Songline for Wolf Creek Pass

[bluecuracao]

My mother lived in Dulce, NM for a while, so I got a chance to enjoy some of SW Colorado--beautiful! Never took Wolf Creek Pass, though.

We decided to drive from Albuquerque to Telluride one year for the Jazz Fest. It was rainy by the time we reached Silverton, CO, so the roads were pretty sketchy around there (we were not in a 4WD). In Silverton, we were told NOT to go through Ophir because we did not have the right kind of vehicle, but to go up to Ouray and make a loop around from there. We thought, OK, it will take a little longer, but at least we will have an easier drive/live to tell the tale. Mmm hmm.

It was not too bad all the way to Ouray (is that the Red Mountain Pass?). In fact, if I remember correctly, it was scarier getting to Silverton, with the sheer drop and the barrier-less roads. But continuing on the road to Telluride...not only was it longer than hell and twisty and turny, but the thickest fog I'd ever seen appeared. We couldn't see ANYTHING, but we KNEW there were cars coming from the other direction, because they had been passing us fairly regularly all the way. We made it somehow, but a couple of other cars had a minor collision before we got there.

As far as I remember, the trip back was uneventful...unless I just blocked it out somehow. No way would I do that drive in the snow!!

Bluecuracao, they told you right. There was NO way you could have made it via the other road. You'd have had to go the wrong way over Imogene pass which is 4wd one way road from Telluride to Ouray. I've performed that feat in a Toyota 4wd with Colorado plates. The trick (besides navigating the road) is to hop out of your vehicle the moment you encounter a Texan or other out of stater going the RIGHT way! You then shake your fist and yell "Stupid flatlander!" and intimidate them into being the one who backs their vehicle down to a pull-out. Works like a charm when you're in the mood to have fun with the tourists! I know Dulce well! Great little town!

Tonchi, I admire your guts to do Wolf Creek in the winter back in '71 in a Duster! The ski area back then was reserved for the cognosci. There was a single small sign right at the turn off and if you were driving on the side of the road opposite, very easy to just keep on going by. The Wolf Creek/Albuquerque route provides endless hours of winter driving fun, especially when your actual destination is Colorado Springs or Denver. I was forced to do it a few times when avalanches had closed the Pass. Ah, memories...

The good news for me is that I'm headed out over Wolf Creek in the next few days to find a place to live back in the 4-corners region. I have been so homesick for so long and I'm leaving the damn Front Range at last!

[Tonchi]

Yeah, that was what my ski instructor told me that Monday: "I don't know how you could have missed it, there's a sign right there on the road...." Uh-hum.

The next time I did anything so dumb as to drive Wolf Creek in a Duster was the weekend I moved to Tucson in Spring of 1981. I drove my new RX-7 up the back side of Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains because somebody told me there was a ski resort up there. Forgot to tell me there was a perfectly good paved road on the other side though The "road" could be best described as assorted gullies punctuated by large boulders. When I told somebody at the store at the top how I got there, he said that was impossible, nobody could do it without 4WD. Oh well. I was taught how to drive in mountains by a geologist while I was at CU, practiced on some of the roads above Gunnison while we were on surveys. I am a lot calmer and gentler nowdays, hee hee.

Originally Posted by Tonchi

Oh well. I was taught how to drive in mountains by a geologist while I was at CU, practiced on some of the roads above Gunnison while we were on surveys. I am a lot calmer and gentler nowdays, hee hee.

Pleasure to make your aquaintance! One of my first mountain driving instructers was a professor of biology at CU. Ten of us spent one entire summer roaming the mountains of Colorado getting herbarium specimens, doing transects and vegetation surveys. What a blast!

[Tonchi]

Faaaar out! as we used to say in those days You and I probably have something else in common: we might be the only ones here who actually know where the original South Park is and have been through there many times!

Just checked and found out we're both Libras. That's totally far out too

Too cool! We'll let South Park be our little secret. How the hell did you end up in Fresno?

[Tonchi]

The momster lives here. I had to get as far away from an abusive husband as possible so I left Phoenix and refugeed here 12 years ago along with my 3 dogs, 1 cat, and 3 birds. Because of my lung condition, I had to stay close to sea level and could not go back to Colorado or New Mexico. In July I finally had the operation which is supposed to solve all the problems, within a year I should be Rocky Mountain High again. I have missed skiing more than anything else

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Tonchi

The next time I did anything so dumb as to drive Wolf Creek in a Duster was the weekend I moved to Tucson in Spring of 1981. I drove my new RX-7 up the back side of Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains because somebody told me there was a ski resort up there. Forgot to tell me there was a perfectly good paved road on the other side though The "road" could be best described as assorted gullies punctuated by large boulders. When I told somebody at the store at the top how I got there, he said that was impossible, nobody could do it without 4WD. Oh well.

When I was a kid, my family drove up the back side of Mt. Lemmon in a VW bus. It was an adventure, and took all day to do what would have taken an hour on the paved road, but we made it in one piece too. The locals didn't believe us when we told them what we did. I remember having to stop and get out to push big rocks/small boulders out of the "road" so we could pass. My dad did some slow careful driving that day. A VW bus is surprisingly good off-road because it is so high off the road, and has no driveshaft in the way.