August 20th - Mosquito Pass (1 Viewer)

[krispykritter]

Hey y'all! Sorry to hijack this (possibly future) thread, but my family and I are planning on joining this ride, but we live up in Denver and would be meeting everyone somewhere near the start of the trail. I haven't seen anyone else discussing this, so I have some questions!

Is this still happening?

If yes, where would a good meetup spot be, and what time?

Anyone from the Denver area planning on heading down for this and wanna convoy?

Is this a single day thing or is some camping planned?

Thanks!

 

[EricG]

I haven't heard anything about it yet either - but our day trips seem to come together (or not) in the few days preceding. I know that's not ideal for planning.

I don't think we've camped on this one before, but no reason you couldn't.

Fairplay would probably as good a place as any to meet. Maybe Prather's Market, just east of the 285, 9 intersection. Not sure who's running this show - maybe they can jump in.

 

[krispykritter]

I haven't heard anything about it yet either - but our day trips seem to come together (or not) in the few days preceding. I know that's not ideal for planning.

I don't think we've camped on this one before, but no reason you couldn't.

Fairplay would probably as good a place as any to meet. Maybe Prather's Market, just east of the 285, 9 intersection. Not sure who's running this show - maybe they can jump in.

Appreciate the response! I haven't been out that way yet and this would be my first 13k foot pass since we moved this year. Is there plenty of camping out that way, so we could show up lateish Friday and still find a spot? Finding a campspot anywhere near Denver is quite a pain if you don't show up early.

 

[EricG]

Appreciate the response! I haven't been out that way yet and this would be my first 13k foot pass since we moved this year. Is there plenty of camping out that way, so we could show up lateish Friday and still find a spot? Finding a campspot anywhere near Denver is quite a pain if you don't show up early.

I've never camped in that area - maybe someone else can weigh in.

 

[SAS]

Yes, we're a GO for Mosquito Pass on August 20th--we've just been focused on getting the earlier event (Cruisin' for a Brewsin', Sunday 14th 10am to 2pm; see separate thread) on the launch pad!!!

We could meet at the store in Fairplay, but Saturday's tend to be congested right there (3-way intersection), so I'll suggest we meet 300 yards west of Hwy 9, where we turn on County Road 12 to start Mosquito Pass (there is a large parking area with room for 8-10 rigs). There is plenty of camping on the west side (Leadville side), or also plenty of camping spots on Weston Pass (if we choose to use that to return east towards Fairplay). More details to follow.

 

[krispykritter]

Sweet! Thanks very much for the update. We may end up camping that way; not sure yet. Appreciate the advice on where the campsites are!

 

[Goslow]

I plan to go. We’ll probably do mosquito and Weston and back to Colorado Springs on Saturday.

 

[SAS]

Saturday, August 20
Meet at the Alta Convenience Store, (Phillips? Did they change name again???) address: 2710 Mountain Glen Ct.
Between 8am and 8:30am We'll do our best to depart at 8:30am

Bring stuff you need for a day on the trails--water, snacks, lunch, jacket, hat, tools, spare parts, etc.
If you're camping overnight, then bring what you need! Take a peek at the weather forecast for Leadville, and that should give us an indication of what to expect.

We'll drive west US 24 to Hartsel, then US 9 north to Fairplay, and NW toward Alma. We'll turn W on Park County Rd 12, and meet @krispykritter 200-300 yards up the gravel road (pullout has space for 8 to 10 rigs). This is where we can air-down and strap-down gear before it gets bumpy. ETA to this point is 1030-ish.

Bring a radio (or pair if you have them). GMRS/FRS types. We'll use a freq and set up an alternate if there's too much cross-traffic.
Amateur/HAM radios, too!

 

[krispykritter]

Thanks for the update; Looking forward to making it up my first 13k foot pass! See you guys then. We decided not to camp this weekend (simply too much prep work needed before a four-day Maze trip over Labor Day weekend) so I'll be driving down from Westminster that morning.

@SAS just to make sure, this (39.270267, -106.049782) is the parking area you are referring to?

 

[SAS]

Thanks for the update; Looking forward to making it up my first 13k foot pass! See you guys then. We decided not to camp this weekend (simply too much prep work needed before a four-day Maze trip over Labor Day weekend) so I'll be driving down from Westminster that morning.

@SAS just to make sure, this (39.270267, -106.049782) is the parking area you are referring to?

Affirmative. See you there on Saturday around 1030am.

 

[LandLocked93]

So...we're seeing 70% chance rain Sat and Sun. Temps 56/41 Saturday, 61/38 Sunday.
Just FYI.
It's San Juan, last year.

Is anyone swayed? Looking to make it too. But camp as well. Couple spare gallons of white gas on the shopping list.

Are there burn restrictions in place?

 

[krispykritter]

After winching my 100 and a Tacoma up longwater rock last weekend, I'm good with the rain and cold (and lightning at 7500 ft and falling on my ass). I'm not camping though, but cold is fine and wet is fine, but cold and wet might suck.

Will see y'all Saturday barring an act of god.

 

[LandLocked93]

After winching my 100 and a Tacoma up longwater rock last weekend, I'm good with the rain and cold (and lightning at 7500 ft and falling on my ass). I'm not camping though, but cold is fine and wet is fine, but cold and wet might suck.

Will see y'all Saturday barring an act of god.

Yeah ok. We decided not to camp either.
All good trailing in the rain tho.

 

[Goslow]

I want to have more time on the pass to do some hiking so I am planning to leave COS around 630. I will see you all up there. I’ll be driving my white Lexus.

 

[wonderlc]

Looks like Josh and I will be camping. We are going to go up Friday evening and camp Saturday as well, and head back Sunday! The weather looks hit and miss but looks like we will get plenty wet! Oh well. I will bring an E-Z UP style shelter and maybe move my awning over too, that way we can have some shelter.

 

[1000Taco0001]

Yup, we are camping on beaver ridge trail tonight. We will meet you tomorrow after breakfast at either the turn toward Alma in FairPlay or at the pullout on county road 12. We will shoot a txt tomorrow.

 

[krispykritter]

Fun day, thanks guys! So, for the part ya'll all skipped: Birdseye Gulch wasn't bad. It definitely WAS more technical than anything else we did that day, though. Several times I scraped my skid plates and put a nice new gash in my left rear wheel. There were also several uncomfortably off-camber spots as well, and a few trees in awkward spots. Overall, though, it was a lot of fun and I'm definitely heading back there in the future.

I never saw the crazy mud bog that @SAS mentioned. There was a spot that had a sign up saying Mile High 4x4 Club had done some trail repairs, but that was all. The slowest/most technical spot was this (this was about halfway through the rough spot):

...slow crawl down a creek with lots of rocks and mud to slip around on. I made in through in the 100 without any trouble and no spotting, just slow going and careful wheel placement.

Here's a few other shots from the day:

Great day! Looking forward to the next one!

 

[SAS]

Great time on the Mosquito Pass--thanks to all who came! We had 7 rigs, and possibly for the first time...more 100-Series than any other model!

A few of us camped on the Leadville side, not far from the end of the road (at Diamond Mine). It was a good spot, suitable for 4-5 rigs. It rained overnight but not a lot. In the morning, we dropped down into Leadville and "dragged the boulevard" to see the sites, then walked the sidewalks to get some coffee and "window shop". Coincidentally, this weekend was the Leadville 100 (ultra marathon) so there were lots of people (but then again, every summer weekend in Leadville is busy).

 

[LandLocked93]

A few more memories.

Had a great time! Aptly named - Mo'squito Pass.

Looking forward to ... Sierra Butte? The 'leaf change' run?