Rolling Mountain Pass
Rolling Mountain Pass is a fairly heavily used single
track ride, even though it is not always referred to by
this name. Rolling Mountain Pass refers to the highest
point on the Colorado Trail section between Molas
Pass and Bolam Pass. Many
zig zags along the route, each one referencing a stream
crossing, make this ride longer than it may appear on the
map, especially timewise. The name "Rolling Mountain
Pass" has come into usage only since the 1990s, since
the construction and publicizing of the Colorado Trail,
even though a trail crossed the pass much earlier. No
signs or official maps refer to the pass by this name. It
is identified in Helmuth's "Passes of Colorado".
The profile below has more than the usual inaccuracies
because the trail is not marked completely on topo maps.
In particular the slope before point 5 is probably not as
steep as indicated. Furthermore I remember more severe up
and down sections between points 8 and 9.
click on profile for more detail
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01.(9770ft,mile00) START-END EAST
ALTERNATE: junction between Molas Pass road and
unpaved Lime Creek Road.
02.(10899ft,mile05) Molas Pass
03.(10770ft,mile05) turn left onto unpaved road to
Little Molas Lake
04.(10920ft,mile06) START-END EAST: pick up Colorado
Trail towards right
05.(12050ft,mile10) trail crosses above Lime Creek
06.(12300ft,mile15) Colorado Trail joins
Rico-Silverton Trail. Continue left up to pass.
07.(12484ft)mile15) TOP: Rolling Mountain Pass.
Colorado Trail diverts from Rico Silverton Trail
again.
08.(11077ft,mile18) trail crosses Cascade Creek
09.(11250ft,mile24) START-END WEST ALTERNATE: Leave
Colorado Trail and pick up Bolam Pass road downhill
to left.
10.(9130ft,mile31) junction with Hotel Draw (Scotch
Creek) road from right. Continue downvalley
straight.
11.(8890ft,mile33) START-END WEST: Hermosa Park.
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Approaches
From East. The initial section of the trail, leaving
Molas Lake above Molas Pass, is free of rocks, except for the
occasional lip of sedimentary rock crossing the trail like a
step. During morning hours Engineer Mountain to the south is
perfectly lit and prime location for the first thunderheads of
the day. The trail zig zags above treeline in a gentle grade,
so that major effort can be conserved for later sections.
Crossing the Lime Creek drainage, you have a good view of the
lowest point, altitude wise, of the suggested dayride, the
lowpoint between Molas Pass and Coal Bank Pass. Finally
approaching the pass, Engineer Mountain Trail takes off across
the extensive tundra in a southerly direction, while the old
Rico-Silverton trail joins the route from South Mineral Creek.
The route is backgrounded by a large monolithically shaped
mountain.
From West. The route is described in a downward
direction. The scene on this side of the pass is even more
vertical than on the west side. Switchbacks lead towards the
edge of a shelf, with the route down remaining a mystery for
the time being. The trail edges through the forest above the
shelf in order to cross Cascade Creek on a bridge constructed
so solid, it could carry a road. The next section is uphill
and rocky, requiring the most extensive walking during the
trip. Instead of descending into the depths below, the trail
climbs several more forested ridge lines, alternating down and
uphill sections. Shortly before approaching Bolam Pass, the
trail crosses onto the west side of the major ridge line for
the first time, and offers a new impressive viewshed, the San
Miguel Mountains containing Mount Wilson and Lizard Head Peak.
Staying left at two successive forks leads to the Bolam
Pass road, slightly east of its summit.
Alternate approach
From East. Another way to approach this pass from
the east is via the Silverton-Rico Trail. This option involves
a good deal of walking and carrying, but offers the advantage
of a shorter loop trip without the long return on pavement.
The South Mineral Creek road leaves the Red
Mountain Pass paved road about 2 miles outside of
Silverton on the left. During July and August the initial
miles up the valley not only pass jagged peaks, but also three
major transient communities. Parked side by side, as close as
townhomes in the suburbs, behemoth camping buses are
apparently waiting for the price of gas to return to below
three dollars before they can move again. Meanwhile their
owners are using yet other motor vehicles, towed along from
distant southern parts of the country, just in order to
maintain the habbit of consuming gasoline. Or they are inside
their motor homes watching TV, delivered from an array of
ballasted satelite dishes, looking like listening posts from a
foreign army invading the wilderness.
The last of these camping cities offers a chance to refill
water bottles, just before a climb that is much too steep for
the "touring rock band style" buses with their
painted flying eagles and colorful pictures of Elvis. The
double track trail emerges above treeline and levels out on a
very rocky stretch. It then descends back to South Mineral
Creek to a pleasant bowl shaped park, ringed by Fuller Peak,
Beattle Peak and other 13ers. At this point a hiking/single
track trail turns south, in an apparently straight shot
towards Rolling Mountain Pass. The trail is marked by a sign
permitting bicycles and prohibiting motorized travel. However,
not all trails open to bicycles are bicyclable. An initial
rocky stretch through forest and over creeks gives way to a
super narrow single track above treeline. Then the trail
begins to traverse up the right side of the valley, making
some carrying necessary. The Rico Silverton Trail actually
crosses the Colorado Trail shortly before the summit in order
to meet up with it at the very top, making this a totally
separate approach to the pass.
Tours
Dayrides. In order to connect the two principal
approaches into a circle, additional cycling is necessary.
The paved approach from a potential camping point, where
Lime Creek Road meets the Molas
Pass road, up to the top of Molas
Pass is already included in the profile. Additionally
the return trip after point 11 on the profile is easily
underestimated. After descending the many switchbacks of Bolam
Pass, there a substantial climb on FR578, between the
junction with FR579 and the descent at the Purgatoire ski
area. After that all that remains is a complete crossing of Coal
Bank Pass back to the starting point. During my own
traversal of this route the last part occurred in complete
(unplanned) darkness. Such a ride measured 54 miles
with 7800 feet of climbing in 8.5 hours (m3:05.09.05).
During dry day conditions, Lime Creek Road makes a logical
substitute for Coal Bank
Pass.
A dayride using the alternate Rico Silverton Trail as
approach going up, then descending on the Colorado Trail to
Molas Pass and back to Silverton measured 31 miles with 4670
feet of climbing in 5.2 hours. The 5.2 hours measured only
the route when the front wheel was moving. The actual time
was longer because of waiting out storms, small portages and
a short scramble up the mountain to the east of the pass.
(m3:06.07.25). This option does not actually cross the pass
since both approaches come from the east. But it is a
complete loop ride, since the approaches are completely
separate.
History
Rolling Mountain Pass is an early historical pass that is
often overlooked, probably because the designation, even
today, is not very widely used. The Rico Silverton Trail
crossing the pass was used in the 1880s to supply the
emerging mining camp of Rico with supplies on mule trains
from Silverton. The pass diminished in importance when Ophir
Pass was opened to the north. Ophir Pass was better
suited for heavy supplies. The Rico Silverton Trail
corrosponds to the alternate eastern approach described
above. It continues down the other side as far as Cascade
Creek. There it diverges from the described principa route
in order to cross another unnamed pass west to Rico.
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