- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Last weekend we took a 2 day trip into the Colorado mountains. Our drive took us down to Delta, CO, thru Paonia and over the paved McClure Pass and eventually into Marble, CO.
From Marble the real trail fun started... the road is rocky and very narrow, with few spots to pull into in order to let oncoming traffic by. A short time up the trail we came across a guy in a broke down Grand Cherokee... he asked if we could haul his camping gear and daughters to their campsite, a couple miles up the road. We obliged and helped the poor guy out... funny enough, after we loaded up his gear, the Jeep magically started and he drove it into their camp! We unloaded their gear and wished them the best.
We made our way to the town of Crystal and the Crystal Mill Falls... one of the most photographed structures in Colorado. I decided to try my hand with my Olympus... the light wasn't very good, but they turned out OK.
Right after the Crystal Mill, the trail gets real fun... there's even a sign warning you of the dangers ahead! We dropped the Lexus into 4 Low and began the climb up the narrow road, towards the Devils Punchbowl.
The trail was very narrow, with little room for error... and there was a good deal of traffic to get around. There was also a lot of loose rocks that would move under you, combined with enough ledges tossed in to keep your hands firm on the steering wheel.
The motorcyclist you see in the above photo ended up wiping out just ahead in a rocky, ledge-filled section. We rounded a corner and saw him obviously hurt, with his bike pointed the wrong way in the middle of the trail. I jumped out and ran up to him... he said he'd move out of the way in just a minute, thinking we were in a hurry. I asked him if he dropped the bike and if he was OK... he said yes, he wrecked the bike and his knee, ribs and elbow were hurt. I helped him pick things up, move his bike into a better spot and offered any help and told him I rode myself. He said he'd be OK, but would probably turn around. Poor guy... he looked pretty banged up.
We continued on to the bridge and falls, then up another big climb. There was a group of Side by Side's coming down, so I pulled over to let them pass... they were banging & scraping their way down the hill, it was kind of funny to watch them bounce down the sketchy spots!
Catherine and Daisy... all smiles!
Eventually we made it to the top and past the difficult, narrow parts. We continued onto the summit of the pass at 10,707 ft and down the other side towards Crested Butte. On the way we passed the beautiful Emerald Lake.
From Marble the real trail fun started... the road is rocky and very narrow, with few spots to pull into in order to let oncoming traffic by. A short time up the trail we came across a guy in a broke down Grand Cherokee... he asked if we could haul his camping gear and daughters to their campsite, a couple miles up the road. We obliged and helped the poor guy out... funny enough, after we loaded up his gear, the Jeep magically started and he drove it into their camp! We unloaded their gear and wished them the best.
We made our way to the town of Crystal and the Crystal Mill Falls... one of the most photographed structures in Colorado. I decided to try my hand with my Olympus... the light wasn't very good, but they turned out OK.
Right after the Crystal Mill, the trail gets real fun... there's even a sign warning you of the dangers ahead! We dropped the Lexus into 4 Low and began the climb up the narrow road, towards the Devils Punchbowl.
The trail was very narrow, with little room for error... and there was a good deal of traffic to get around. There was also a lot of loose rocks that would move under you, combined with enough ledges tossed in to keep your hands firm on the steering wheel.
The motorcyclist you see in the above photo ended up wiping out just ahead in a rocky, ledge-filled section. We rounded a corner and saw him obviously hurt, with his bike pointed the wrong way in the middle of the trail. I jumped out and ran up to him... he said he'd move out of the way in just a minute, thinking we were in a hurry. I asked him if he dropped the bike and if he was OK... he said yes, he wrecked the bike and his knee, ribs and elbow were hurt. I helped him pick things up, move his bike into a better spot and offered any help and told him I rode myself. He said he'd be OK, but would probably turn around. Poor guy... he looked pretty banged up.
We continued on to the bridge and falls, then up another big climb. There was a group of Side by Side's coming down, so I pulled over to let them pass... they were banging & scraping their way down the hill, it was kind of funny to watch them bounce down the sketchy spots!
Catherine and Daisy... all smiles!
Eventually we made it to the top and past the difficult, narrow parts. We continued onto the summit of the pass at 10,707 ft and down the other side towards Crested Butte. On the way we passed the beautiful Emerald Lake.
His GMC has a Vortec 454, NV4500, 1 Ton axles and 40" Goodyears. It's a badass truck and works very well from what I saw! 
