The (Forest) Road Less Traveled
- Matthew Zullo
- Jul 28, 2020
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 28, 2020
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that when Robert Frost wrote about the two roads that diverged in a wood, he was undoubtedly referencing a Forest Service Road somewhere in Colorado. Why do I believe this you might ask? Well, let me show you.
It was roughly 4:30 local time on a Thursday afternoon, I had started my day with some hiking in the San Juan's and had just arrived in Durango after driving the full extent of Colorado's "Million Dollar Highway", a blog post of it's own, beginning outside of Ridgeway and passing through the towns of Ouray and Silverton (I'm sure if you use the google machine, there has to be at least a dozen blog posts about it) when my phone rang. My final destination for the day was the town of Cortez, in order to meet an old friend for a weekend of hiking up on the Colorado Trail. He called to tell me that while on my way into town I'd pass La Plata Canyon and that I should take the road up to Kennebec Pass. Before hanging up he says, "Don't worry, the Subaru's can't make it up there". I laughed, understanding the full extent of the dig. But I was also really excited, as I had been desperately trying to avoid the mob of Subaru's and Texas license plates that you'll find in plenty of places around the state.
I was also a tad bit nervous. I had never driven a Colorado pass before and the thought of rolling off a cliff while alone was slightly inescapable but I understood that as with many things in life, there's always going to be a little bit of fear in the unknown. That and I was reassured by the notion that the pass itself was still a marked forest service road and although I've come to find out that doesn't really mean all that much, at the time it provided me with a solid sense of security. I mean how bad could it actually get? Not to mention the fact that I was piloting the perfect vehicle for this type of adventure, an otherwise stock 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited sporting some well worn 31 inch all terrain tires. It doesn't end there though, as my trusty little white Jeep was concealing an army of secret weapons. You see this was no average Wrangler, this was a Rubicon Edition, and despite the sticker on the hood indicating the "trim level" it meant that under the dented exterior was a transfer case with a lower low, a six speed transmission, and a pair of exceptionally stout Dana 44 axles with 4.10 gears and lockers. A few weeks prior, I had purchased the Jeep from some family in northern Arizona and had spent plenty of time bombing around on the dusty and otherwise flatter roads of the Kaibab and Coconino National Forests that surround Flagstaff. Needless to say, I may have also been itching to put the old girl in 4 low and see what she would be capable of here in the mountains of Colorado.
With a nearly full tank of fuel, I came to the turn off I had been looking for and took it. What started as a paved road leading past some surprisingly lush farmland for a few miles quickly turned to dirt upon entering the mouth of La Plata Canyon. The exceptionally awful wash-boarding of those first few miles of double wide dirt road told me one of two things, either it gets used a lot by people that drive a little bit faster than your grandma would approve of or it just hadn't been graded in a while, whichever it was I don't quite know, but I will say that I saw very few other cars on this lower stretch and that really gave me high hopes for what was to come. The road narrowed and steepened, and before I knew it my little Jeep and I had slowed to 2nd gear pace, bouncing along the rough surface in 2 wheel drive. Windows down, that cool mountain air always a welcome addition for the old lungs. We passed plenty of great dispersed camp sites along the La Plata River, which the road follows relatively closely for most of the way up the canyon. As the road wound ever higher and passed gulch after gulch, filled with an array of wildflowers, and with no schedule to keep or traffic to worry about I'd stop from time to time to just take it in. If I saw something cool, there was no reason not to stop, get out, and investigate a little further.
Eventually I reached the fork, Columbus Basin to the right, Kennebec Pass to the left. Both had that "High Clearance 4x4 Recommended" sign that something deep inside of me had been yearning for and I was left with a decision, stick to the original plan or check out something different. I was sure both options would be sweet, but I was running out of daylight and really wanted to try the pass. I continued on and as the road dipped into some thick forest it narrowed and steepened, the rocks became larger and looser and it became clear it might be time for 4 high. A quick pull back on the shift lever and without skipping a beat, the Jeep bounced onward and upward until the road steepened to the point that 4 low became necessary. This was the type of thing this Jeep was build for and it was easy to tell that as the Jeep inched forward up the steep grade and over some pretty decent size rocks without even so much as a second thought. Eventually, the road began to level out and the dense forest opened up, as we entered the large basin that sits below the pass and Snowstorm Peak to the South. The road broke into a large, barren parking area and I had to hop out to get a closer look at some remnants of Colorado's mining history, a pair of very large, old boilers and some other rusty debris.
From the basin, the road to the top of the pass was clearly visible. A long gradual inline leading towards the notch cut into the ridge. Much to my relief and aside from the couple hundred foot drop off, it really didn't look that bad. Even if it had though, I had made it this far and there was no way that I wasn't going to give it a shot. Off to the left, was a steep run which gave way to another parking lot/trailhead that sits along the ridge from which the pass is cut. The view from here to the north was magnificent; Blackhawk Mountain, the Wilson Group, Engineer, and San Miguel, all visible in the distance. The sun was also getting even lower in the sky, so I hopped out, snapped a quick photo and continued onward.
From that second parking lot it was only a short ride the rest of the way up to the pass.
I think at this point it'd be more effective to just let the photos do the talking as I am just as speechless to describe it now as I was then. For the record, speechless then was just a series of "Woah!"'s, "Holy fucking shit!"'s, and "This is fucking awesome!"'s.
You see, I grew up less than a quarter mile from Long Island sound on the Southern Connecticut coast, about an hour and half drive outside of New York City. At 17, my first car was a 1995 Jeep Cherokee, a Jeep that I took into the woods around town quite often. Over time it got built, I made some incredible friends in a local offroad club, spent four years working for an aftermarket Jeep suspension company and even had the opportunity to spend a short amount of time working alongside some really incredible guys at a top-tier offroad racing team. Driving over rocks, through creeks, and down long stretches of dirt was one of the greatest joys in my life. It was more than just a happy place, it was my church. About seven years prior, my Cherokee had entered early retirement and those experiences became little more but fond memories. Yet here I was, in my dream Jeep, after all of those years, doing what I loved, in one of the most beautiful places I had ever been.
That lonely forest road will always hold a special place in my heart as it was instrumental in returning to me a part of myself which seemed to have been lost to time. In life, goals and ambitions change but to be reminded of where I came from and to see where I am headed was a special feeling. Some people believe that everything in life happens for a reason, I happen to fall into that group.
For, I took the (Forest) Road less traveled and it made all the difference. I will continue to do so and I will continue to share where it leads with you all.
P.S. In sharing my afternoon drive with you all, I hope that it inspires you to take your own (Forest) Road. Further, I beg of you to treat it with love and respect as you remember to Tread Lightly. It is a beautiful thing to live in a world full of such special places and how lucky we are should not lend itself to ignorance. Happy Travels Friends.
-MZ
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