's called "The Alpine Loop", but I think that would make for a very long driving day with little time for checking out the sites along the way, lunch, and socializing. I'm still open to doing a combined trip, if the majority of attended want that many hours or trail time. Combined with Cinnamon Pass the loop would be 68 miles.
Engineer Pass Difficulty:
The "Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails" by Charles Wells describes this trail's difficulty rating as: "Moderate. The lower section is quite rocky; however, with a little care, it can be easily negotiated by any high clearance four-wheel drive vehicle. The upper section is a little easier, but several narrow rocky sections at the top can cause anxiety for nervous drivers".
Peter Massey & Jeanne Wilson's "4WD Trails: Southwest Colorado" gives it a difficulty rating of 4 out of 10. A 4 rating is described as: "High clearance 4WD recommended. Rough road surface with rocks larger than six inches possible, but a reasonable driving line available; mud possible but passable; stream crossings less than fifteen inches deep; substantial sections of single-lane shelf road possible; moderate grades; moderately loose surface." For reference, Massey's "Rating 5" says that high clearance 4WD is required, so I guess that means someone "could" do a 4 trail with 2WD.
Engineer Pass Features:
Famous mining sites, possible snow, spectacular scenery, a potential side hike to Whitmore falls, summit elevation of 12,750 feet, Oh! Point
"4WD Trails: Southwest Colorado" gives it a scenic rating of 10 out of 10.
Engineer Pass Proposed route:
Start: Highway 550, south of Ouray. Route points:: Oh! Point, Engineer Pass, site of Engineer City, Palmetto Gulch Cabin & Mill, Rose's Cabin, and the Empire Chief Mine. I propose we stop at 16.1 miles where there is a hiking trail head to Whitmore falls for lunch. The hike to Whitmore Falls is described as "short, but strenuous". From here, turn around and back out the way we came. There's a cut-off that leads south toward Silverton, so we could take a partially different route back through the mining district of Animas Forks. If we stuck to the same trail out and back it would total about 32 miles.
I'm proposing an out and back trip over Engineer Pass & back. This trail is often done as a loop trail combined with Cinnamon Pass and constitutes what's called "The Alpine Loop", but I think that would make for a very long driving day with little time for checking out the sites along the way, lunch, and socializing. I'm still open to doing a combined trip, if the majority of attended want that many hours or trail time. Combined with Cinnamon Pass the loop would be 68 miles.
Engineer Pass Difficulty:
The "Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails" by Charles Wells describes this trail's difficulty rating as: "Moderate. The lower section is quite rocky; however, with a little care, it can be easily negotiated by any high clearance four-wheel drive vehicle. The upper section is a little easier, but several narrow rocky sections at the top can cause anxiety for nervous drivers".
Peter Massey & Jeanne Wilson's "4WD Trails: Southwest Colorado" gives it a difficulty rating of 4 out of 10. A 4 rating is described as: "High clearance 4WD recommended. Rough road surface with rocks larger than six inches possible, but a reasonable driving line available; mud possible but passable; stream crossings less than fifteen inches deep; substantial sections of single-lane shelf road possible; moderate grades; moderately loose surface." For reference, Massey's "Rating 5" says that high clearance 4WD is required, so I guess that means someone "could" do a 4 trail with 2WD.
Engineer Pass Features:
Famous mining sites, possible snow, spectacular scenery, a potential side hike to Whitmore falls, summit elevation of 12,750 feet, Oh! Point
"4WD Trails: Southwest Colorado" gives it a scenic rating of 10 out of 10.
Engineer Pass Proposed route:
Start: Highway 550, south of Ouray. Route points:: Oh! Point, Engineer Pass, site of Engineer City, Palmetto Gulch Cabin & Mill, Rose's Cabin, and the Empire Chief Mine. I propose we stop at 16.1 miles where there is a hiking trail head to Whitmore falls for lunch. The hike to Whitmore Falls is described as "short, but strenuous". From here, turn around and back out the way we came. There's a cut-off that leads south toward Silverton, so we could take a partially different route back through the mining district of Animas Forks. If we stuck to the same trail out and back it would total about 32 miles.