Last time we left off, I was bringing you from Colorado all the way to Ura and then all the way up Imogene pass. And because of Internet issues, I had to make this a two part series. Last time we were descending into Telluride. And that’s exactly where we’re going to pick up right now. You’re going to see some footage, you’re going to learn some history that is going to absolutely blow you away. And I’ve gone through great pains to upload this in four k sixty frames per second, which while you’re on the road is next to impossible to do.

But it appears we’ve got that accomplished. So here we go heading down into Telluride. So far we’ve traveled from this location right here from the ouray side all the way out to here and our final destination will be rolling down into the Telluride side and then we’re going to turn around and do it all over again. Because doing the trail in the opposite direction is exactly like doing an entirely new trail all over again. Its pretty amazing. The town of Telluride is located in Box Canyon on the headwaters of the San Miguel river and it owes its existence to quartz.

They discovered quartz in 1875. But whats lesser known is that prospectors have been working gold places in the area as early as 1873. According to westernmininghistory.com, in September of 1873, a group of four men were reportedly the first prospectors to enter the area. Now just imagine entering this area back in the old days with horse and buggy or donkey and pack mule backpacks just driving in here because of the fact that I was in there on the first day the trail was open. There was still a great, great amount of snow absolutely everywhere. And the snow overhanging on the mountaintops was insane to see.

And you could see elk and I believe bighorn tracks in the snow everywhere. A lot of people are under the impression that Telluride was the first settlement in the area, but that’s not accurate. The town of San Miguel was the first town having a post office in 1877. Nothing is left of the original town which was located where the San Miguel country store is now located just west of Telluride. Ophir, which established a post office in 1878, also predates Telluride. But Telluride is very old and a lot of the original mining structures are still there in a state of decay.

But I’m going to show them to you just like I did in the last run through of Telluride to Ourayeende. So you should enjoy this while descending into the Telluride side of the trail. I’m always in four wheel low. Let the truck’s gearing keep you at a slow pace. Don’t ride your brakes while you’re navigating the trail. Many, many times you’re going to come to switchbacks and totally blind corners. Be cautious because there could be a side by side with a couple of people that are overindulged in alcoholic beverages coming the other way that aren’t paying attention at all.

You are responsible for you when you’re on these trails. And every time, every year somebody makes the mistake and goes over. And every time we lose somebody because of negligence, bad luck or whatever it may be, we come one step closer to losing the trails entirely. It happens a lot, many times on the trail. You’ll find yourself face to face with another vehicle coming in the opposite direction. Before you ascend or descend on any of these trails, always take a look up the trail as far as you can see to make sure another vehicle isn’t coming.

And if they are coming, make sure you can find someplace to pull to the side so that you can both pass safely. Remember, the drop off side has no guardrails. You don’t want to force somebody off the road. You see what I’m saying? After descending the trail for about 30 minutes, you come into the area, which is the old mining town, and you’ll find a lot of vehicles parked on the left and right and people out exploring. Because there are old mine shafts, there are old mine buildings, and there is wildlife to be seen if you can actually find them.

When you get down to this level, right before you hit the mining town, you’re going to come to a bunch of descents that are made of rocks. Get out and take a look. Because again, like in the first part of this movie, on the left hand side, it might be an easy driveway style descent. And right to the right of it, it can be actually pretty hardcore. So don’t destroy your rental or your vehicle. Get out and take a look first. Enjoy this while you’re here because most people have never seen this in their entire lives unless they’ve watched videos of other people doing it.

So appreciate what you’re seeing while you’re seeing it. Jmo. Now we’re about to get to the really good footage, but let me interject one more time with a piece of advice. If you find yourself in close proximity to another vehicle that’s also descending the mountain, stop. Give him some space. You don’t want the domino effect happening where he makes a mistake and then you slide right into him because you couldn’t stop in time, causing a multicar pileup. You don’t want that. And I see it way too often on the trails. I give people all the space in the world.

