Rocky Mountain High- Sept '09 Fwc Rally In The San Juans

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Some kinda fun.... yup!

Here's how it all played out for us....

My buddy Mark arrived here in Happy Valley at 8PM Thursday. We hurriedly threw all his crap into "Further" and off we went. We had no idea how far we'd make it before we got tired...but the conversation and the fact that we hadn't seen each other in months made the drive pass very quickly.

 

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About 1AM we rolled into the area of Silver Jack reservoir. Loathing formal campgrounds, we opted for a well-used spot near the river....

 

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Friday AM we rose and hit the road over Owl Creek Pass towards Ridgway. From there we headed into Ouray and then onto Eureka....arriving early afternoon.

After a meet and greet and a bit of hanging out it was evident that the group was antsy and ready to head UP into the surrounding mountains....so we headed NE towards the abandoned mining town of Animas Forks. (1885-1920).

 

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At one point, Animas forks was home to over 450 people. Without a doubt it was a hard, hard, life.

 

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This was evidently the brothel.

 

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A few random shots of "town"...

 

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We were looking for a price list but didn't see one...

 

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Circle up the wagons!

 

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I seriously doubt that these folks had time to admire the view...

 

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OK...where's the 7-11?

 

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From Animas forks we headed up into California Gulch to the old mill...

 

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The view up California gulch from the beginning of the Cinnamon Pass road. Note the size of the mill...

 

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up...up...up...

 

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Does anyone know where this road goes?

We originally planned to head all the way up California gulch but KC led us off on a side adventure up Placer gulch and over the top....eventually bringing us back down to the main road somewhat close to Camp FWC.

 

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closing in on the summit

 

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Of course, we had to wait for the Fords and Dodges to arrive at the top....

 

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but yes, they somehow made it....

 

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Boyz and their toyz

 

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Saturday the group headed over Cinnamon Pass

 

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