Hagerman Pass

We broke camp the next morning to begin our ascent of 11,925 foot Hagerman Pass. Mind you this is not like driving on paved roads over a pass such as Logan Pass in Glacier. This is a steep rocky road where going 20 miles can take you a couple of hours. We first stopped at Ivanhoe Lake before making our climb. As we drove the road into the lake we noticed construction going on and stopped to talk to the workers. We learned that from Ivanhoe Lake down to a larger reservoir called Turquoise Lake there are a several underground tunnels that deliver water to serve as local water supplies for small towns in the valley below. Recently there had been a collapse on both ends of one of the tunnels that was going to require a 4 year project to open up the tunnel. They were just beginning the project by having to prepare the road to bring in heavy equipment. I for the life of me don’t see how they get any equipment up on that mountain!

We continued on and made the pass with magnificent views all around. There was even still some snow at the pass!

After leaving the pass we came across a section of road that had a deep rut in the road and a large deep muddy drop-off into a hole . David got out to look at the best way to get through. I got out because I didn’t want to be in the van during the process 🙂 🙂 The video follows below. It may not look like a hard maneuver but it indeed require going at an angle to get through.

We headed on to ascend our second pass of the day, Weston Pass, and search for our next ideal dispersed campsite.