Aug 7, 2010

Conquering Imogene Pass

On Thursday, July 22 we tackled our first trail named Imogene Pass. We want to be clear that we never leave the trails or disturb nature on our 4-wheeling adventures.


This was the dirt road to the entrance of Imogene Pass.  This is an actual road in Ouray, I forget the name tho.



Lucie was excited to take her first 4-wheeling ride.

Outside of flying, I have never seen clouds up close like this before.



The drop along this cliff was very far down.  Like 30-40 thousand feet or something...maybe less, I didn't get close enough to look down.

I have a thing about heights when there is a possibility that I could fall off of something. With no guard rails I was a little on edge. I don't know why I can't just trust my husband to keep us alive.  Well, actually, I guess knowing him over 18 years probably gives me enough reasons.

Lucie didn't mind the height of the cliff much.

 Me and my Girl


 Our Family

We stopped for a quick potty break before hitting the trail. They had a port-a-potty which was the last one until the end of the trail. The trail ride would be about 4 to 5 hours long. I had been drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated due to the change in elevation so I really had to go regardless of how gross it was in there. Luckily a sweet lady which was in the lead FJ was handing out hand sanitizer. This would be the one and only potty break during the trail ride that didn't include squatting behind a bush. I got to know the land real well!


Finally, we reached the starting point of Imogene Pass.



I noticed this little fella watching us as we approached and went up the hill. I swear he was thinking, you guys are crazy driving up this mountain and then he laughed at us.  You could almost sense his morbid fascination with one of us driving off the cliff, like he was trying to will it to happen.  This groundhog was pure evil!  I mean, look at him.....if you dare!

Gorgeous Lucie with the wildflowers on Imogene Pass.

It was at this point that I started not feeling well. We were at about 10,000 feet. Breathing was becoming a little difficult. A nurse that was with our leader gave me a big dose of aspirin to help thin my blood and we continued on. When we hit the top of the pass we were at over 13,000 feet, it was at this point I peed myself and forgot who I was for 30 minutes. Lucie had no trouble with the change in elevation at all. Since it rained the majority of the day, the trails were slick and a little scary at times but Ron kept us all safe.  And by safe I mean it was a miracle we we didn't end up in a ravine  His idea of safe driving was trying to stay on a slick rock trail at 13K feet with one had on the wheel while taking pictures with his other hand. Thanks Honey!  There were so many amazing pictures that it was hard to narrow it down to only a few and do the pass justice. Please take a look at the slide show below and enjoy!



Imogene Pass led us to Telluride which is an adorable town known for its skiing and smugness.  When you move in, the welcome wagon delivers a pound of Starbucks and a Macbook. By this time it was about 3 p.m. and we were ready to eat and relax. We headed back to Ridgway and I looked forward to using a real bathroom. 

As a side note, that same evening, another trail group had a driver in an Explorer slide off the trail and end up rolling over down the hill.  The mountain rescue sirens went off in Ouray and the mountain rescue team sprung into action  http://ouraymountainrescue.com/.  Fortunately the driver lived but was pretty busted up.  The vehicle was a write off.

--------------------------------------

Coming Soon - Lucie meets a Bear

15 comments:

  1. Lovely adventure, We have been up some roads like that in Wales not that steep though. I didn't like looking down to a huge drop either.
    Just shows what the lack of oxygen can do to a person.
    Ron did very well and kept you safe, beautiful scenery. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What fabulous pictures!
    Our mom is not as brave as your mom, Lucie! She's not into heights at all - or squatting behind bushes!

    Love ya lots
    Maggie and Mitch

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! That was maybe a little too exciting but we really enjoyed the pictures. Glad you made it down safely.

    love & wags,
    River

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, this has really been such an exciting adventure! You have done such a great job with the narration and photos, we almost feel like we are right there with you. But no way would you ever get our Mom in a vehicle with Dad driving under those conditions:)

    Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those are beautiful photos. I am with you, I would have been scared to death with no rails to keep you safe. Yikes! I will just live through your photos. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, that looked amazing...and scary!
    Loved the photo's, it looks a beautiful place. We are glad you made it round safe.
    I would have been shakey legged a few times I think... but the views look really wonderful.

    Thanks for sharing it with us, we look forward to seeing the bears! :)


    PS- we love the family shots! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. What an adventure Miss Lucie!! OMdoG... I wouldn't dare to drive on that ledge!!

    Ps: More family pics please!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What an adventure! I would not have liked being so close to the edge, it was worth it for the views though!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a beautiful place to go.. Sure glad Dad and the nurse kept you safe...

    Big Sloppy Kisses
    Gus, Louie and Callie

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful, but very scary, pictures!

    Pat
    www.critteralley.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. looks to me like its been a lot of fun. My hubs would love to do that!

    don't forget, we moved to dogisgodinreverse.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. WOW!! what a trip you guys had!!

    Mommy can't find your telephine # so she can talk to your Mom about the doggie get together. Plese send it when you canj or have your Mom call my Mommy.

    {{{hugggies}}}...Mona

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great adventure. Love all the posts and the photos. Just beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a gorgeous adventure! Thanks for the pics! I also have a border collie and thought I'd follow along for the ride! Your Lucie is absolutely beautiful!

    ReplyDelete

WOOF!
We would love to hear from you!