bakerla
Man, Myth, Legend
This is the second trip out to Ouray, CO for me. Tracey came out with me this year, we left the kids at home. Secretsquirrel (Rich+1) and Darkhelmet (Kendal+2) came out for the first half of the trip. I stayed around for the 2013 FJ Summit. I was once again impressed with the organization of the FJ Summit, but had much more fun running trails with people I knew and in a smaller group. No more organized trail runs for me. This trip report will once again be lengthy, as to document the trip and provide some information for others that might also wish to plan such a trip. I’ll be adding more info as I can for each day and will probably be adding links and editing as I find errors or remember stuff.
I used the same navigation tools I used last year. My phone and 2 books. Read about it here: http://toyotaoff-road.com/threads/1385-bakerla-does-Ouray-2012.
To Ouray.
Took the same route for the first leg of the trip as last year. I learned from my mistake last year and we drove to Raton, NM and stayed at the Raton KOA, instead of stopping in Clayton, NM. Kendal and I departed Houston on Sunday monring around 0520 and met Rich on the highway probably three quarters of the way between Houston and Dallas. We drove up through Wichita Falls and through Amarillo on to Raton. It started raining on us just outside of Dallas and continued on and off again until Raton. We kept watching the radar and saw the storms all around Raton. We arrived in Raton around 1830, and made it to the KOA during a lull in the rain. We quickly setup up camp and left to eat at K-Bob’s Steakhouse. The food was awful. I would not eat there again. We returned to camp and tried to drink some beer and then the rain and wind came. Winds gusted to 30mph, rain came down and thunder and lightning did their thing.
We left Raton early, maybe close to 0615, though I don’t recall. From there we traveled to Alamosa, CO and stopped at a Walmart that Google Maps tried to tell me was permanently closed. It wasn’t, so we stopped to get food and supplies. Rich found out that he needed to get some waterproofing spray for the RTT during the overnight at Raton. The people of Walmart were impressed with a RTT setup in the parking lot. Moving on from Alamosa, we traveled on through Creede and then to Lake City CO, passing areas that were obviously on fire just a few days prior. Once in Lake City we stopped at a gas station for a last minute restroom break before taking Engineer Pass on over to Ouray. Signs were prominently marked for Engineer Pass as it’s a popular route.
We stopped to air down slightly before getting onto Engineer. Engineer started off just a gravel road. We stopped along Engineer to take some pictures of Capitol City and Whitore Falls. We walked down a steep trail to Whitmore Falls and met 2 fly fisherman from Katy TX that were fishing. They claimed to have got several trout at the base of the falls. The falls were awesome and the hike back up the hill let you know you weren’t at sea level any longer. The stop at the falls was cut a little short due to some sprinkles. We were trying to stay ahead of the weather. Halfway through the Engineer the pass became a little more rocky. Kendal was pulling his trailer, not knowing what was ahead.
We took Mineral Creek to Highway 550 after Engineer. Mineral Creek was a bit more rocky and difficult than I remembered from last year. It was mostly downhill. We encountered a couple of guys in a stock Dodge Dakota that ended up following us a bit. I’m not sure when it was, but I remember hearing about them crunching their truck on some rocks. We didn’t see them until much later. Halfway through Mineral Creek, which is short to begin with, it started to rain. It might have even hailed briefly. The rain was heavy. As we pulled off of the trail into the trail opening to get into Highway 550we noticed t a few cars stopped on the highway around the bend. We also noticed a few rocks falling just to the right of us. Not being from the area, I wouldn’t have expected to see a mudslide, but that’s what we witnessed. A mudslide right onto Highway 550. Apparently up around the bend there were more mudslides. The rain subsided and we were stuck. We hung out and waited. We decided to get out the grill and cook some burgers. The grill was slow to heat and it took nearly 30 minutes to cook 4 burgers. Ive since trashed that grill (Safari Chef). Eventually the Dodge Dakota shows back up. He had busted up his passenger side rocker panels. A little while later, we saw 3-4 Ford Raptors come off the trail. Not sure how they made it.
A front end loader showed up and was able to clear one lane on the highway. We ate our food and then drove into Ouray and made it to the Ouray KOA. We setup camp, in a rush in case of any further rain. We then decided to head into town and eat at the Ouray Brewery. The beer and food were tasty after a long day driving.
Heading into Raton.
The tent setup at Raton, NM. Rich and the RTT were parked off to the side.
Stopped for a restroom break at the Continental Divide.
