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Black Bear Pass?

R

Red Brown

Guest
Is Black Bear Pass more challenging than Tomichi Pass on a dual sport? The Black Bear Pass looks more treacherous on the downhill section when it rains.
I can't imagine doing Black Bear Pass in a 4X4 as this YouTube video shows.
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If anybody has a "top-ten list" of the most challenging dual-sport passes in the western US, let me know. I am looking to cram in as many as possible during next summers riding.

RB
 
Black Bear only has a 100 yard section that is really interesting on a bike. Interesting because if the 2000 foot drop off wasn't there you would only think it was a bit steep and rough on the road. It's just that the penalty for failure is high. The switch backs are tight in a vehicle, but not a problem on a bike.
 
not familiar with Tomichi Pass. Black Bear is one direction (downhill) due to the narrow two-track. Downhill is not too bad, you just keep moving and hope your bike has enough ground clearance so that you don't bash the engine case on each step. There is usually one day each year they run it uphill. Uphill would be a lot more challenging. I've also been over Black Bear in a long-wheel base Suburban. The stairsteps were not too bad, what was bad was the switchbacks where you have to put one wheel off the edge while you maneuver. :eek2:

The toughest pass in the Ouray area, IMO, is Poughkeepsie Gulch. Either way, uphill or downhill is tough. Sometimes if there has been a lot of jeep traffic over the summer, the rocks get packed down to the point that it gets a little easier, but it's usually pretty tough. There was one year I gave up and turned around after several attempts to make it up.
 
The toughest pass in the Ouray area, IMO, is Poughkeepsie Gulch. Either way, uphill or downhill is tough. Sometimes if there has been a lot of jeep traffic over the summer, the rocks get packed down to the point that it gets a little easier, but it's usually pretty tough. There was one year I gave up and turned around after several attempts to make it up.

Yikes! I saw a few images and it is a class 5 road, the highest rating for off-road riding.

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It will be worth a try.

RB
 
Williams Pass is a reasonably rough ride because a lot of it is a boulder field. It's only open in August.

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The end where it comes out on the Alpine Tunnel road.

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Black bear wasn't too bad though the weather can be a bit nasty.

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That's Telluride down below.

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:tab What will you be riding? That makes a HUGE difference.

:tab Engineer's between Lake City and Silverton is fun. The East side is not too challenging, the West side is tougher. Cinnamon Pass is just South of Engineer pass, starting at Animas Forks and running East to Lake San Cristobal on Hwy 149 just South of Lake City. I did not get to do Cinnamon personally as my day was cut short and I headed back to the hotel. The other guys went ahead without and loved it. By the way, if you happen to be in Lake City around time to eat, I HIGHLY recommend Poker Alice's. It has always been a favorite of everyone when I have led large group rides in that area.

:tab I really liked Scotch Creek Rd. It starts just South of Rico on Hwy 145 and runs over the mountains to Hermosa Park Rd. which comes out on US 550 just South of Silverton. The first part was pretty rough, but once we got past that, it was not bad and the scenery was awesome. The Scotch Creek side of the mountain does not appear to get that much traffic. We had the whole place to ourselves. The East side has more traffic, but even then it was very light.

:tab We did another loop that was West of Telluride. This is the loop where I flipped the GS. Parts of it were technical and other parts just fantastic solitude and scenery. It starts on Hwy 145 just Northwest of Sawpit (before you reach Hwy62). I think it is 57 P or Fall Creek Rd. We ran it South to G49 Rd, which cuts West a while and then South around a mountain. That eventually hit CR 52 and cut back to the East to CR 38 (Dunton Rd.). From there, we cut East to Hwy 145 just North of Rico.

:tab Owl Creek Pass is East of Ridgeway and you will eventually come out on US 50. Take CR 8 East from US 550 (just North of Ridgeway). The more technical stuff will be on the West side of the mountains. At the top, you reach CR 860 and start down the East side, heading North to CR 858 at Silver Jack Reservoir. CR 858 runs along the Cimmaron River up to US 50 near Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

:tab There are miles and miles of spectacular roads in that area. Most could be done on a V-Strom 650, but I would HIGHLY recommend a good bash plate and maybe side guards! I did it on the R1150GS. It would have been MUCH more fun on one of the 650's (KLR, DR, XR, XRL, etc,...) with knobbies. The big thing is that there is very little traffic in some of these areas and it they can be quite remote. I don't know that I would ride any of it alone.
 
:tab What will you be riding? That makes a HUGE difference.

I purchased a slightly used Yamaha WR250R and are completely smitten with her. I have added the Safari tank with a better seat and as a result I have no problems covering lots of miles. The fact that it is fuel-injected helps also in the mountains. I added TKC80 rubbers for an excellent 50-50 compromise between street and off-road riding, but I may replace those with a more aggressive tire pattern for the more technical routes you suggested. I also have the Pirelli MT21 which is one of the most off-road friendly tires while still being DOT approved.

Your suggestions look appealing and I plan to enter them in my GPS route. It might be fun to do Black Bear Pass at night going uphill since it is usually open during the day as a down-hill one-way two-track.

RB
 
:tab The TKC-80's would be fine for all the stuff I mentioned. I had them on my GS at the time, and two other guys were running them on their Vstrom 1K's. The smart guys in the group were on a BMW F650 Dakar and KTM 640 of some sort. They would leave us in the dust when the going got more technical. Your WR should be a hoot.

:tab There are also a lot of passes that are off the beaten path. This is true up North of Crested Butte. I have been told by an experienced local in Crested Butte that he would not recommend anything larger than a 400/450 in the hands of an experienced rider for many of those. Although, Keebler, Ohio and Cottonwood Passes are all relatively easy even on a big trailie. I've even seen street bikes doing Cottonwood Pass. The East side is paved and the West side gets some kind of treatment that makes the dirt super hard. I would not want to be on it when wet though... Some of the passes to the North come out on Hwy 133 (a great ride itself) and over by Aspen on Hwy 82. They get pretty high so if you are not used to the altitude, it could be a problem, especially if you are exerting yourself...
 
Here's the ride report from our DS trip out there. You have to get past a few pages of "witty" commentary about one of the images before you get to the actual reports :roll:

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4681

There are good pics of most of the passes we rode.

Great pictures (man, you look younger)...the other approach I use is to pick any CR dirt road and keep taking it through random routes and see where it might go. I call it the road less traveled dual-sport approach to riding. I have ended up in some rather unlikely strange situations such as
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Ted Turner's back yard in New Mexico and even a nudist colonies mountain retreat convention or something like that!

By taking random routes for example, near Eagle, Colorado, I encountered copious amounts of scenic rides through various mountain passes. During one ride I popped out on the other side of Aspen on Highway 82. It was 90 degrees when I started the ride and by the end of the day it was in the low thirties and hailing on top of Independence Pass.

When I need to return to my point of departure, I just follow the breadcrumb trail on my GPS or just re-route through a known track. I like getting lost.

Although, I am finding more roads that appear as county roads on my GPS are now closed and sometime gated with a large lock.

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