Black Bear Pass
It was going to be a nice, warm, and sunny day in early September, and thankfully it was not very smokey or hazy in the area all weekend. We met in Ouray and then drove to the beginning of Black Bear Pass, which was just a few miles off the main highway south of town. We aired down at the start of the trail.
The scenery uphill was very beautiful, with lots of vistas of grassy valleys and surrounding peaks. We did not see anyone on Black Bear Pass until we got to the top of the pass where we caught up with a group of about a half-dozen vehicles. We waited until the first group was moving on from top of Black Bear Pass, and then we took our pictures of the altitude sign and took in the great views.
After some time, we also started to make our way down the second half of Black Bear Pass.
It did not take too long before we caught up with the bigger group. They were moving slowly over every rock, steep part, or even puddles in the road, often using spotters for each vehicle. They did have a full-size Dodge Ram pickup in their group which should have been difficult at the start of the switchbacks, as we had heard the first one is very narrow and tight.
When the group in front of us got to the waterfall, they all pulled in by the waterfall so we could pass them. We continued on to the switchbacks, and indeed the first one was the tightest. But they were fun to drive and we did not have any issues with the switchbacks. The views towards Telluride were amazing.
As we got close to the Bridal Veil Falls Powerhouse and gate, we ran into a lot of traffic going uphill to the gate area. A lot of people were out going hiking.
After finishing Black Bear Pass, we went through Telluride and stopped at a gas station.
Reports from Other Days: 4
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Black Bear Pass. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