As a matter of fact, I prefer to explore and do trails alone for that exact reason. So finally you’ve made it down to the bottom of the valley. And this is where the old mining town is. And it’s a good sized area. There’s also a very, very rare group of alpine trees along with the wildlife that comes with it. And if you have a keen eye and a good lens, you can get footage of them. And I was fortunate enough to be able to do so. Let’s get into the history of this once again just a little bit, just to give you some perspective of exactly what it is you’re looking at.

The original prospectors in the San Juans, they lived off the land and respectively. So their survival depended on the region’s vast forests that provided fuel, construction materials and habitat for game. As mining boomed, more trees were harvested for mill building, railroad ties, mine timbers, the tall straight ponderosa pine and Douglas fir were favored. But other conifers were also fed to the sawmills that sprang up near every mining camp. And by the late 18 hundreds, the entire north face slope above telluride was cleared. But despite the raising, the trees came back. And today their stock is dense and old, making them more susceptible to insect infestations, fungal cankers, heart rot, blowdown and fire.

It’s obvious to even the casual observer that the trees are in trouble. Brown, dead and dying conifers dot the entire area and surrounding mountains. And come spring, some span some stands of aspen. No longer leaf trees along roadways. Roadways are gray and lifeless. The underlying problem seems to be the older age of furs, fire suppression and warmer springs and falls. And you can see that all over the place. And it’s what helps contribute to wildfires. It’s amazing how many trees on these trails and all over Colorado in the area are just dead. Top of monarch Pass.

Half of the trees up there are just dead. And it’s all by man’s hand. It is what it is. According to the Forest Service, there’s approximately 3.6 million acres of aspen in Colorado, comprising roughly 17% of the state’s forested lands. That’s a lot. Numerous areas in southwest Colorado are experiencing a major die off of aspen groves because of sudden aspen declined, otherwise known as sad. The wildlife up here is very elusive and very difficult to see. But if you pay attention and really scour the area with a set of binoculars, a telescope or a really good zoom lens, you will find what you’re looking for.

And what I was looking for in this particular area was elk, something that had eluded me every other time I was up here. I just couldn’t find elk no matter what I did. So I broke out the lens and I started looking. And lo and behold, I found me a herd of elk. And just by looking with the naked eye, you’d never see him. But when you throw a zoom lens on it, it all comes to life. So check this out. You. It always amazes me how these incredibly large animals are right in plain sight. And if you don’t see them, you don’t see them.

I mean, there’s a couple of hundred up there and you don’t even notice them unless you put some glass on them, which I did, and I hope you enjoyed it. But let’s get back to the trail into the mining camps. In the summer of 1874, Lon Ramin and William Romine came over to the San Miguel from Silverton and did further prospecting along the San Miguel river. The prospecting was for placer mines. They put in a box on the Keystone hill and washed some during the summer, being able to take about $10 a day. When they both worked, they brought their supplies from Silverton, Colorado.

Flour there at the time was worth $10 per 50 pounds. So in the summer of 1874, Lon and William remain located what is now known as the Keystone Placer. In 1874, after Lon had built his dugout at the entrance to the park, he was joined by John Eddye, a man by the name of Roach who also built a dugout nearby. And the three spent the winter of 1874 in the park. Mountain. Sheep were plentiful during the winter along the bluffs of the river, and fishing in the stream was good. Thus the winter of four was passed by the three white men who first passed a winter on the San Miguel.

So there you go. But they weren’t along. They weren’t alone for very long because more men came in during the year 1875. And prospecting along the gravel banks of tributaries of the river was quite brisk. During the summer of 1875, in the fall and winter of 75 and 76, the news of the good gold prospects was carried to outside points. And in the spring of 76, the rush was, was quite considerable, bringing in many adventuresome men from del Norte, Rosita and other mining camps of the states. So this place was heavily mined for a long time.

