Off-Roading with The Beast in the Rockies

 

Seeing as I now have a massively capable 4wd truck, I am hitting the off roads way more these days. I asked around on where to go while I was in Silverton, Colorado. Ophir pass (off-road) was said to be pretty tame. Sounded good to me! (Seeing as I don’t have another vehicle to go with while here, just a co-pilot, my friend Becky.)

Ophir did NOT disappoint. It was prettier than I expected. This will be a mostly photo and video journey for you to explore.

Becky went with me to help ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ the place. (Actually, we both just needed, and wanted to get out!)

Ouray, Colorado

After getting everything done at camp we set off, first for Ouray. Ouray is a town north of Silverton. It’s called “the Switzerland of the USA” for the height and jaggedness of the surrounding mountains.

We wanted a hike, so we did a little bit of the perimeter trail that goes all the way around Ouray. It did NOT disappoint!

Welcome to Ouray!

We are loving it

Perfect picnic table placement for when tired from the hill climb

The Girls. Well, no, this was back at camp. They don’t ‘hike’. They ‘meander’. So I don’t really take them unless I plan to ‘mosey’. 

Shenanigans, just because I’m so happy to be in the mountains!

Becky capturing some beauty

Perimeter trail

More “shenaniganery”. TWO Kelly’s??? Lord help us all. 

I can’t even…

Ophir Pass 4×4 Off-Roading

We headed home from Ouray to eat lunch.

 

Back at our Silverton camp, right on the river! Not the best solar though.

 

Then we decided to tackle some off-roading since it was such a pretty day and the forecast for the rest of our stay was craaaaaap.

The off-road road started just north of our camp in Sliverton, not 5 minutes away. The road is do-able for 2WD for a good while until Ophir Pass is reached. Wouldn’t go past the pass without 4WD. It’s just very rocky as you can see below.

Here’s a time lapse of the whole drive if you want to take a ride/see what it’s like.

Here are some shots from that drive:

Ophir Pass Photos

Fake. 😂

In front of my favorite view of the mountains on this drive

Has to be fake

Aspen at their best

Uh, where’s Becky?

My favorite view of the mountains on the drive

 

The view on the way to my favorite view…

 

Ophir Pass. There’s a tiiiiny sign…

My butt and my Raptor’s butt

Yup, that’s it. Now you know what Ophir pass looks like off-road! I’m sure I will be back here exploring more off-road passes next spring, summer, and fall!

Stay tuned.