California and Hurricane Passes: Video from the East

I was up in the San Juan Mountains today (San Juan County, Colorado, between Ouray and Silverton). This is a five minute snatch of video I took with my GoPro Hero2 HD helmet camera. It starts on the east side of California Pass, goes up over the pass, looks down on Lake Como (the headwaters of the Uncompahgre River), and then over Hurricane Pass. The video runs in real time (no speeding up!) and is narrated.

Normally I don’t like to go into the high country on a weekend because it gets crowded. In fact is was very crowded! But for once I saw lots and lots of motorcycles. I went up Engineer Pass Road, dropped down into the Animas Forks ghost town (full of people today!), then up Picayne Gulch and Placer Gulch, back to Animas Forks for lunch, then east over California and Hurricane Passes. This video shows my ride from just east of California Pass until just west of Hurricane Pass. After Hurricane Pass, I went up over Corkscrew Pass to US Highway 550, then up through the Red Mountain Mining District, including passing right by Yankee Girl, then up and over San Juan County Road 14, and finally called it a day, taking US Highway 550 north to home. Very nice ride on a stunningly beautiful day. We’ve had lots of rain recently, so everything is green, green, green!