And when they were done and everything was said and done, they simply abandoned their mines. And what is remaining of those is scattered about this entire area. But it’s. It’s history, it’s american history. It’s why people actually went to these areas. We’re trying to live off the land. Live on the land was incredibly difficult, especially in the wintertime. And back then, before, you know, people pushed west en masse, there was a lot of predators out there, mountain lions, cougars, grizzly bears, brown bears, etcetera. Not so much anymore. It’s kind of hard to spot wildlife unless you’ve got a really good zoom lens.

But let’s get onto the path, shall we? Let’s get to telluride. So most people think that imaging pass itself is the one that causes deadly accidents. And, in fact, that’s not accurate at all. It’s actually the camp bird mine road, which is what I’m on right now. This trail is right at the base where the mining camps are. And the mountains right above that you’re looking at, that’s where the elk seem to seem to gather. And we’re going to be heading down because we’re still at a great altitude. We’re at about 11,400ft, if memory serves, and we’re going to be heading straight down this road.

And this road has the most insane drop offs that you’ve ever seen on a trail. Even with the incredibly steep drop offs, it’s very easy to navigate this trail. You simply have to pay attention and honor the fact that you’re on a one lane trail that has massive drop offs and the potential of other cars. The biggest difference on the Telluride side is you’re going to run into a lot of vehicles that are coming the other way and somebody has to make way. Just go really slow if you have to. Get out and check the trail in front or behind you because you don’t want to go over the side.

Do you see what I’m saying? And it’s. It’s not even a, you know, a thing that could happen. It’s a thing that happens an awful lot. Almost every single vehicle that goes over the side on this particular trail is in this exact area where you’re actually heading down into the town of Telluride, going by the camp bird mine. It happens a lot. A lot. I mean, this is me. This was me live. You know what I mean? I must have ran into four or five vehicles. And we’ll get to more of those on my way back, but it happens.

Take your time. Know where you’re backing up, and don’t punch it. Crawl. Crawl at all times. Save your life, save the lives of somebody else and save the trail in that order. You see what I’m saying? So I’m gonna have to voice over here because I’m playing outcast, Miss Jackson, and it’s a little too loud, but right here, right after this tunnel is where the, the last rollover was that I know of, where the nurses got killed with the tour guide, and that’s horrible, but it is what it is. And right after the tunnel, I notice a jeep that’s broken down and I offer them some help real quick.

What do you need? You good? We’re good. Yeah. What lift is my dude? I don’t know what that means. What’s your channel? What do you. There’s trucks behind me. You need help, man? We’re trying to figure out. We’re working on it. All right, cool, man. Cool. Overland. And again, I made a rookie mistake by playing the music while I was recording, but I’m going to let this entire road down to telluride play so you can actually see it. I’m going to speed it up a little bit and add music for those that have never seen it before because this is truly, absolutely and totally epic.

This is the side of the trail where things can go wrong and you don’t want them to. Going down is one thing, but coming back up is another. So we’re going to drive down the trail. We’re going to swing through telluride real quick, and we’re going to run the entire trail all the way back. Because again, driving up a mountain is totally different than driving down a mountain. And I’ll show you why. Step right up, don’t be shy because you will not believe your eyes. She’s right here behind the grass. Know you’re gonna like her cause she’s got a plan you can look inside another world you get to talk to a pretty girl.

She’s everything you dream about. She’s a beauty, she’s a beauty. You can say anything you like but you can’t touch the merchandise. She’ll give you every penny’s worth, but it will cost you a dollar. You can step outside your little world, you can talk to a pretty girl. She’s everything you dream about. She’s a period. If you do, you find out she don’t love you. Now what? Would I think I should? Now why would I? If you do it by now, she don’t love you. She’s one in a million girl. She’s a big. That’s very good advice.

Don’t fall in love. Indeed. But after all these descents, you’re finally making it down the long, winding road. Loads and loads of switchbacks that finally drop you down into the town of Telluride. And fortunately, when I dropped down into the town of Telluride, it was the 4 July, so the entire town was celebrating and it was. It was quite the sight to see. Couldn’t find a place to park. There was an awful lot of Karen’s, and they’re very, very concerned about you idling your vehicle. So if you stop your truck, even at a stop sign, pull your keys out, get out and shelter in place or somebody will freak out at you.