Pitstop in Lake City
Signs are clearly marked in Lake City for Engineer
Airing down at the Engineer Pass trailhead
Capitol City
Whitmore Falls
Engineer gets rockier at this point
Trying to beat the rain
Getting off Engineer and moving into Mineral Creek
The mudslide
I used the same navigation tools I used last year. My phone and 2 books. Read about it here: http://toyotaoff-road.com/threads/1385-bakerla-does-Ouray-2012.
To Ouray.
Took the same route for the first leg of the trip as last year. I learned from my mistake last year and we drove to Raton, NM and stayed at the Raton KOA, instead of stopping in Clayton, NM. Kendal and I departed Houston on Sunday monring around 0520 and met Rich on the highway probably three quarters of the way between Houston and Dallas. We drove up through Wichita Falls and through Amarillo on to Raton. It started raining on us just outside of Dallas and continued on and off again until Raton. We kept watching the radar and saw the storms all around Raton. We arrived in Raton around 1830, and made it to the KOA during a lull in the rain. We quickly setup up camp and left to eat at K-Bob’s Steakhouse. The food was awful. I would not eat there again. We returned to camp and tried to drink some beer and then the rain and wind came. Winds gusted to 30mph, rain came down and thunder and lightning did their thing.
We left Raton early, maybe close to 0615, though I don’t recall. From there we traveled to Alamosa, CO and stopped at a Walmart that Google Maps tried to tell me was permanently closed. It wasn’t, so we stopped to get food and supplies. Rich found out that he needed to get some waterproofing spray for the RTT during the overnight at Raton. The people of Walmart were impressed with a RTT setup in the parking lot. Moving on from Alamosa, we traveled on through Creede and then to Lake City CO, passing areas that were obviously on fire just a few days prior. Once in Lake City we stopped at a gas station for a last minute restroom break before taking Engineer Pass on over to Ouray. Signs were prominently marked for Engineer Pass as it’s a popular route.
We stopped to air down slightly before getting onto Engineer. Engineer started off just a gravel road. We stopped along Engineer to take some pictures of Capitol City and Whitore Falls. We walked down a steep trail to Whitmore Falls and met 2 fly fisherman from Katy TX that were fishing. They claimed to have got several trout at the base of the falls. The falls were awesome and the hike back up the hill let you know you weren’t at sea level any longer. The stop at the falls was cut a little short due to some sprinkles. We were trying to stay ahead of the weather. Halfway through the Engineer the pass became a little more rocky. Kendal was pulling his trailer, not knowing what was ahead.
We took Mineral Creek to Highway 550 after Engineer. Mineral Creek was a bit more rocky and difficult than I remembered from last year. It was mostly downhill. We encountered a couple of guys in a stock Dodge Dakota that ended up following us a bit. I’m not sure when it was, but I remember hearing about them crunching their truck on some rocks. We didn’t see them until much later. Halfway through Mineral Creek, which is short to begin with, it started to rain. It might have even hailed briefly. The rain was heavy. As we pulled off of the trail into the trail opening to get into Highway 550we noticed t a few cars stopped on the highway around the bend. We also noticed a few rocks falling just to the right of us. Not being from the area, I wouldn’t have expected to see a mudslide, but that’s what we witnessed. A mudslide right onto Highway 550. Apparently up around the bend there were more mudslides. The rain subsided and we were stuck. We hung out and waited. We decided to get out the grill and cook some burgers. The grill was slow to heat and it took nearly 30 minutes to cook 4 burgers. Ive since trashed that grill (Safari Chef). Eventually the Dodge Dakota shows back up. He had busted up his passenger side rocker panels. A little while later, we saw 3-4 Ford Raptors come off the trail. Not sure how they made it.
A front end loader showed up and was able to clear one lane on the highway. We ate our food and then drove into Ouray and made it to the Ouray KOA. We setup camp, in a rush in case of any further rain. We then decided to head into town and eat at the Ouray Brewery. The beer and food were tasty after a long day driving.
Heading into Raton.
The tent setup at Raton, NM. Rich and the RTT were parked off to the side.
Stopped for a restroom break at the Continental Divide.
Pitstop in Lake City
Signs are clearly marked in Lake City for Engineer
Airing down at the Engineer Pass trailhead
Capitol City
Whitmore Falls
Engineer gets rockier at this point
Trying to beat the rain
Getting off Engineer and moving into Mineral Creek
The mudslide
Last edited:
