On The Road Again 2016: June 9, 2016 Stony Pass

I have been having a hard time adapting to the altitude this year. I suspect I am not at 100% from the bronchitis I had before leaving. We have spent a few days organizing the RV and resting. Today, we decided it's time to hit the trails.

Three Jeeps left camp this morning to check out the trail on Stony Pass. At the top of the pass, the elevation reaches 12,500+ feet. It was correctly named as it is a very rocky, stony trail. It was originally used by the Utes and Spanish artifacts have been found in the area . During the 1800s, it was a heavily used stagecoach route and major supply line for the miners working claims in the area. It was classified as a state highway in the early 1900s, but was eventually abandoned until the forest service re-opened it in the 1950s as a 4WD recreational route. In my wildest imagination, I cannot see it ever being a state highway. I am not even sure how the stagecoaches navigated some parts of this trail and it has been improved since those days. We were able to get thru the pass, but came to a dead-end at Pole Creek. We can usually cross thru the creek, but with the heavy snow melt this early in the season, the water looked a little too swift for our liking today. We parked, had a snack, then turned around and headed back to town. A bacon cheeseburger was waiting for us at Handlebars!