<< Day 2 | Day 4 >>
September 11, 2008 - Thursday
Day 3 began with me waking with anticipation of finally seeeing the Rocky Mountains as I arrived in Denver late the night before.
Instead of a spectacular mountain view I was instead greeted with a view of the interstate and a dense, heavy fog. Also, the temperature
had dropped down to around 50 degrees - the day before was in the 70's.
I began driving down I-70 and it quickly became apparent that if the fog lifted I would be surrounded by mountains. This was my first experience
driving at any sort of altitude and the underpowered 3.8L V-6 in my Jeep was really struggling with the steep slopes and altitude.
Eventually the fog did lift and I was in awe of my surroundings.
One of the first things I noticed while driving from Denver towards Ouray was the micro climates that I would encounter. I was constantly driving
in and out of rain showers and storms. One side of a mountain would have rain and the other side would be sunny. The temperature extremes
were pretty startling as well, as much as 30 degree temperature differences along the route.
As I got closer to Grand Junction the climate and environment seemed to be much more arid and there wasn't much vegetation. Grand Junction is very close to Utah and the environment was very dry until I started getting closer to the San Juan mountains which started to come into view on the horizon. It was pretty exciting
seeing the snow capped peaks in the distance.
Later that evening I finally made it to Ouray, which is where the Jamboree was headquartered. The town or Ouray is unlike anything found
around Toledo, Ohio and is dubbed the Switzerland of America, as my hotel proudly displayed in giant letters. It is located at an elevation
of nearly 8,000 feet. All of the roads in Ouray are dirt, except US Route 550 that runs through the town.
This section of US Rt 550 is known as the Million Dollar Highway.
I have no way to prove this, but I'm pretty confident this section of highway is the most terrifying road in America. The road surface is excellent,
but there are numerous hair pin turns and elevation changing s-curves that have no shoulder and no guard rail. The price for drifting past the white
line is a sheer drop that I would guess would be measured in the hundreds of feet; however, the views from this highway are quite spectacular.
So, I made it to Ouray early enough to check in to my hotel prior to meeting at the Community Center for the Jamboree trail sign-ups. I stayed
at the Best Western Twin Peaks Lodge & Hot Springs
which I was very happy with. After checking in I took my bikes and bike carrier off my Jeep and drove over to the Community Center.
There were four trails to choose from for trail sign-ups. After talking with some of the Jamboree staff I decided the first day I would sign up for Imogene Pass
which is the second highest mountain pass in Colorado. For the second day I signed up for Yankee Boy & Governor's Basin since they were supposedly
more technical than the other trails and I was looking forward to a challenge. During trail sign ups I met a lot of people and everyone was really
friendly which made the weekend that much more enjoyable.
<< Day 2 | Day 4 >>
Location: Henderson, Colorado to Ouray, Colorado
Date: September 11, 2008
Vehicle: 2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (JK) 4-door
Video: Denver to Ouray
Location: Henderson, Colorado to Ouray, Colorado
Date: September 11, 2008
Vehicle: 2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (JK) 4-door
<< Day 2 | Day 4 >>
Subscribe