Brighten the Sangres - June 20!!!

[Goslow]

Each year members of Colorado Land Cruisers drive to Westcliffe to volunteer their time to help the US Forest Service with their annual trail opening event. We encourage as many as possible to attend this trail run in Westcliffe for the Brighten the Sangres event on Saturday, June 20. This is our premier USFS event of the summer, where we participate with the Forest Service Rangers and many other volunteers to open the roads from deadfall, refurbish the Hermit Pass Road campground, and clean up the 4x4 roads. The Forest Service depends on CLC to show up in force, as we are the only club that makes an effort to be there on an annual basis.

There are several trails that we may work on. Some years they send us all up one trail and other years we have had enough volunteers to send a few vehicles up each of the roads. We anticipate driving the SouthColonyLakes, HermitPass, and Lake Creek Roads this year. You can go for the day on June 20 or combine it with 1 or 2 nights camping.

Vic will lead a group down Friday night, June 19, and camp at the Fairgrounds that night. Most years a group will also camp on Saturday night, either at the Fairgrounds or up on one of the trails. Please see the club calendar on our website for the meet and leave times, and please give Vic a call at 439-9602 if you plan to meet and drive on Friday night.

Check the club calendar for the Saturday, June 20, times if you plan to leave then. We will check-in with the rangers at 8:30 am at the Custer County Fairgrounds in Westcliffe. So, if you miss one of the groups above just meet us there. Bring a bow saw, work gloves, nippers, winching gear if you have it, and all the usual stuff (food, water, raingear, etc). Some of these roads go above tree line so even on a warm day it can get cool at the top. On some of the roads the snow pack will dictate the end of the road.



A good time is had by all at Brighten the Sangres. Please reply and let us know if you plan to come.


Vic

 

[PPFJ60]

I plan on making this event. At this time I plan on leaving Friday night and camping two nights.

 

[black95]

chuck, I am looking at friday night too, let me know if you want to get together on it.

 

[minisrule]

I am planning on Friday night also. As usual though I have no idea what time I am going to be able to leave.

 

[Goslow]

I'm glad all you guys are going Friday night. I might not be able to make it due to shifting family priorities. I'll bring a map to the June 16 meeting showing you where the fairgrounds are and where to camp.

Vic

 

[Goslow]

Anyone else going? How about on Saturday morning?

 

[Man Jerk]

I'm gonna be ballooning in fairplay.

 

[PPFJ60]

Maybe some strong winds will be blowing from North to South?

 

[PPFJ60]

Brighten the Sangres flyer.

 

[black95]

I can truly say that my wife and I had a really good time on this trip. It wasn't so much due to the fourwheeling as it was due to the good company and the campfire sittings. It's pretty wierd to camp in a cow pasture, but after dark, its just like being in the mountains if you don't look too hard.

Chuck and I convoyed down friday night and set up camp, Don was already there and flagged us down with a flashlight, it was a good thing cause we really didn't know where to camp since neither of us had been to the sangres trip before. (thanks Don). Gary and his FJ40 made it in shortly thereafter followed be Andy and his enclosed trailer. Saturday morning brought Ken and his daughter, with Sam catching up with us at the middle taylor camp.

We woke up saturday morning to the sound of rain on the tent, but it moved out for a while so we could get ready to hook up with the forest service and get to hermit pass. Andy had to drop out of the run due to a broken brake line, Chuck's FJ60 was making some really bad noises that we thought were coming from the transfer case, but we later found out it was a bad ring and pinion in the rear. Chuck rode with my wife Heather and I, while Andy rode with Gary.

The rain was on and off all day. We never really had any downpours, and I really can't remember my clothes getting wet, so it must have not been that bad. We spent most of the day cleaning up around middle taylor camp ground. There was surprisingly little trash to be found, so we spent most of the day moving and stacking wood that the forest serviced guys cut down to eliminate fall hazards. Everyone got to go up and see the waterfall, and we ended up stopping for lunch at this spot.

The forest service guys talked about us adding a coat of sealer to the picnick tables, but the were just not dryed out enough, so the group took off up the trail. There was still not much trash to be found so about half the group stopped and hiked to the lake, My wife and I headed up to see how far we could get before the snow stopped us. It was about 12,500 feet, the snow was not deep, but it was icy and on a sidehill, making it too dangerous to cross. We tried to back off the trail a little to turn around and ended up having to get out the winch to get ourselves back on the trail. The mud was mixed with ice and too slick to even dig down, yet it ended up coating my truck somehow. The group radioed that everyone was ready to head down, so we made our way back.

At camp saturday night, it was Chuck, Andy, my wife Heather, and myself. We had a good fire going, the rain and clouds moved out, and gave way to a clear sky. We had a few adult beverages and discussed that fact that satellites can be seen orbiting the earth (we saw three in about a 20 minute span) and watched the shooting stars. I'm still in awe of the satellite thing, I guess I learned something new that night.

We drove out sunday shortly after breaking camp. Chuck pulled out his rear driveshaft Saturday night, so he was able to drive with the front axle, and didn't need earplugs to get home.

We made a side trip to Bishop castle. I was completely in awe of this place, It's unlike anything I've ever seen. If you haven't been before, you just have to check it out to believe it, and you have to go all the way up the towers to appreciate it. (I don't care how scared of hieghts you are)

Anyway, that's about it, If anyone thinks of anything throw it in too.......and hopefully we will get some pictures. I forgot my camera, but Gary was there, so hopefully he and everyone else will share. see ya in buena vista!!!!!

 

[PPFJ60]

Don, two FS rangers and myself hiked to Hermit Lake. The tail had lots of snow and it was hard to follow. Ken, his daughter and Gary were going to hike to the lake but lost the trail in the snow and turned around. There were lots of foot prints from people looking for the lake so you couldn't just follow foot prints to the lake.

We could have used another chain saw around the camp ground but I guess we will need to take a ~3 hour class to get certified first.

Colorful Colorado was in high gear. Lots of green with many flowers on the entire trip.

Here are a couple of pictures from Bishop's Castle. Since I didn't have Pretty Penny on the Hermit trail and my camera was in Pretty Penny, I don't have any pictures from Brighten the Sangres.