Colorado Trip Reports

Red cone is , Webster is both directions.

 

Just from the top of red cone down to Webster is 1 way from my understanding.

Given the loose scree fields you are traversing, it would be an ugly if 2 way.

 

Here’s some more fuel for the fire. Ran up St. John’s today, there is a new sign on the way up to Montezuma with a trail board, was bummed to see this.



Pressed on to see what’s what, gate at Peru was locked. Made my way up past the St. John town site, and the gate was OPEN, locked to the tree so it was clearly done by FS. Kept going to the switchback section and there was a drift in the first one, you could see a few people had been going OVER the sign that clearly says closed route. At this point, for me it was either turn around or bust trail. I was solo so was a bit concerned about bashing and getting stuck, but a few runs at it and I was through.



Then propped up the upper sign that was broken, probably from being run over, and kept going. Took a few side routes that I had t check out before.


Next up was another drift, where D bags had been driving around, over the tundra. Same scenario, turn around or bust it, so locked it up again and a few runs later was through.



Made it to just before the junction with Swan and there was a several hundred yard drift, end of the day for me. You could see tracks going around the drift, which eventually hit the drift again, and whoever had to do a u turn in the tundra that will be there for quite a long time.



I would guess the gate has only been open for the weekend, IMO the FS shouldn’t open these types of trails until they are clear, too tempting for assholes to do stupid shit.

Oh, and made a few friends

 

Wheeler Lake 7/13-7/14

Tldr: Trail is supposedly open to the top of bowling ball hill but has what looks like an illegal bypass around a snow drift. It practically goes over a "no motor vehicles" sign.

Wife, kid, and I got to the trailhead around 5pm Saturday hoping to get a camping spot after the traffic cleared out. It started pouring as I was airing down. It rained on and off on our way up. I took the easy lines on flopper and the v notch. I used the locker on both because I was spinning tires on the wet rocks without it. We made it to our spot and setup camp. It stopped raining and ended up being a beautiful night but it was freaking cold up there!

Sunday morning some hikers coming down told me there was a jeep that made it to the switchback at the top of bowling ball hill before the snow stopped him. I headed up the trail excited that it melted that much since the 4th. About 1.4 miles from the V Notch there is a drift that people are driving around. There are tracks where someone tried going over the snow but didn't get more than a car length into it. Snow is a couple feet deep. I turned around here because I wasn't sure which way was the trail. I don't know what's past it or how far others have actually got. It was uneventful on the way down.

Overall the trail is very wet and very busy. I passed 20-30 hikers, 4 utvs and about 10 jeeps over the weekend. I only had to cross one small drift about 10 feet long before I turned around.

I'm pretty sure the trail is supposed to go close to the red line. The bypass follows green.


No motor vehicles sign laying down


Bypass? The rocks at the end where it turns right up the hill were very torn up and didn't seem like the established trail.

 

Yep, more asshatery.

 

This is the first chance that I’ve had to respond to this since my original post because my account was suspended for 7 days based only on assumptions and partial information. They suspended me without asking for clarification, or even the decency of sending me a message explaining the basis of a ban.

1. I did not drive around a gate to see the structures as falsely stated several times. The gate was open. One of the posts had been knocked down at some point in the past, but the gate was OPEN. As in no chain, lock or gate across the road. This was my first time on the trail, so I wasn’t aware of the state of the gate last year, nor do I care because it’s completely irrelevant.

2. Someone had already cut a path around the massive tree. This must have happened weeks before because the trail around was well worn before I got there.

3. I do not know who made the trail around the tree, so I don’t know if it was the Forest Service, the owner of the mill, or another wheeler made the path.

4. I didn’t think twice about leaving the main trail because there was an already worn path, which I carefully stayed on. Additionally, I was travelling with experienced off-roading friends. The friend that was showing me the trail spent much of last summer working for the Forest service. No one I was with raised any concerns about what we were doing.

5. I am not aware of anyone who lived up to your made-up standards and turned around instead of taking the already established bypass around the massive tree. At least a dozen rigs, including members of this site continued on the trail. I’m not saying this as an excuse to justify my actions, but only to show that some of you are overreacting.

6. I stopped 3 times to get out of my truck and pick up trash that I found along the trail that some a-holes in a jeep threw out. I also cleared about 20 trees from the trail. I didn’t see anyone that is complaining on this thread out there clearing trees, or even making plans to clear the tree in question. Painting me as some sort of pariah is hardly justified.

7. The ban preventing my response, and the overreaction by equally immature posters created an atmosphere reminiscent of “Lord of the Flies”. None of you know me, and I would expect more out of the Admins. I would expect moderators to moderate, not escalate. It really gives a trashy vibe to the site.

8. Did I make a mistake? Maybe. I wonder how many of you “stay the trail” elitists have taken a bypass around a tough obstacle? Most trails have bypasses around obstacles, when is it okay to use a bypass? I think we all agree, the first truck that cuts through virgin grass is f’d up. What about the 20-30th truck, when the grass is already gone? The 1000th when you can’t even tell where the original trail was? What do you do when you’re going down a hill, and someone is coming up the trail? Do you back all the way to the start of the trail, or do you leave the trail?

 

The fact that an illegal bypass exists and has been used by others is no excuse to use it yourself.

The members here care about our local trails, and we're all trying our best to keep them in the best shape possible, and moreso: open. If you keep driving these trails, you'll see new bypasses every year around puddles, snow drifts, downed trees, etc. These gets trails closed. Read about Glacier Ridge Trail outside of Breck.

Taking a few minutes to improve the trails is beneficial to all of us in the long run, and at the very least, don't use the illegal bypasses.


And because this is the trip report thread: my travels on the CO/WY border a week or so ago included cutting this 25" diameter tree off the trail, along with several others it took with it.



And one more just 'cause

 

BV is where a few of us were the other week, cool area, we want to get back out there to wheel some more

 

OCG was a blast! I liked how the afternoon rain added an extra challenge. Our trucks are amazingly capable. My truck survived even with me driving! Must have been Mike and Led’s expert guidance.

 

How did the bench turn out?

 

Drove up to Chinn's Lake yesterday. No more snow blocking near the top just a couple fun puddles.

 

Halfmoon Gulch over the weekend. Only ran road 110. Made it all the way to Champions Mill but everything above was still snowed in. Creek crossing was manageable.

 

Does anyone know the exact details on the gate at Halfmoon before we get into another several pages of this?

FWIW, it's been several years since I was there, but the gate was open when I went. I don't recall any any no trespassing or private property signs.

Despite the attitude and off-trail driving of the last guy that went there, I actually do believe him that he didn't drive around a locked gate. People have been driving to the mill for years. Not defending driving there if the road ends at the gate, but would like to see this cleared up.

 

Last time I ran it (2018) the gate was "open".

 

Pardon my ignorance, but this was my first time up Halfmoon. I don't recall any sort of gate. What mile marker was it at?

I saw plenty of other riders out there, even up at the mill. Side by sides, ATV's, a big group of 8 older FJ 40's (which was awesome).

Don't wana play outside the rules and being educated about this spot would be awesome.

 

There was/ is a metal gate at base of mine across trail, by the final cluster of tree's before your at the mill.