5 Passes

We had a really long day, but because it was the first sunny, no clouds day, we didn't mind spending the whole day in the mountains.

The first leg of our journey took us up Engineer Pass, the first part which is pretty steep and rocky. The pass is at about 13,000' elevations and the views are spectacular! Coming down is fairly easy and we ended up near Lake City where we had lunch on a river. We then drove up to Cinnamon Pass (12,600') which took us to Animas Forks. We had the option of going an easy road back to the highway and then into Ouray or to take three passes over the mountains. Of course, we chose the mountains!

The first pass was California Gulch which led to Hurricane Pass (12,700) and then to Corkscrew Gulch (12,500'). It was so awesome to be in the midst of all these peaks and valleys, canyons and gorges. We could view our road with all its twists and turns but they they looked like they were just a gravel road across the meadow. But when we got to them they were ledge roads with rocks, dips, and bumps going around the mountain. We came across a "damsel in distress" on Hurricane Pass. It was a single lady who had problems with her transmission. She was so lucky that two of our caravan knew exactly what to do and had the right parts to fix her problem. She joined our caravan for the rest of the trip down the mountain.

We have been on the mountains for almost 10 hours today! What a great way to end this week. We have had a great time with wonderful friends. This is one trip we will always make time for as the people are so nice and the Jeeping is always special!

Jeff built a great fire tonight and we stayed up until after 11 PM enjoying the company and the s'mores! It was also a wonderful way to celebrate John's birthday today!