By Steve Adams, Photos by Steve Adams, Jacob Hinebough, Robert Hernandez
This year’s Letzroll Adventure Labor Day trip, presented by Nacho Offroad Technology,led us to SW Colorado, which could also be known as the Swiss Alps of America. The
group consisted of ten rigs, 21 people, and seven dogs; ranging from the coolest overland CJ7 ever built to Gladiators, Broncos, and even an H3.
The group staged out of the Flying A Ranch outside Durango, Colorado. With a 7 AM wakeup call and some last-minute prep and provisioning, the group headed up the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton. After a quick fuel stop, we were on our way above 12000’ to the Continental Divide at the top of Stoney Pass.
After some amazing views at the top of the world, we headed back down the headwaters of the Rio Grande. On our first night, we camped on the Rio Grande at about 10,000’, completely alone; we didn’t see another vehicle the rest of the day. Mikey Adams, our 15-year-old fly fisherman, pulled some killer trout out of the river to enjoy as a snack while we set up camp and waited for dinner. We had a great dinner and shared the laughs of the day around the campfire.
The next morning, we chose to split the group, for fear we would lose out on the limited camping areas on the Alpine Loop during the holiday weekend. Three brave Jeeps turned around and bee lined to the junction of Mineral and Poughkeepsie creeks. The three rigs visited Animas Forks and, near Eureka, ran into about a dozen healthy deer and five large moose.
Splitting up was a great decision; our camping spot was on an amazing point split between two creeks!
Most of the group continued down Stoney, up over Spring Creek and Slumgullion Pass into Lake City for ice cream. After lunch in Lake City, we took Engineer Pass, again above treeline, and more amazing views at Odom Point. After all the requisite photos, we dropped down Mineral Creek to meet the advance group at camp. This camp was a treat, surrounded by two flowing creeks full of fish and cool refreshing water. History repeated, and we again enjoyed a trout snack and an awesome dinner cooked by our camp chef, Oday.
We broke camp after breakfast on Saturday morning and dropped down to the highway. We then ran up Red Mountain Pass and turned onto Black Bear pass (a must-do for the area). This trail not only peaks at 12k+ feet, but also has the best views of Telluride you will ever see. You literally descend the side of a cliff into town. It’s also one of the more technical trails with off-camber rock ledges and tight switchbacks with incredible exposure. The 
traffic was high on the trail, but we were not looking to rush. After completing Black Bear, we skipped downtown Telluride on the holiday weekend and headed back to the hills, where we had so much fun. We then entered an area none of us had ever been to and worked our way up Fall Creek Road to Beaver Park and the western foothills of Mount Wilson and Lone Cone. We camped on the absolute western slope of the Rocky Mountains and could see for hundreds of miles west into Utah. So isolated on the westernmost slope, we found some of the coolest beaver dams we have ever seen. While the adults enjoyed the last evening at 10k’, the dogs had a great time playing in the water.
On the final morning of the trip, we worked our way around the Lizard Head Wilderness, where the group split. Half the group headed home by way of Cortez, while the others took Bolam Pass back into Durango and back to the ranch for some end-of-the-trip deck drinks.
The trip went perfectly with no issues, only great times, stories, photos, and laughs. Ten passes over 11k’, over 150 miles of dirt, perfect weather, and the perfect group to explore with!
I can’t wait until the next one! We’ll see everyone in Rocky Point for Tacos and the Beach in November!
Special Thanks to our sponsors: Nacho Offroad Technology, Yukon Gear, and 23Zero.
