Ophiring in the Peaks of SW Colorado

roverrocks

Expedition Leader
Ophir Pass (11,789 ft.) is one of the earliest old mining roads to be plowed and opened in the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado. Being just opened this past week a group of 4 jeeps and one rover decided to wheel this relatively easy but very scenic alpine trail on June 8, 2014. The road/trail is an old wagon road from the late 1800's that connected the Ophir and Telluride mines to Silverton. Now this 10 mile beautiful route connects Hy. 145 from 5 miles south of Telluride to Hy. 550. a few miles south of Red Mountain Pass. We headed out of the Montrose, CO area to Ridgway, CO and westward on Hy. 62 (great views of the towering snow-clad Sneffles Range) to the north end of the Last Dollar Road where we took scenic routes (seeing elk several times and nice beaver ponds) to the Telluride area. The weather turned cloudier and the skies lowered until light rain was falling. Knowing that it was probably snowing a bit on Ophir Pass (about 1/2 inch) we headed up the western side of the Pass Road through tiny Ophir town (mainly small occupied cabins/vacation homes these days) and upwards. The storm abated as we got higher and the surrounding peaks were gorgeous with the light new snow on the alpine cliffs and peaks that were appearing thru the mists and clouds. Looking back westwards down the valley of the Howard Fork of the San Miguel River we could see Ophir in the green valley bottom and in the far distance the high 14er's of the Lizard Head Wilderness (Mt. Wilson, El Diente, Wilson Peak). We continued upwards thru the high snow cuts until we reached the pass summit which was bare of snow and continued down eastwards until we hit Hy. 550 where we aired up and headed home over Red Mountain Pass and thru Ouray and Ridgway to the Montrose, CO area. An easy 4x4 day but one of great beauty including parts of the Last Dollar Road. The first 9 pictures are of our trip over parts of the Last Dollar Road which is a scenic warm season dirt/gravel/a few rocks cutoff between Hy. 62 and Hy. 145 coming out a few miles from Telluride, CO. The high peaks in the south distance over the top of the red jeep are a complex of 13er's highlighted by Dolores Peak (13,290') and Middle Peak (13,261"). The singular peaks to the west and SW in the last photo are Little Cone (11,981') on the left and Lone Cone (great area landmark at 12,613') on the right. All these peaks are shown in photo #1.
 

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roverrocks

Expedition Leader
Ophiring in the Peaks of SW Colorado cont.

These next 10 pictures show us going up the west side of Ophir Pass with #1 showing Ophir town itself in the light rain with the background peaks obscured by storm clouds. There are photos taken in all directions from the Ophir Pass Road.
 

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roverrocks

Expedition Leader
Ophiring in the Peaks of SW Colorado cont.

Ten more pictures of the ascent up the west side of Ophir Pass (11,789") on our way to Hy. 550 to the east. The last two pictures are at the Summit of Ophir Pass. One looking back westwards past the jeep at the high 14er's of the Lizard Head Wilderness and the last one looking eastwards at a pole marking the windswept snowless summit.
 

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roverrocks

Expedition Leader
Ophiring in the Peaks of SW Colorado cont.

These last 10 pictures are taken along the descent eastwards down the Ophir Pass Road to Hy. 550 where we aired up. Swirling clouds, peaks, and mists became a semi-sunshine day at least for an hour till it clouded up again. We then headed north for home on Hy. 550 over Red Mountain Pass through Ouray and Ridgway to the Montrose area.
 

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roverrocks

Expedition Leader
Gorgeous pictures. Do you know if the mines are still open?
I don't know how many or where any open mines are. There are thousands of old sites all over the San Juans. Many have been closed off by rock burial or barred that I have seen. Maybe someone on the forum with a better knowledge of old San Juan Mountain mines than I have can chime in on where to go. Sorry I am not much help. I sure love looking at all of your amazing mine exploration postings on the forum.
 

mattiep11

Adventurer
Great pics.. I plan on going over the pass wed. or thurs weather permitting...imoge. has a dozer on it now and hopefully it will be open soon...
 

beerhiker

Adventurer
Can you tell me what if there are many camp spots along Last Dollar road, places where you can get away from the main road a bit.

Thanks
 

roverrocks

Expedition Leader
Can you tell me what if there are many camp spots along Last Dollar road, places where you can get away from the main road a bit.

Thanks
Most of the land on either side of the Last Dollar Road is private land on either side of the road but near the summit coming up southward from from Hy 62 side is at least one narrow trail on FS land that heads off into the woods. I have never been up it so I don't know how far it goes but I suspect towards a tower on a nearby forested peak. Might be good for camping. At the summit of the Road is a fairly wide open area that could be camped at. The first couple of miles going down from the Last Dollar Road summit towards Telluride are on FS land and have a few pulloff spots with great views that can be camped on but nothing that gets off the main road very far.
 
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