Colorado Trip Reports

The first time I was there (2014) the gate was chained to a post and locked so I turned around and went home. The last time I was there (2017), the gate was chained to a post and locked, but both were laying flat on the ground so I assumed it should be considered locked, parked my truck and hiked up.

I don’t doubt that the gate can be found unlocked, it’s just my luck that both times I have been there it was locked to something.

 

I've been up there twice (2016 and 17 I think), and the gate was open (and standing) both times (**edit: actually I didn't go all the way to the mill the 2nd time, so I don't recall if I ever went as far as the gate**). The first time I went up I was behind a Leadville native (in his 60's/70's), and he drove straight up to the mine. He told us the history of the mine and how they used to mess around on the trolly carts and his past volunteering with backcountry rescue in that valley. I think he said the gate was for private land at the boy scout camp or something that is at the gate, but it's pretty much abandoned at this point. He also said not to go above the mill, as that land is still owned and somewhat active for mining/prospecting.

The gate being open sends a mixed message. If you leave it how you found it, then people would assume an open gate means the road is open. I can't speak to the gate being knocked over though.....

 

The mill is on private property, an inholding parcel within the NF boundary. There is only a single parcel in that area according to the assessor map (which may not be entirely accurate) and it covers the mill and whatever buildings are down there at the intersection. The property last changed hands in 1995, when what a appears to be a holding company under Outward Bound bought it or acquired title in what is noted as a related party transaction.

I don't know anything about the specifics of the gate and don't think I've been there in person. I can tell you that based on descriptions and imagery, the gate would be on the spur that goes up to the mill. According to the (2016 dated) MVUM, the official forest service road actually ends shortly before you get to this point. The road does continue on, and on FS land for a bit before it gets back into more mining claims which it is in at the top. As far as I'm aware and is being discussed here, there's only one gate to the private claim, not a gate across the main road which I might expect to find if they really wanted the road to end there. I also couldn't say if the gate is privately owned or if it is a FS gate - I would imagine it's private based on everything else, and that landowner simply opens it up when they feel like it.

I agree that 'leave it as you found it' has always presented an issue in that you don't know if the person before you did. That's why it's become more common to see gates locked open as well as closed (I think the FS has done this for a long time, but it's really up to individual districts management).

Best thing to do is contact the Leadville district as ask for more info. They may or may not simply refer you to the landowner as far as access to the mill, but they should be able to tell you if the gate is theirs or not. I actually thought about researching this, but I've been pretty busy since it came up and will be for a couple of weeks.

 

Since we are still on the topic about staying on the trail, what are the rules when getting to a point where you can’t continue, do you have to keep it in reverse until there’s an open area to turn around?

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question

 

Yep. Reverse until you can turn around without getting off the trail. If I’m somewhere I’m not familiar with or I’m not sure how far out the trail is open/passable, I always make special note of where I can get turned around safely if need be. I’ve done the Austin Powers manuever a few times.

 

The MVUM will give you the you the tools to make the best decision here. Certain districts have different rules for different things including parking off trail, turn outs, camping, ect. There isn't a clear answer of no most cases.

 

We rode from Lake City to Silverton on Cinnamon, California and Hurricane passes and back again on Friday. Beautiful day even after we got a late start. California was incredible, tons of snow there still. I'd say that was the highlight for most of our group.

On cinnamon about 3/4 way up


Looking toward the summit


Buddy's 4runner on 35s making last approach to summit, same drift as the pic above

At the top. Views for days

First view of Animas Forks


AF was very busy, but was expected since FJ was happening and first weekend that Cinnamon was open


Spotted @Ripcord


Their group heading out they way we came


Ready to head up California


Probably my favorite moment of the trail was arriving in this basin


Tallest snow wall we encountered


Top of California


Looking down to Lake Como


My buddy and one of his boys looking back the way we came


By the time we hit the top of Hurricane we were starving and the summit doesn't really have much of a parking area so this was just from the seat of the truck


Shelf road on the way back up Hurricane after lunch


Another view of Como


Made one last pit stop at AF on the way back. Friends wanted to hang there for a bit as we had it to ourselves but I was beat so I did the return on Cinnamon alone. Was pretty cool to have the trail to myself. Daughter and I saw a ton of deer and marmots.






