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Ophir - W>E or E>W ?

Curunir

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'elo

I'm making final arrangements for going down to the Telluride area on the 25th and 26th (a Sunday/Monday). My main plan is Imogene on the 26th but it was suggested I do Ophir too and am considering it for starting around 12:00 - 13:00 on Sunday.

I need to be honest though I'm a bit nervous of the unknown when I was reading about the narrow shale-rock section after the summit. A few people have posted that a large vehicle (Tundra) will have a high pucker factor due to how narrow it is and also that the loose rock can be bad. I'm comfortable with about anythingbut not keen on dropping off the side of cliff. :p

I have seen a couple trail posts that suggest traveling West to East on the trail so you attack that area going up hill and then crest the summit. It seems this is the opposite direction most people ride it so there will be a lot of passing but you don't have the risk of sliding down the loose stuff with momentum.


Thoughts / Opinions?
 

Shuksan

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I guess it depends on your comfort and experience with shelf roads. If I have a choice I like to have shelf on driver side so I can see tire placement better. I don't think Ophir was all that technically challenging, but maybe Tundra is a little bit wider than a 100 series.
 
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Only did it once, but going from Silverton to Telluride I recall being able to see all the way down the narrow section, so you can see if someone is coming up before you begin downhill. There were also one or two passing spots if I recall. It wasn’t tippy or technical, good way to get used to shelf roads. Though I understand things may be a bit more “tense” in a Tundra
 

nakman

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If you've already run Imogene then Ophir is going to be pretty tame... as others have said I wouldn't sweat it too much, either direction.
 

Romer

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Ophir is pretty easy like Tim said. There is one spot where it is easy to get confused after you do the road against the wall and come to where you can see the pass. You can see a path to the left (Circled in Blue), but follow the road to the right and it loops back to the pass to where I took this picture from. I was by myself once and accidently went to the left. Had to back up to get back to the trail. Other than that it is pretty easy and pretty.

O.JPG
 

AlpineAccess

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No idea what those reviews of Ophir were talking about as I had enough room to even get around a Raptor that was being driven by a numbskull.
 

Curunir

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Thanks for all the feedback. I've watched some more vids and it looks like this is the worse part of Ophir, and if this is what everyone's talking about in the reviews then I'm all set. Just pay attention and no Tokyo Drifting.
 

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Romer

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actually last Dollar Road is easier :)
 

nakman

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Owl Creek Pass might be easier than Last Dollar... and a great way to come into or out of the area if you're headed down from Gunnison, bypasses all of Montrose and puts you back on pavement in Ridgeway. And if we're being technical then technically none of this is off-road, they're just not paved. but they're real roads, that's why it's allowable to drive on them. :)
 

wesintl

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I think it's more fun W-E...
 

Romer

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The view going up the rock wall I think is better and then when you come over the pass and take the road down, you have views all the way into the valley will driving down. I have done both and also like W-E better, but either way is fine. If you are doing Black bear then W-E is the way back. If you want to run Imogene as part of it, then depends on which way you want to go
 

Corbet

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Ophir Pass was just named the northern perimeter boundary for the Ice Fire forest closure. Sounds like as of right now you can still drive it but you can not enter the forest to the south of the road.

Silverton and all of San Juan County got a pre-evacuation notice yesterday. Fire is at 515 acres and 15% contained so that is actually looking pretty good.
 
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