Silverton's 4x4 Roads
Lake Como - Poughkeepsie Gulch

From atop California Pass, beautiful Lake Como seemed just a short distance away, and incredibly tempting.  But, to reach the water's edge, it's necessary to drive the narrow and dangerous Poughkeepsie Gulch Road.

I read the ominous road sign and decided it didn't apply to me, since I was an experienced driver (although never before on roads like these!).  So, I started down the road, with the simple goal of reaching the lake, then turning around.

Poughkeepsie was indeed rougher than any other road I had traveled that day, or on this entire trip.  It was steep, with bare rock jutting into my tires.  It was nothing I couldn't handle, but still, I had to drive slow and remain focused.

  Then, I reached a big problem: a small washout.  I carefully tried to creep my way across, but when I felt my left front tire sink into the ditch, and my right rear tire leave the road completely, I knew I was in trouble.  I slowly backed out, then set the emergency brake and stepped out of the car.  The ditch was too deep to drive across, and turning around (or backing up) was out of the question.  So, I decided to rebuild the road.  Using nearby rocks, I filled in the ditch, creating a path just wide enough for my tires.  Then, I drove slowly over the bridge I had built, making 2 or 3 attempts in order to hit it just right. 

So was all this effort worth it? You tell me.

There are several good places to park near the edge of the lake.

Lake Como's water is perfectly clear in shallow areas, and in the deeper areas, it's a brilliant green-blue.  As you might expect, the water is bitterly cold, even in the summer, since it's mostly melting snow that fills the lake.

With slightly less wind, I would have captured a great reflection here.

Since this area is above timberline, there are no trees, but the alpine tundra does spring to life in the summer.  August is a great time to find wildflowers blooming.

After taking in the quiet scenery for a while, I headed back up to the intersection (once again making it safely across my makeshift miniature bridge), then back-tracked my way to Silverton.

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