stephakett wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:21 pm
interestingly enough i was chatting with one of the jeep tourguides in ouray last summer about the alpine loop. their company used to be able to do a day trip from ouray to lake city and back, but now those trips are taking 10+ hours because all the UTVs have REALLY rutted up the road. so yes, it's a safe bet that in the last couple of years things have changed.
to those people who own/operate 2WD/low-clearance sedans looking for an accurate conditions report: i would recommend not taking advice from anyone except those who have personally driven a low-clearance sedan on this road in 2020
Interesting. So, are the UTVs a new thing there? I wondered if I should rent one (the UTVs were the only rental option in the area) after my initial post in this thread but it was like $250 for half day or something, assuming any were available. Apparently, it was a very popular weekend to be there. All kinds of things were booked solid/sold out. Not that half day rental would have worked for me.
A couple of yrs back, in response to someone's comment about the beauty of the San Juans, I'd asked if GG was reachable in a regular sedan and was told yes, though it was better done in a high clearance vehicle. I also checked this page and it looked like a sedan could get you to the TH as of earlier this month. But when the Jeepers told me to turn around, I trusted their advice. But as Trotter said, maybe they thought I was driving to/beyond the pass and not just to the TH. I don't recall exactly what I asked them.
Thanks. I was on the trail the day you posted your report. I didn't see any sedans there on Sunday. The smallest car I saw was one of them small SUV crossovers. I forget the make/model. But I take exception to calling a Corolla/sedan a wrong-car-for-Colorado. I had a lovely trip
. I would actually feel totally pretentious (besides many other things) driving a brawny vehicle. Kind of like when I see people wearing camo outfits for garden variety civilian activities.
