Conquering Ophir Pass
I was once again able to attend the Fall Color Tour that Rick Louie hosts every year in Colorado. It’s an absolute blast and I hope to attend it again in the future. It’s a perfect blend of trail riding, magical views, plenty of mountains, and wonderful company. Seriously, it gets harder and harder to leave Colorado whenever I am there for a visit.
This year I got to assist Rick with some of the country road driving. He had rented a 2015 Suburban, which I quickly named The Burban. When we picked it up, it still had that new car smell, all of 500 miles on the odometer, and not a spot of mud on her. By the time we finished this trip, we had rolled almost 2,000 miles in four days, beat the bejesus out of the suspension, covered it in mud, and filled it with memories.
One of those memories happens to be tackling Ophir Pass. This is a one lane pass with one hell of a view. The pass itself is not all that technical or difficult. It has some tight turns and there are places where there is barely enough room to accommodate something as wide as The Burban. Anyone with a smaller rig can easily tackle this route.
What made Ophir Pass interesting was that moment when we were in a location not very wide and noticed a second Suburban coming at us. This led to me playing parking spotter and helping Rick get our vehicle as close to the edge as possible so that the other vehicle could pass. It’s a nerve-racking task when one slip and all kinds of havoc could be unleashed in a very short period of time. Thankfully, with all of an inch to spare between vehicles, nothing tragic happened and both parties were able to enjoy the rest of the day with vehicles and humans intact.
We found a nice spot to park and yet allow other vehicles to safely pass us by. Safety considerations taken care of, we enjoyed this view. Colorado, you did not disappoint this year. In fact, you were damn sexy!
Enjoy!
*SIDE NOTE* I’m still trying to raise money for my Extra Life for Kids fundraiser. You can find out more about this event and what I am doing right here. If you can donate, or even spread the word about this event, it would be greatly appreciated. Any help we can provide sick kids stuck in boring hospitals is a win for us all!