mk5 adventures

Trip Report: Colorado 2022, day 9


The crack of ‘whenever’

Dang, I’m getting sick of typing. I thought I had this whole thing written up already, but I guess I only made it to day 8 back then. Let’s cut to the highlights:









This is the day I finally drove up to the summit of Mt Bross!





Upper approach...


14,172 feet!

I’m not sure if this is still a legal drive. It was at the time. A lot of private land in these parts.


Hikers on an adjacent peak

Ooh -- along the way, the summit got an F-15 flyover. And yes, of course I had the drone in the air. Luckily well below the summit. I didn’t get any footage of the plane itself, but here’s its shadow whizzing by:


Dashcam would have picked it up too, but it had shit the bed back in Utah


2024 update: I guess I panned the airborne camera up in time to catch a glimpse of it, too. This is like 1000' below the summit, flying above switchbacks in the road.


Kept a careful eye out for fighter jets when flying up top. Sadly they didn’t return.




Cool spot.

Then I got a most-epic breakfast burrito on Alma, then a growler fill in South Park. Or maybe BV – I forget. But in any case, I eventually made my way up to St Elmo.



I had been wanting to drive over Hancock pass for years, but from what I could tell at the time, the palisades and tunnel historical site on the far side were still closed by a rockfall, and there isn’t much lake fishing to be had in that direction either. Tincup would make better sense for this trip.



It rained off and on all evening, but I found some great fishing, and a convenient mostly-vacant USFS campground up there that simplified camping that night. It was beautiful up there!



And while I'm still saving up for that whole-ass steam train... I at least got a whole-ass rainbow!

Pretty beautiful sunset, I'd have to say.





I tried filleting a cutthroat that night. Delicious, but not worth the effort. Just cook ‘em whole – lesson learned.


Beautiful night



I think this is the highest I've ever been, other than on airplanes?

 

FINAL DAY: Colorado 2022, day 10!!!

Jesus this was a lot of pictures and typing.



I couldn't resist the urge to top off the freezer with trout before heading home, so I stopped down at the park res. Always a delight!

I didn't bring the camera down to the lake, so forgive the lackluster cellphone shots of the following wildlife:


First, we have some kind of fish that kept trying to eat my trout. I have no idea what this guy was. Hard to see him, but he's just below the upside-down rainbow. Maybe 12-14" long... and very toothy!


Then, this Bald Eagle swooped down, did a back-flip and belched out the national anthem.


Fuck yeah!

With that, it was basically time to head back home, to SoCal. I had work the next day. But... what route to take?

Well, I decided it would make sense to just take I-70. You know, for fuel mileage. So, it would only make sense to take the shortest route to I-70 from here...



Thus began a particularly epic if not ill-fated final phase of the adventure.



This is not exactly an interstate, but it's hard not to feel welcome here. It's almost as if it's designed for Tacomas!





Maybe not so much this part, though. Screeeech!



It has some fun little challenges:



But there was hardly anyone else on the road. In fact I only ever saw one other group. A jeep doubling back down, with a passenger standing up in the back seat. I guess that guy had crashed his side-by-side up at the top and was getting a ride back down. He asked if I knew a good tow company. I told him there was a volunteer group with a youtube channel, but couldn't remember what it was called. (Note: it is 'Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery,' and I haven't seen them post a video of such a recovery, so I don't know if or how he eventually got it out!)

Eventually I found said crash, right below the summit:




Ouch! Glad the guy was unharmed. I don't think he was in it for the fall.

I was a bit weary of snow, though, and the lack of traffic make me increasingly concerned the road would be impassible up top. But, I saw only this one little splooch on the way up to the summit:



So, I figured I was golden. Already half way to Aspen, and saving gas as well! What a smart person I was being, making such wise decisions all day!



This is a pretty awesome little road!





In fact I was having such a fun time enjoying the views and checking in with the wife, I didn't even notice all the snow drifts on the upcoming shelf part of the road...



Until, suddenly, I did...



I spent some time considering my options here. Although the first little bit of snow was small, it was already an enormous amount to attempt shoveling through. And far more lurked ahead:



The lower drifts looked more promising for winching across though...



It was just the upper ones that would be sketchy, being off-camber shelf roads and all, with definitely nothing massive or sturdy enough to anchor a tow line.

I probably knew in my heart this was stupid. But, I figured, these little drifts were already nearly melted through!... I could keep the two outer tires on dry terrain while punching through the snow, right?

I at least knew this would be sketchy enough to demand my full attention, so I landed the camera first. And with the dashcam still broken, I'm afraid I don't have any footage of the hilarity that ensued.

Yes, obviously, the very first drift instantly punted me entirely off the roadway, putting me alarmingly off camber and nosed downhill, and all I could do was slip further down the scree. This was ... not as fun as I had hoped. I was eventually able to use RWD to slip the back wheels downhill from the fronts, then climb back up to the far side of the drift.


My battery didn't last for the full duration of the work... I too was soon spent!

I then spent the next several hours shoveling out that whole stupid drift, and replacing all the rocks I had kicked further down the hillside, until there was no trace of this fiasco discernable, other than a freshly shoveled-through drift. Ugh!

(Yep, it turns out the whole bottom half of the drift was solid ice, which is both why I immediately slipped off it to the side, and also why it was a pain the ass to chisel apart with the shovel!)

I was obviously not going to make it to Aspen after all. Fuck. I let my wife know from the summit, then started the arduous drive back southward. Which was, of course, absolutely beautiful!









Rainstorms and darkness had moved in by the time I got down to the aspen groves...




Side-note: This side spotter cam has proven utterly invaluable on these adventures... I don't think I've popped the front passenger tire in several years!



It was well into night when I finally got back to pavement. And here's where I made my final mistake: turning south.

I was pretty exhausted, and like 12 hours behind schedule now. I was done adventuring. Certainly, backtracking to US50 would make the most sense, right?

Except US50 was closed. I got forced back onto SR92 again! GRRR!!!!!!!



I threw in the towel and called out of work the next day. I made it to ... I dunno, somewhere in Utah before I couldn't keep my eyes open.


Rest area somewhere in Utah

 

it's official...you're crazy

 

The very first time I went out in my first 4wd I got stuck on a shelf in the Sierras with a bit of snow and had to use that technique. I never would have thought of it, but my friend (who’s never owned a 4wd) suggested it and it worked. That was 41 years ago this month … thanks for triggering the memory.

 

The apple has ripened. Merry Christmas.