Scott Allan
09-29-2008, 07:51 AM
The wife and I decided to head to Crested Butte for a 3-day weekend to do a little Aspen viewing and maybe some wheeling. So, on Friday we decided to head the McClure pass direction to go over either Schofield or Kebler. The weather was nice, so we took the turn to Marble and headed up to Crystal (that Mill really does make for cool picture taking) and Devil's Punchbowl. We had always wanted to run Schofield, but never had thinking it would be wiser to do with a group. However, the day was nice and I knew it was open. We only saw 1 other vehicle past Crystal, so it was a really quiet pleasant day. The trail is in amazing shape right now - you could run it in pretty much any stock 4x4. The scenery was incredible, with great fall colors on both sides of the pass.
The next day we decided to head in the direction of Pearl Pass. Another pass we had wanted to run, but were a little leary of doing alone. However, the weather was great again. Didn't see another vehicle for the first 15 miles, then saw 3 small groups between there and the top. A stock Tacoma had come over, so we thought, what the heck! From the top down to the Aspen side we didn't encounter any other vehicles until down towards the bottom where the trail is easy and there is a lot of camping. That was probably a good thing because Pearl is pretty narrow most of the way (including lots of Rocky Mountain pin stripping). Pearl is definitely rougher than Schofield. There are large stretches of Talus field you drive on. However, I didn't hit any skid plates, sliders, etc. It did take more careful driving though. Again, the pass is in great shape.
So, if anyone has never run these 2 passes, they are in great shape right now with awesome colors. If I ever get off my lazy butt, I'll post pictures, but seeing as how I haven't posted any from our Ouray trip in July, don't hold your breath. Sorry for the long post, just wanted you all to know how great those roads are right now.
The next day we decided to head in the direction of Pearl Pass. Another pass we had wanted to run, but were a little leary of doing alone. However, the weather was great again. Didn't see another vehicle for the first 15 miles, then saw 3 small groups between there and the top. A stock Tacoma had come over, so we thought, what the heck! From the top down to the Aspen side we didn't encounter any other vehicles until down towards the bottom where the trail is easy and there is a lot of camping. That was probably a good thing because Pearl is pretty narrow most of the way (including lots of Rocky Mountain pin stripping). Pearl is definitely rougher than Schofield. There are large stretches of Talus field you drive on. However, I didn't hit any skid plates, sliders, etc. It did take more careful driving though. Again, the pass is in great shape.
So, if anyone has never run these 2 passes, they are in great shape right now with awesome colors. If I ever get off my lazy butt, I'll post pictures, but seeing as how I haven't posted any from our Ouray trip in July, don't hold your breath. Sorry for the long post, just wanted you all to know how great those roads are right now.