Colorado trip 2017

shmukster · Sep 6, 2017

shmukster said: ↑

A late start on the trip report as we have been out of Internet and cell phone coverage since leaving base camp at Idaho springs. I took three days to drive to Colorado Springs while Crusha, Jeff, Mitch, and Steve did it in longer stretches including a long day going from zanesville Ohio to Salina Kansas. The drives out went well and we all met at the Argo motor inn in Idaho springs. Had a great meal at beaujos in the springs Sunday evening.

Monday morning we got out of the springs about 9am, loaded up with groceries at the Safeway and headed west 70 . Holiday traffic eastbound was bumper to bumper for miles. We had it great headed the opposite direction! Got off at Georgetown and headed up And over guanella pass which was jam packed with cars at the top. We motored right on through and down to route 285. From there it was up over Kenosha pass into South Park. Can hardly believe that north bound traffic on 285 was bumper to bumper for at least 40 miles! Once again we were headed in the right direction.

Drove down through Fairplay and headed off the hard road to breakneck pass. Great trail not particularly difficult but it has its moments. It was tight with trees though and my nice 81 got her first side rashes. Stopped for lunch and did Brown's pass another nice trail not real challenging. Drove back out to 285 and headed south again watching the parade of traffic headed north. Went down to the turnoff for Weston pass and headed west. Saw very few other vehicles from this point on. Found a great primitive campsite and got set up for the night. Had a great fire pit and a generous supply of logs for us! Greg barbecued salmon for us and served it with baked beans. A very good supper. Great campfire sessions that night the boys polished off the first bottle of bourbon on the trip but certainly not the last. Got to bed around eleven and had our first night of sleeping bags. Woke up to ice on the tents and vehicles! Figure it was about 26 degrees brrrr!!!
.
Had breakfast in camp and got everything all dried out and packed up. Did I mention that we had a fast running stream adjacent to the fire ring? Was a great campsite and so it was that we left it about 10 o'clock. Headed up over Weston pass elevation about 11600 feet. Out to route 24 then south for fuel in Buena Vista. From there down to county 162 and out through mount Princeton and st Elmo. While the county work crew was working on he road we stopped for lunch right above St Elmo. Once the road crew was done we headed up to Hancock. From there I took a wrong turn and we drove up an awesome trail into an alpine basin south or east of Hancock pass. It was a great drive though and a neat. Basin. Backtracked to Hancock and took the right turn to Hancock Pass (thanks Mitch!!!) and up over the pass. Steve got some wheel time in Jeff's truck for the best part of the climb. Took a bunch of pictures and had a blast.
From the pass we could see the road over Tomichi, I looked for the place where there was reported to have been a slide but I couldn't see where. From there it was down the east side to the old rail road grade which we followed almost to Pitkin. From there it was up and over a damn bumpy Cumberland pass to Tincup then down through Taylor Park past the reservoir to Almont. We were lucky enough to score a cabin that sleeps six. The showers were welcome and I cooked cheeseburgers for supper. After cleaning the dishes we settled down to some poker and drinking. The boys drank Bob's bourbon with much a fanfare and we thank Old Bob for his contribution!
Everyone had a great night sleep here in Almont and we awoke Wednesday morning to temps in the mid thirties. beautiful morning. Mitch made a great breakfast and I assure you there wee no leftovers! We're getting ready to head out shortly andI I will continue this blog later today. Bear with me for any clerical errors as I am unfamiliar with Crusha' apple ipod. Shmukster signing off for now. And pictures will follow as soon as we get enough wifi strength to load them.
Click to expand...

crawlin40 · Sep 7, 2017

Great update. Thanks Gary and enjoy!

dci blair · Sep 7, 2017

Sounds awesome! Enjoy guys!

rubicondon53 · Sep 7, 2017

nothing quite like waking up to freezing temps. Tis a bit exhilarating eh? Good bourbon helps.
Keep posting up Keep having a great time..

Crusha · Sep 7, 2017

We saw real live mountain goats today!
Highlight of my day!

caz · Sep 8, 2017

I'm jealous. Either of you want to adapt a 44 year old son before you make another trip?

Pacer · Sep 9, 2017

caz said: ↑

I'm jealous. Either of you want to adapt a 44 year old son before you make another trip?
Click to expand...

Let's make it happen again in a year or two here Caz!

BROKEROB1 · Sep 13, 2017

Looks like I missed you boys on the top of Tincup by a few days...

Crusha · Sep 13, 2017

caz said: ↑

I'm jealous. Either of you want to adapt a 44 year old son before you make another trip?
Click to expand...

Next stop is, hopefully, Rubithon 2018. We'd love to have you join us, whoever "us" is at that time...

Log in / Register

Clubhouses

Colorado trip 2017

shmukster

crawlin40

dci blair

rubicondon53

Crusha Self-censoring my mud posts... SILVER Star

caz Keystone Cruisers SILVER Star

Pacer SILVER Star

BROKEROB1 SILVER Star

Crusha Self-censoring my mud posts... SILVER Star

Log in / Register

Useful Searches

Colorado trip 2017

shmukster

crawlin40

dci blair

rubicondon53

Crusha Self-censoring my mud posts... SILVER Star

caz Keystone Cruisers SILVER Star

Pacer SILVER Star

BROKEROB1 SILVER Star

Crusha Self-censoring my mud posts... SILVER Star