Engineer Pass (Alpine Loop Pt2) - A Must Do Colorado 4x4 Off-road Trail

[@themightybrew3979]

Great video! You did such a good job showing off the scenery, and you didn’t spend a lot of time turning the camera to selfie mode and talking at us endlessly. The music was pleasant as well.

[@departureoutdoors]

Thanks a lot! Haha yeah we try to keep it to the highlights of the trail, we know most people are watching for the natural beauty of the landscape and get an idea for what it's like to drive on a particular trail or be offroad, etc. We just want to come across as genuine, give our experience, but also try to keep it shorter since I know lots of others tend to have a lot of longer form videos and yeah lots of talking which is fine, but we want to do something a little different. Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it, many thanks!!

[@3PLGLOBALHUGO]

That tree climb was awesome!

[@departureoutdoors]

Haha, yeah that was crazy! Leslie is definitely wookie or something lol. Thx for watching!

[@exoplanetnomad]

Another great video! The drone mishap happened to me too lol. Just had to replace 3 propellers, no big deal!

[@departureoutdoors]

Thanks for watching and your too kind!! 😁 This is the first time I ever crashed my drone into anything lol, I was really concerned it was lost but Leslie's crazy haha! Yeah its not big deal I just need to replace some of the propellers as well and then I'm good to go again, at least I want to just to be safe!

[@dannygonzalez9964]

Awesome Dj

[@departureoutdoors]

Thanks!

[@davirizsr556]

Cool Jeep and nice video.

[@departureoutdoors]

Thx!

[@jameswagner5098]

What a badass Leslie,,,climbed that tree like a pro. Excellent video, loved all the beautiful scenery.

[@departureoutdoors]

Hahaha, thank you, yes she is definitely a badass and came in clutch with the drone retrieval, thought for sure it was a lost cause! Thanks a lot for watching and glad you enjoyed the video, it was a lot of fun to make and I wish we were back there, the scenery is out of this world! ✌️

[@cbrobinson10]

Amazing credit to the wife for climbing all the way up there to get the drone!!!!!

[@departureoutdoors]

Hahaha your telling me, i was super bummed that I thought i was going to have to lose my drone due to carelessly colliding into the tree so high up, but luckily she's super nimble and climbed all the way up before I even knew she was planning to. I wish I filmed it lol. Thx for watching, I'll pass on the kind words 😁✌️🇺🇲

[@Junior-jw1bb]

New subscriber. The clarity of these videos is incredible.

[@departureoutdoors]

Thank you!! Yeah Im really happy with how it turned out, I always wanted to try and capture various trails and what not in Colorado in good quality. Appreciate you subscribing and the feedback! Hoping to do more videos like this soon! ✌️

[@TheTrailGypsy_]

so cool!! Great video!

[@departureoutdoors]

Thank you!!

[@TealOxAdv]

Awesome video. Looks like you were luckier than we were. Our drone dropped to the ground after hitting a tree and killed the main board. Hoping yours is in better shape.

[@departureoutdoors]

Haha thanks for asking! Yeah we were pretty lucky in that regard, luckily the drone was stuck in the tree so the worse that happened was the blades got messed up, still were usable but were sketchy so I replaced the blades and it seems to be fine. Sucks about your drone though, it's one of my fears when flying, I usually try to be extra cautious but got so caught up in trying to line up the shot that I didn't notice I drifted a lot closer to the tree then I had thought 😅. Thanks a lot for watching!! I'll definitely check out your channel 😁✌️

[@TealOxAdv]

Glad to hear your drone came out good. Same situation with our accident. Thanks for the follow, I hope you find some of our videos interesting.

[@BrianGlassEOD]

Interesting. I've been intending to do Engineer for a long time and always wondered what it's like. It sounds like Tincup Pass, a fairly easy trail up one side and a long tiring, rough trip down the other (at least for me, I was in my stock Tacoma). I'm on my way to check out your Cinnamon Pass video now, that sounds like more my speed. Nice Jeep and two beautiful dogs you have too.

[@departureoutdoors]

Hey thank you so much for watching!! Yeah Engineer Pass from Lake City to the highest point with the sign was amazing, really good time and I'd love to do it again, but the second half going towards Ouray, there's a stretch of switch backs I didn't really record because it was pretty tiring and wasn't sure it would add to much to the video anyway as it was less scenic and more technical. Nothing wrong with it and the Jeep did excellent, but yeah it was definitely a slow grind there at the end. Lots of places were your on a shelf like small road with big off camber rocks you need to traverse so you have this effect where your leaning towards the shelf as your right tire is high up on the rock and left side isn't and it's a lot of that haha. Cinnamon Pass however was amazing, a lot less stressful and more about the amazing views, I highly recommend that one if your looking for a more relaxing and enjoyable ride throughout. Cinnamon starts a little moderate (nothing too crazy), but it just gets easier from their. We can't wait to do it again! Thank you for the kind comment, we seen a lot of stock Tacoma's out there on all the trails, really capable truck.

[@jdetermann4674]

Always amazing videos. Subscribed.

[@departureoutdoors]

Hey thank you, we really appreciate it a lot!!

