The Alpine Loop (8-26-22)

 

Our reason for coming all the way back to Lake City Colorado, was to drive the Alpine Loop 2.5 in the Jeep.  The 2.5 is a rating given to the trail by Jeep enthusiasts.  The description of a 2.5 road is “ Rutty and rocky road. Slow going with 4WD.  Low range helpful for speed/traction control and to minimize damage. Some rocks/ledges that require low range and some skill to navigate.”

The numbers range from a 1.0 for a paved road, to a 5.0 for something that probably isn’t even a road.  I am not sure, because I never plan to go on a 5.0 adventure.

Reading about this trip the consensus is that it takes about 7 hours to complete. We thought that was pretty long, but we set out early anyway, after packing a lunch and anything else we thought we might need, like tools. There are several offshoot trails that can be done, and we explored a couple of those along the way.

The road did have some easy parts, with beautiful scenery- those were the parts I enjoyed the most.

Many times we could see exactly where we would be going…

...and we were glad that most people were driving in the same direction as us. It wasn’t always easy to find a wide enough spot to pass someone.  It’s all well and good if there is room to go off the road a bit, but that wasn’t usually the case.

A good percentage of the trip we were driving on what they call shelf roads- they are essentially roads cut into the side of a mountain, and zig zag their way up and over (if need be).

I marked parts of the road in this picture so it’s easier to see.  This is where we ( and most other people it seemed) stopped for lunch.

We were in the small historic mining town of Animas Forks. In 1885 this town had a summertime population of 450 people, when mining here was at it’s peak.  The town had a post office and even a newspaper. It weathered the ups and downs of metal prices until the 1920s, when the town began to die a slow death.

There we two major passes we went over along the loop- Cinnamon Pass 2.5, at an elevation of 12,640 feet, and Engineer Pass 2.5, at 12,800 ft.

The last half mile up the “road” to Engineer Pass was the worst for me.  I didn’t get any pictures because I had my head down and my eyes closed. Just picture a narrow path with a very steep drop off, and boulders in the road so big that the Jeep bounced around to the point that it felt like it would tip over (I was assured by the driver that we were perfectly safe).

Once we actually made it to the top, I was happy to get out and take a bunch of pictures. along with everyone else who had made it to the pinnacle.

By the way, the black blob that shows in the bottom of the picture whenever we are in the Jeep, is part the part of the hitch that stays on the Jeep that hooks it up to the truck.

My favorite side trail, so to speak, was the short trip we took into the American Basin.  The scenery was stunning, and reminded me a lot of Scotland.

In addition to the spectacular mountain scenery, there were a fair amount of waterfalls along the way…some we could see in the distance…

Some were a little closer…

Some were right next to the road…

and some actually went through the road….

We didn’t see too much wildlife along the way…

But were surprised to see a ton of sheep at Engineer Pass, at an elevation of 11,000 feet.

All in all, except for a few minutes of terror, it was a great drive with incredible scenery along the way.  And it took 7 hours, 15 minutes.

As a humorous side note, several years ago, Paul and I tried to take the F450 dually on one of these 4x4 roads in this area.  We made it part way but we got lots of stares, as if we were crazy, and very soon the road became impassable for the large truck.  Paul wanted to go back and do that trail in the Jeep but we couldn't remember what it was called, so I checked back on my blog and sure enough I posted the name of the trail back then- The Alpine Loop.