Pearl pass is one trail I want to do next month when we're up there. Anyone know if it's open yet?

 

Try this for updates on Colorados trails
http://www.bushducks.com/tripreps/passopen.htm

 

No it is not open yet. Just came back from there. May be in a month however

 

Thanks. We'll be up there the 19th of August, hopefully by then.

 

Even if it's still closed in mid August it is worth driving up on the crested butte side as far as you can. There is a beautiful view of Castle peak one of the local 14ers.

 

I just looked at the bushducks site, and they say it's open.

Bushducks - Jeep Trail and Backroads Trip Reports<br>Colorado Jeep Trails and Passes - Opening Dates

They say one snowfield on the Aspen side is still there, and you need lockers and chains. I have neither. The picture of the snow doesn't look all that bad. Anyone been up there since today (17th)?

 

Snow can be deceiving at times. There are times it doesn't take much to halt your progress in those situations....even with lockers. That picture makes it look really packed down as the vehicle is on top of it and not clearly down in it. In general isn't not light fluffy stuff, but the bit of snow I've been in up in that area in the summer is pretty dense semi-melted junk that will halt you even with lockers. Unless you have a traveling partner that could help get you unstuck, it's probably best to not attempt that solo. The rig in the pic looks pretty capable....and I'm sure they wouldn't have taken the time to put chains on had they really not needed em.

Hope you're enjoying your trip out there! Did you get to do Black Bear yet?

 

We are leaving tomorrow. We're driving straight through 15 hours to Crested Butte. Ugh, I've done that trip straight through before driving all night and by the time I got home about 10:00 AM I was seeing stars. I hope we can do all of pearl pass, I had planned on doing it then drive up to Aspen and let the wife shop for doilies, then back to CB via Kebler Pass.

 

Well we did Pearl today, we made the entire 37 miles from Crested Butte to Aspen. The majority of it was 1st and 2nd gear in low range so it took us several hours. There was snow on the Aspen side but it wasn't too bad. All of it was rocky and rough. The CB side just had a few spots that were technical but the Aspen side was another story. One in particular was a steep downhill section that was a little more off camber than I will normally do, and inches from the trail was a drop that would have meant certain death. I actually thought there for an instant that we were doomed. The trail definitely should be an expert trail, problem is I aint no expert. I'm happy we did it but I'll probably never do it again. It was just a little over my comfort level.

 

Sounds like you had a great trip. Thats on my list now. Post some pics when you can