[@LeslieIrizarry]

Love it!! 🥳

[@departureoutdoors]

❤

[@harvmac69]

Very cool video! Did you see anyone with a trailer on the pass? We have a small off road camper I am trying to find out if we can take it through the pass.

[@departureoutdoors]

Hello, thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!! So I did seem a couple of small campers on Engineer Pass towards the earlier sections of the trail but most of them were camped out in spots. I didn't actually see any campers being pulled at the actual summit area or going down any of the shelf roads. I do think most of the trail is tottaly doable with a smaller offroad camper, but if your planning on heading to Ouray from lake city like we did then I'd say the later section after heading down from the summit / Engineer Pass sign area, there is a particular section of switch backs I didn't record towards the end that can be somewhat dicey I'd imagine with a trailer, you may end up scratching it up or having to take it real slow as there is a lot of areas where your on a shelf and there are rocks that you need to go over that force you offcamber in the direction of the shelf and I'd imagine it being a little unsettling with a camper in tow and some sections with bigger rocks and angles that may make it harder to navigate, but really depends on your skill level, the rig and the size/capability of the camper or if you care about scratches etc. I believe there is an way to do most of Engineer Pass from Lake City over the summit area and then take Animas Fork to Silverton which is a easier road and then jump on highway 550 to Ouray. The same is true in reverse so 550 to animas fork and then on to Engineer Pass. Probably the safer bet, but again it's possible to do the entire Engineer Pass it all depends on what your comfortable with. I can say some of the lines we took with our Jeep on the switch backs closer to Ouray had us at a 20 to 25 degree angle leaning towards the edge of the cliff at times but there is space enough for small campers to traverse it. Hope this helps!

[@harvmac69]

@@departureoutdoors Yes! It helps a lot!! Thanks so much!!

[@dbldare]

This is beautiful! What time of year was this?

[@departureoutdoors]

Hello, this was in August and yeah it was incredible! Mid June through September or so are the ideal times i believe to go with earlier usually the better, but there's always a chance for random snow days to show up so just be sure to check the weather a few times. But yeah for the peak scenery July and August are great times.

[@dbldare]

@@departureoutdoorsAwesome! Thank you for the reply. I’ll definitely throw this on the list for summer. Can’t wait!

[@departureoutdoors]

Happy to help, hope you do get the chance to get out there it's a blast. All the best! ✌️

[@JeffMcVay-k3r]

Really enjoyed all your SW Colorado videos, what month were those filmed in? Thanks, Jeff

[@departureoutdoors]

Thanks! We shot these in August of last year, seemed to be a great time, weather was nice and cool and luckily no snow or bad weather.

[@richards144]

enjoyed your video. curious where you got the bull bar from. I'm planning on getting a jeep early next year and definitely want a bull bar on the steel bumpers. Also, can you let me know the mounting system you're using for your rotopax. thanks.

[@departureoutdoors]

Hey thank you for watching the video!! Glad to hear you'll be getting a Jeep, really cool, I'm assuming your going with the 24? So the bull bar I got for mine is the Warn Jeep JL Front Bumper Grille Guard Tube (Mid-Height) and the molle panels I used for my fuel and water rotopax is the Furyengraver window storage molle panel for the Jeep JL. If you have issues finding them let me know and I can get you links but they are both available on Amazon. I've been pleased with both!

[@richards144]

@@departureoutdoors thanks!

[@JTheMoneyable]

Do you guys not get tired of talking over eachother? I love your videos I just imagine me and my wife trying to talk to a camera at the same time and I'd be getting annoyed. lol

[@departureoutdoors]

Lol, to be honest I don't like talking to a camera were both pretty introverted so it definitely doesn't come naturally at all, but it's just a fun branching out for both of us and just our way of documenting our fun trips while sharing our experiences and lessons learned with others who may have interest in hearing about it. I do think it would be better if we scripted what we were going to say some lol so we wouldn't talk over each other but again it's really just us doing it for fun so we try to just be ourselves and unscripted as much as possible (also woth fulltime jobs it can be a lot of work so we try to not suck the enjoyment out of our trips by making it work). Doesn't always make for great commentary though I'm sure. Maybe something we can work on or get better at overtime possibly. Thanks for commenting and watching our videos, means a lot!

[@Robert_alea]

Do you think a full size gmc sierra 1500 would make this pass

[@departureoutdoors]

Hello, yes for sure. The entire alpine loop is doable in a fullsize truck, I've seen a few do it. However there will definitely be parts of the trails that are a little tight and you'll want to be on alert for oncoming traffic and plan where to pull over or what not to ensure you don't have to backup far to let others by. Outside of that, assuming your specifically talking about engineer Pass, I'd suggest if your starting from Lake City that you take Animas Forks Pass or road after coming down from the top of Engineer Pass as opposed to continuing directly on Engineer Pass to Ouray as that last stretch of the trail is switchbacks that connect to The Million Dollar Highway and its pretty tight in places and you can end up in some very offcamber situations that wouldn't be amazing in a fullsize truck. Still doable but I personally wouldn't want to do that last part in a fullsize.