Otherwise, it’s a nice town, and they do have a really nice grocery store that has a good selection. It’s a. It’s a pretty high end town. But still, as you can see, it’s still a one lane road and you still need to make way. But when you hit this portion of the trail right here, slow down because people are dying to call the cops on you or to give you a ticket of some sort. You’re literally coming down a small residential street on the side of a mountain that brings you off of Camp bird Imogene Pass.

And as you can see right here, I’m taking her out of four wheel drive, and we are now rolling into town. So Telluride, without a doubt, is a beautiful little town, but it’s a lot of wealthy people. But the history of Telluride. According to Telluride, dot Gov is used as a summer camp for centuries by Ute Indians and named by spanish explorers. In the 17 hundreds, the San Juan mountains lured fortune seekers to Colorado with visions of silver and gold. By the mid 1870s, the Sheridan mine was the first in a string of local claims, and a tent camp was established in the valley below.

Originally, it was called Columbia. The rowdy mining camp became a town in 1878 and changed its name to Telluride with the coming of the railroad in the 1890s, the remote boomtown flourished. A melting pot of immigrants seeking their fortunes turned Telluride into a thriving community of 5000. Prosperity abounded, and Telluride was full of thrilling possibilities. But when silver prices crashed in 1893, followed by the First World War, the mining boom collapsed. Miners moved on, and the town’s population gradually dwindled from thousands to hundreds. But in the 1970s, Telluride reinvented itself. Legendary powder. No, not the colombian type.

A different sort of gold was being mined. When the Telluride ski resort opened in 1972. The character of the community changed, and the town spun back into high gear. Born of the same spirit as skiing, cultural events, festivals, music, and performing arts were founded and flowed through the seasons. It was again a time of thrilling possibilities. Telluride now has a reputation for world class skiing and a stunning ambience. And if you’re a female and you feel it’s the thing to do, you can walk around topless. As long as you don’t let your car idle at a stop sign, or you will get smited.

At any rate, let’s turn this fifth gen forerunner around. Gas up, grab some groceries, and head back up. This is going to be better than the beginning because this is all the drone footage. I didn’t run the drones earlier because there were just too many vehicles on the trail. So check this out. Or don’t. Your call. One more behind me, honey. It so the beautiful part about going back from Telluride to your a is now you’re settled down. Now you have an idea of what to expect. And now you get a chance to look at all these different structures and artifacts that are all along the roadway.

And, I mean, they are all along the roadway. Old mining buildings. Lots and lots of cast iron and steel. Things that were used to divert water to cut down wood, things of that nature. But I mean, again, it’s american history. And so many people have lived their entire lives in America and have never, ever seen this, ever. Which is why it’s so fascinating to me. So I’m guessing it’s fascinating to you as well, because you’re still watching. It’s always amazing to me how these old structures that were built with axes and pegs still remain after all this time.

It’s like 140 years, and the remnants are still here. Now, if you haven’t done imaging or the Telluride side in quite a while, you’ll notice that there’s many new bridges on the trail. Once you find yourself with the large, dilapidated building right there on the cliffside. Look over to the mountain pass, because there’s a good chance you’ll see some elk or bighorn sheep or goats or whatever they call them. I don’t know what the exact terminology is. I think they’re big horns. And there’s also an epic waterfall down there. There’s so much to see on this trail that you need to do it front to back, back to front.

And keep your camera running. Or don’t your call. So here’s a great example of the difference between the array side and the telluride side. I pulled over into an alcove, way off the trail, out of everybody’s way to do some filming. And just the trucks coming from the north to the south created a traffic jam. And this is a very, very, very thin road. This is a one lane road, as you can see. And we end up having trucks backed up here. And a couple of them just parked right where I was, which is stupid, you know what I’m saying? Like, there isn’t enough room to do this.

