It’s hard to fathom, but here we are.
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That is crazy. It should be under 10 meters of that stuff formally know as snow
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Absolutely bonkers…don’t tell Texas
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Seriously
Crazy! We are hitting the Alpine Loop the weekend of May 30. According to the weather pattern it will be dry, dusty and warm 
I saw that the other day and just assumed it was a misprint. Called some old friends from SW CO, and they stated they basically had no snow this winter. Something like 8% normal snowpack. Damn!!! Go now, before fires engulf it all!!
I’ve never ridden that part of CO and have been intending to make it happen this summer. How long does it take to do the loop? Lake city is about 4 hours away. If I drove there and unloaded and was riding by 10am, could I do it all before dark? Is there an ideal way direction for seeing it all?
Wild. Just FYI if you’re making a plan to go - still very snowed in from this ‘San Juan Mountain Adventures’ page I keep tabs on in FB. Looks like a solid 5+ ft still to melt out in areas up high.
“You may be able to reach Engineer Pass from Hinsdale County, but you absolutely cannot reach Engineer Pass from San Juan County.”
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I have an Alpine “super loop” that would take all day.
Otherwise i believe the official loop is about 70mi. It’s beat up but not an issue on a small bike. Probably a chill 4-6hrs?
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I’m thinking late May, if its all open. Whenever I do plan it, I’ll extend an open invitation.
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I still can’t wrap my head around Alpine Loop in May…
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This is a route I made for a group of us last fall. It came out to exactly 100 miles which I thought was a nice round number. We were all on 300/500/690cc bikes that day, and it was tiring but awesome. This is from the Ouray side, and it starts with Mineral Creek, which is on the chunky side.
This ride includes Engineer, Cinnamon, California, Hurricane, and Corkscrew passes. It’s a spectacular outing.
The last bit (small loop on the west end of the ride) is Red Mountain pass and you could skip that part.
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You guys, I have been wanting to ride it… and wanted to ask those who have done it on their dual sport/dirt bikes: what are the hardest sections? What skills must I absolutely practice before setting out to ride it? Is it doable in one day or would it be better to plan to do it over two?
At a minimum, you would want to be able to comfortably ride a lot of the local stuff here like Switzerland, Mammoth Gulch, West Magnolia, and so forth as a baseline. Alpine Loop is no joke, and they’re the elevations are so much higher than they are here at points.
How much training have you had? And, have you ridden any of the local stuff?
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I have ridden the Switzerland trail a lot… but none of the others yet. I’ll gladly practice…
The most experience I have has riding off road was in July in India most roads in the Himalayas were dirt/ narrow switchbacks…
and I did several sections of the Colorado bdr…
Thank you for responding! I appreciate the suggested trails to ride to get comfortable.
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Just saw a note today (5/25) that Cinnamon Pass has opened up, but have not seen anything on Engineer yet. Ouray Road & Bridge site is generally one of the best places to get current status updates - Road & Bridge | Ouray County, CO - Official Website
That site says Engineer is open, but not sure if that means the whole loop is fully open.
Note, the section of Mineral Creek portion of Engineer Pass is closed for rock work until mid-June.
TONS of other fun stuff down that way too - Red Mtn Town and US Basin are some of the coolest scenery and some PHUN riding, and of course Ophir, Black Bear and Imogene/Yankee Boy are rad!! Stony is gorgeous, albeit pretty stout in spots.
Let us know when you are going!!
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