Pearl Pass
We all met up in Crested Butte the night before running Pearl Pass so we could get an early start the next day. It is a long drive to Crested Butte from the Denver and the Colorado Springs area. We all had dinner at The Secret Stash when we got there and had good pizza.
The next morning, we met up in the hotel parking lot before heading to the trailhead. It was cloudy and misty out, but the clouds were lifting up as we were driving for the first hour or so and it was very beautiful. The weather forecast said it was going to be a partly cloudy day.
At the trailhead of Pearl Pass, we all aired down for the trail run. Not long after we started, we pulled to the side to let some four wheelers pass us.
The views of the meadows were gorgeous, with low clouds covering the top of the mountain peaks as they were moving up and away. The scenery was very pretty, with valleys, mountains, meadows, and many groves of trees. We drove along a creek and crossed it a few times all morning.
We drove down the trail for some time before stopping for a short break. Dorit walked ahead with the dog for a short time, but she stopped at a creek crossing as she didn't want to get her feet wet.
Shortly after that creek crossing, Matt drove up on more than a half dozen cattle on the trail. As the trail was narrow and flanked by tall bushes on both sides of the trail, the cattle looked dumbfounded and not inclined to move. The dense vegetation stopped just about ten feet behind them in front of us, but they couldn't seem to manage to turn around as a group to leave that way. Matt had to slowly drive up on each cow until it made a daring climb through the bushes to his right. Eventually, he honked his Jeep's horn and it moved the cattle along a bit more. They started to turn around, finally, and the last ones walked off the trail where the shrubs ended. All in all, it was very funny, but Bill and Walt didn't really see any cattle or the fun we had with them.
Soon after the fun with the cows, the trail started to become much steeper as we climbed towards the pass. It also got rockier, which slowed our speed way down.
After driving along the shelf road part of Pearl Pass, we ran into the four wheelers in a small, forested area. They were driving back down from the top of Pearl Pass.
The four wheelers backed up a bit and found a place to move to the side so we could pass. We asked the group about the conditions at the top of the pass. They told us that they did not run into any snow, and the other side of Pearl Pass looked snow free. They also said that it was very windy at the top.
After passing the four wheelers, we ran into a tippy area on the trail. Dorit thought it was a bit disconcerting as she was the passenger, and the Jeep was tipping towards the right side of the trail.
And then, after that, we got to the hardest spot on Pearl Pass. We did not have any issues with the washed-out spot. It just made more fun and twisted the Jeep good!
The rest of the climb to the top of Pearl Pass was easy going, with a lot of great views to take in.
At the top of Pearl Pass, we stopped to take in the view and take some pictures. We hadn't been sure that we would be able to get across the pass as Matt had read reports that there was still a lot of snow, but looking north down the pass towards Aspen it looked like it was all melted.
We came across another group of side-by-sides who had come up from Aspen. This side was a lot slower going because there were rocks and boulders strewn everywhere -- the north side of the pass is one big talus field. The trail had gotten busier, too, but maybe that's just because it was around the middle of the day. The side-by-side group that we met near the top of the pass came up behind us again and passed us on their way back down.
We were going to have lunch near Tagert Hut, but then we didn't see it at first because of all the trees (Bill finally spotted it). As it suddenly started raining, we drove on. It didn't rain for long, though, and we stopped at a small campsite with views of two waterfalls. The sun had come out and it was a very beautiful spot.
The rest of the trail was easy. There was a parking area near the end of the of the trail where we aired back up. There were lots of people there, driving by in vehicles, on bicycles, hiking, and even one couple having what seemed like a professional photo session in the meadow near the road. There are so many reasons why Pearl Pass is one of our favorite trails.
Reports from Other Days: 3
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Pearl Pass. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
