Can't Get There From Here (A semi-epic quest for fall foliage and high passes)

One of my favorite REM songs kept playing in my head throughout this trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD3cYh5Pp1I

I had been planning this trip for the past few months with the hopes of squeezing it in before winter began to set it's grips on the higher portions of the state, tucking the trails in with a white blanket for a long winter's rest. The plan was to drive up to Crystal Friday night, then run Schofield pass over to Crested Butte Saturday morning, watch the Georgia vs LSU game in CB, head up and over Pearl Pass and camp for the night, and then hike Castle and Conundrum peaks Sunday morning.

Always have a plan B . . . and C . . . and . . .

 

Then, this guy decided to join the party and wreak havoc on my plans.



Heading up 70 towards Aspen Friday afternoon, me, my lady and the dog were greeted with rain, snow, hail and clouds. The aspens were showing nice colors with the valleys boxed in with clouds.

Made the drive up towards Crystal with a a few fresh inches on the trail, but not presenting any trouble yet, the beginning of the trail is fairly mellow, and the snow was not yet sticking on the trail. We cruised past the historic mill and got a glimpse of the iconic landmark lit up across the Crystal river, and proceeded to setup shop for the night near the fork where Schofield and Lead King Basin trails join above the town of Crystal.

 

The next morning greeted us with a few fresh inches and bluebird skies. We packed up camp and headed back down into Crystal to see the mill in the light of day, hoping to not be coming back through there.

 

Bustling downtown Crystal and the mill:

 

After a few quick pictures, back up the valley towards Devil's Puchbowl and Schofield pass. I have had these trails on my bucket list for awhile, having heard great things about the scenery and the trails, but was also aware that the trail through the Puchbowl area was cut into a cliff and roll overs when the trail is in good shape have happened. The sign leading up seemed to confirm this.

 

We made our way up the trail to a point where it dipped back down towards the river before cutting steeply up towards the first bridge on the trail. At this point, the trail was in good shape, with just a light layer of snow covering the trail, and traction/control was not an issue, but now the trail began to get narrower and more off camber. I decided to hike a ways up to evaluate the trail before going any further.

 

Getting deeper into the canyon, the trail had become a slip and slide with snow from the previous night melting and freezing over the trail. Got to the bridge below the Puchbowl and decided that it was not meant to be, conditions were just too sketchy to attempt without chains at the very least. So, headed back to the truck, taking in the gorgeous views on the way back down.

 

Time for Plan B: head back down through Crystal, over McClure pass, then Kebler pass to Crested Butte. While not part of the original plan, this was an awesome drive and another one on the bucket list, so really not that bad of an alternative.

Back through Crystal and past the mill again:








Past Lizard Lake:






And Beaver Lake:





Kebler Pass:

 

great pictures!

 

thanks for sharing. nothing like that back east.

 

wish I lived up there

 

After the Dawgs secured a solid won over LSU, proceeded up Pearl pass. It was beginning to get dark as we wound our way up the pass, so I did not get many pics, but this is an amazing area, and the trail was fabulous, with fun sections of mud, a few crawly type spots, water crossings, scree fields, tree sections etc.




Pearl Pass peaks at 12,728, and I knew that the snow cover was going to increase the higher we got, there were tracks from other trucks on the trail that we were following, so I felt fairly confident that we would be able to reach the pass. Approaching the top, things began to get a little dicier with a few sections where the snow had drifted to fill in the trail with a few feet of fresh, but the tracks we were following continued up onward.

Just as we were reaching what looked like it would be near the top of pass, at 12,500 feet, the trail opened into a basin and the snow got deep, 2-3 feet in sections, and the tracks that we were following had come to an end. Looking around for the trail (now completely covered and unidentifiable), we saw the last section that crept up a shelf road, and knew that this was going to be the end of the line. Snapped a quick pic of the sun setting, and headed back down to setup camp for the night, this was my first time actually running a semi-difficult trail at night, and damn is it fun!

Time for plan C . . .

 

Awesomeness. I will get to that area next summer, so help me...

 

So plan C was to head up Cement Creek, over Reno divide, down Italian creek to Taylor pass, and then up Taylor which connects to the backside of Pearl, where if conditions were agreeable, we could head up Montezuma basin and to the trail head to still bag Castle and Conundrum. We woke the next morning and proceeded back down the rest of Pearl to the highway and then up Cement Creek. Again the morning light made for some fantastic lighting on the changing aspens.

 

Reno Divide tops out at 12,000ish, so I felt good that we would be able to make it over, as the night before 12,000 feet was passable. Upon reaching the split for upper and lower Reno, the upper route, which is described as the more difficult due to tippy shelf road, wrapped around the backside of the hill and would not have gotten any sun. This made me think it would probably be pretty sketchy, so we ventured down the lower divide route, which stayed at around 11,600, although in and out of the trees. The sections of the trail that were in the sun were snow free, though frozen mud at the time having melted out the day prior and refrozen overnight, while everything in the trees was still covered in several inches of untouched white, the tracks that we had followed up had stopped, no one had ventured out this far the day prior.

We began a careful drive into the trees, stopping to look around the corner a few times, and noting the spots where turning around would be possible if it came to that. Every bend brought on more anxiety of sliding off the trail, and while we never came close to getting stuck or slipping off the side, it was a very real possibility and miles from anywhere. Common sense and good judgement took hold, and once again decided to turn around within sight of the crux of the trail.

Although these moments are tough on the ego and one's sense of self reliance, you would be a fool not to carefully weigh your options and the consequences. Could we have made it? I think it is very likely, and had we been with another vehicle with a winch, I think the answer would be yes. But traveling solo requires a better sense of judgement and willingness to turn back, even when things have not gotten bad yet. We could have gone up the upper portion of the divide, but by this point I was beginning to loose confidence that would be a viable option.

So it was time for . . . plan D.

Back down the way we came, and up the Taylor river to the valley in which Taylor reservoir resides, which is where Italian creek drops back into. By the time we reached the reservoir, it was noon, and wrapping around the lake to give Taylor Pass a go would eat up at least a few hours, putting us too late in the day to try to make any summits. Given the recent failure of three different pass attempts that had similar elevation to Taylor, a sad, but necessary, executive decision was made to scrap the plan for summits and rely on the the next plan inline, E, which consisted of Cottonwood pass over to Buena Vista and back home.

We had seen signs on the way up the Taylor river that Cottonwood was open, so we were set to finally reach a pass, which also serves as the continental divide, and made it up to the top at 12,126 feet. The west side of the pass is dirt, but the east is paved, and any car could easily make it up. Off in the distance are all of the passes and mountains that we had been trying for the past two days to make it over and through.

 

Nice write up, good info, epic pics!

 

So, 3/4 attempts to make our way through the high hills of CO were thwarted by an early winter storm. I suspect that within the next few days these routes will be possible, but another storm is called for next weekend, so I think the days of this summer's high mountain exploration are all but over

Below is a pic of the GPS' cookie crumb trail meandering through the mountains, taken at Taylor reservoir before heading up Cottonwood, clearly showing the three failed attempts . . . Cant get there from here.

 

Thanks! It was a really fun trip that tested both the truck and mental will.

Come on out! I plan to make this trip again (successfully) once all of the passes open back up, usually Julyish.

 

no shortage of awesome on that trip!

always enjoy hearing about your trips man..

definitely sucks about the numerous dead ends on the routes, but none-the-less you got to see some amazing shit as always..

a lot of those places are on my to-do list as well..

 

great photos!!! sounds like an amazing trip too, my wife has crystal mill on her bucket list too