There’s a lot of vehicles coming up and going down, and anybody’s inexperience can cause a rollover. And it, like I said, it’s not uncommon. It happens a lot. And if you go over the side, you don’t stop till you hit about the thousand foot mark, and they have to pull you out with a crane or a helicopter. So utilize caution. You see what I’m saying? Again, I’m not even on the trail. I’m in a little cubby hole that I’m familiar with. And this is what occurred. I waited for all the traffic to clear out, and then I headed back up.

I pulled the drone back in and tried to get some footage while there was no vehicles on the trail. But it was a busy day, opening day. On my return trip, I ran into my number one subscriber yet again, and their jeep was still disabled. Not too much time had passed, but sadly, more vehicles had pulled over to quote unquote, assist him. But what they were doing was blocking the trail. And this exact point on the trail is where a lot of people meet their end for whatever reason. I don’t know what the deal is, is, but the more vehicles pulled over on the trail, the worse things are.

You see what I’m saying? It’s just not a great idea. But I digress. So now I’m back in the mining area of the trail, and I’m getting ready to head up to the summit once again. I’m trying to make this entire trip in one day. And so far, I’m doing it even with all the stops for cameras and photography and such. But this may be the last time I’ll ever be on pass. And I really want to appreciate what I’m looking at, and I really want to try to get it on film for you guys to see, because I know a lot of you guys can’t make your way out here for a variety of reasons.

So I’ll take it upon myself to show you what it looks like. At any rate, it’s amazing here, and we are now going to head back to the summit all over again, which is a task in itself, but an amazing task nonetheless. Heading back to your a from telluride is a strange transformation. You start out where there’s grass, trees, scrub brush, etcetera, and as you rise up in elevation, all of that begins to fall away and you end up on a rather otherworldly landscape where it’s snow, ice and rocks and not much wildlife at all, except for the jeep and Toyota people and the occasional hummer.

But you see what I’m saying? And it’s tough on the transmission, too. Before I made my final approach to the actual summit. 13,114ft. There’s a little pullover spot down here, and I wanted to give the truck an opportunity to cool down. Transmission was running pretty hot, even with the derail transmission cooler running up here at altitude, there’s not much air, so it’s hard to keep things cool. But pulling over before making the climb is always a good move, in my opinion. And now we head back down into the era side. This is a beautiful part of the trip because you get to watch all the trees, all the wildflowers, everything come back.

As you lower yourself in elevation, as you descend the mountain, life starts to come back. It looks beautiful up there, but it’s very harsh. I mean, you are at serious altitude. I live at sea level. I live at 1ft above sea level on the Atlantic Ocean. So 13,114ft is quite the change. But here we go. Going down. Sadeena. Sadeena. So with just a few hours, maybe three or 4 hours on the trail total, doing the trail, getting in trouble in filming. I’m back on the era side and I’m almost back to 9000ft. We are back in the tree line, ladies and gentlemen, the tree line.

And from here, it’s basically smooth sailing for the most part. But we still got a little bit more drone footage, so I’m gonna stretch this video even longer because, yeah, why not? It’s already tough enough to upload this from a hotel room in Kansas City, so why not throw in some more drone footage? Because who doesn’t love drone footage? So there it is. My 2024 two hour long, two part Imogene. Pass your ray to Telluride, and telluride to ouray. I hope you enjoyed it. If you can’t make it out there, I hope I brought it to you as realistically as I possibly could.

And if you can make it there. I hope you learned something that you didn’t previously already know. If you do meet me on the trail, chances are I’m not going to be what you thought I was. You see what I’m saying? I’m not bubbly and happy. I’m actually fairly reserved. But I will talk, and if you’re in trouble, without a doubt, I’ll help you out. If you want to help me out, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Make sure you hit that like button. And leave a comment below. And don’t forget to hit the little notification bell next to the subscribe button or YouTube will never tell you we’ve got a new video out.

At any rate, make sure you hit the like, make sure you hit the subscribe. Make sure you leave a comment. I am out.
[tr:tra].

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