Tomichi Pass

 

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On our way up Tomichi Pass, we spotted a marmot sitting on top of an old boiler at the mine site at the top of the meadow that the road winds alongside.  He was pretty bold in sitting up there as we drove past.

This little bit of shelf road was very off camber (my angleometer pegged at 30 degrees. It was probably about 35 degrees in a few spots) for a couple hundred feet. In a few more years, it will probably become inaccessible to most 4x4s unless some maintenance is done soon. Thanks to The Honeybadger for getting this awesome shot. I and my passengers were all much too busy with puckering our butts as we drove over that section to get any photos.

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Heading up the trail after the pucker-inducing shelf road.  Still more shelf road to come!

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In the distance you can see the Alpine Tunnel road that is currently closed.  Someday I’ll get up there to check it out.

 

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Down below the shelf road is the carcass of an old 4×4 that slid off the shelf road and tumbled into the valley below.  I’m a bit surprised that no one has ever recovered the wreckage.

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Looking back down at the shelf road.  You wouldn’t want to try passing someone coming the other way.

 

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The Alpine Tunnel is on the left and Hancock Pass is on the right.

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On the top of Tomichi Pass!  A family from Missouri put this sign up at some point in the last few years.

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A close-up view of the road up to Hancock Pass.

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Looking out toward the townsite of Tomichi.

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Gratuitous awesome photo of my truck.

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The alpine flowers are just finishing their run up on Tomichi Pass for 2016.

 

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The Honeybadger coming up the trail.

 

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I won that awesome Trasharoo the weekend before.

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A close-up view of the Alpine Tunnel road.

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Cumberland Pass

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We went over Cumberland Pass after going over Tin Cup Pass to get back to our campsite near Pitkin.  It’s a nice easy railroad grade that you could drive in a sedan assuming there isn’t snow on the road.

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Up on this mountain to the southwest of Cumberland Pass, there is a strange building that looks kind of like a fire lookout.  We thought we saw evidence of a road going over to it.  According to the internet, I think this is Fairview Peak and the Fairview Peak Fire Lookout.

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Looking back down toward the town of Tincup.

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Looking toward Pitkin and the Alpine Tunnel.