Overall a great day. It was long but my daughter did great. Where the trail might lack in technicality for some you more hardcore wheelers on here, it makes up for it in views

 

More sunny days like the one we had will definitely help. Our friends have a cabin on cinnamon and they usually take the engineer way in to Silverton, the closure forced us the other way for the first time and it's the new way to go now. How much more difficult is Poughkeepsie than the others down there?

 

You may have luck on it. I was able to get my front up under electric power. Didn't have a functioning clutch so I couldn't bump the rear up.

 

Went over Hagerman Pass today.

 

gate with questionable route around said gate (not my pic):




also see 8:35 mark of this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaLh9nnBCNQ


in June 2015 when i was up there, this gate was locked. we parked and hiked up to the mill.

definitely interesting hearing how much it has been "open"


MVUM map, left side by Mount Champion in a box #36 shows FR110 ending short of the mill (white odd shaped outline next to the creek in box 36): https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd496303.pdf

so if a private claim leaves their gate open, does that mean come in? maybe they're ok with that?

definitely curious as to the right answer...

 

Spotted you in 285 traffic on our way home

 

yea i threw it in 2lo for that bullshit

 

Questionable? That is a straight up fucking illegal bypass, no question at all. Some places, like on Antero, that's a good way to get some bullet holes in your vehicle.

8:35 mark? Why didn't you just say the last two seconds?

I noted that MVUM bit above. Technically speaking, if it ain't shown on the MVUM, it's not a legal route - that road ends before you even get to that gate. Looking at the video and pics, I'm 90% certain that's a private gate because it's not the other standard the FS uses (single pipe with an angle support, typically brown) and unless the pic saturation has been cranked way the hell up it's not FS green either. Also, if you were meant to be able to park outside the gate but allowed to walk up to it, there should be a man-gap in the fence.

If a gate is open and not posted, you are supposed to be free to travel. If a gate is closed, but not posted or locked, you are theoretically allowed to pass through leaving it as you found it. If the gate is posted, regardless of open or closed, or if it is locked regardless of posting, or if it is down, you should not continue. Now the problem of course is that signs are really easy to vandalize and locks only slightly harder. The best you can do is get out and look around, and if you don't see any evidence of vandalism, proceed with an apology ready. There does generally have to be some common sense applied here though - if the gate is into private property with no further public land or route beyond you should have a reason for being there (and they should really post it). With a destination feature like the mill, even if that is the end of the road on private property the signage is really what tells you. You might be free to drive up to the feature but then the feature itself is posted.

Another popular structure, the Crystal Mill, is also on private property and you are not supposed to cross the river (technically even leave the road), let alone enter the structure.

 

Casual cruise up to Loch Lomond with @Coop68 and @bot102 and some BBQ on our way out.
It was a mix of sun, clouds, wind, and rain.

 

That traffic blows, even 285 is now bumper to bumper on Sundays? Yuck

 

I went up there on Saturday, pretty much the same description. Wasn't too excited about it. Seems like it would be a great place for lunch if the wind would just stop.

 

285 is terrible on sundays... everyone coming back from the mountains. both i70 and 285 sunday traffic is terrible. coming into fairplay from BV gets backed up for miles working through the stop light in town. that was coming out of bailey climbing the hill which gets backed up from a light at the other end of the hill.

 

Yeah it gotten crowded. Almost easier to stay sun night and come back Monday and take a day off work if able. Last time i got stuck on 285 the fire department was out on the bridge on top of crow hill taking donations for new gear and for all the fires last year. Think it was called fill the boot. (Since traffic was back up from the weekend)