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Thread: Colorado?

  1. #1
    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
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    Default Colorado?

    Going to Colorado thinking first 2 weeks of September, everybody back in school less people etc.. so I wanna do the maroon bells 4 pass loop only about 40 miles or less , right outside of Aspen. I haven't done to much research yet thought I'd get what I could from you'll first. Where would 1 obtain a map? Is bear canister required? Is the trail easy to follow? Would you do it clock wise or counter clockwise? And what about snow?

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    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Go to the governing National Forest web pages. White River NF is one. The current rules & regulations are there.
    Joey at MyOwnFrontier and David Gray have videos on YouTube.
    You will need a bear canister and a 20 degree F VERIFIED BY YOU sleeping system.
    Have fun! September is great in the Rockies. There might be bow hunters around. Some Blaze Orange on your person and/or backpack won't hurt.
    Wayne
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    I’m Co bound on September 10 but hitting the CT for another go....have fun! I’m counting down and look forward to cooler temps! 100* here in North Fl currently, ready for winter!!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    Go to the governing National Forest web pages. White River NF is one. The current rules & regulations are there.
    Joey at MyOwnFrontier and David Gray have videos on YouTube.
    You will need a bear canister and a 20 degree F VERIFIED BY YOU sleeping system.
    Have fun! September is great in the Rockies. There might be bow hunters around. Some Blaze Orange on your person and/or backpack won't hurt.
    Wayne
    Thanks that's actually why I want to hike this trail I seen Joey's video and syntax 77 video, wow looks so beautiful.

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    Registered User JNI64's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by saltysack View Post
    I’m Co bound on September 10 but hitting the CT for another go....have fun! I’m counting down and look forward to cooler temps! 100* here in North Fl currently, ready for winter!!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Haha, yeah I feel ya we've been close to them temps to here in wv.

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    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Unfortunately, too many people have seen the videos.
    Get there early. 2-3 days hiking at or above 10,000’ will help a lot.
    Wayne

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    Quote Originally Posted by JNI64 View Post
    Going to Colorado thinking first 2 weeks of September, everybody back in school less people etc.. so I wanna do the maroon bells 4 pass loop only about 40 miles or less , right outside of Aspen. I haven't done to much research yet thought I'd get what I could from you'll first. Where would 1 obtain a map? Is bear canister required? Is the trail easy to follow? Would you do it clock wise or counter clockwise? And what about snow?
    Fantastic loop, I'm getting ready for my 7th time around it next week.

    For some reason, I've always done it clockwise. Just seems to flow better that way. Maybe I'll reverse it this next time. Easy to follow trail, couple confusing turns here and there, but pretty straight forward.

    Yep, need a bear canister. Watch for aggressive Moose. They actually closed the trail a couple years ago because of an aggressive bull moose.

    But the loop is only 26 miles, takes two leisurely days, you're there for two weeks. Hit part of the CO trail perhaps? Like the Collegiate west between Twin Lakes and Monarch pass? Or do the collegiate loop, 160 miles, 11-ish days?

    Enjoy! Early September is The Best time (usually!) in CO for backpacking.

    Attached pics all from separate years.
    Attached Images Attached Images

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    Thanks so much rob, I was hoping someone like you would chime in. But I've more questions if you don't mind.? I'm solo so 4 days driving out and back from Harper's ferry wv.. maybe start my hike Monday morning but being labor day probably super busy so if I start Tuesday morning early maybe I'll have a place to park at small trailhead parking lot? And I will be the king of lollygaggers on this hike taken 4 days ,6 miles or so a day and set up next to ,well 100 or more feet from a beautiful lake or waterfall. I'll probably go clockwise from what I've seen. I'm coming along ways for this and I'm gonna simply enjoy. My next question are there brown or Grizzlies in Colorado? And after crapping myself what does someone do with a aggressive bull moose? And I will have some extra days, how far away is the co trail from there the section you're talking about?

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    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    No grizzlies in Colorado. Grizzlies are Brown bears. Black bears in Colorado.
    Give moose a wide berth. They kill more folks in Alaska than the Grizzlies.
    It would be very beneficial to get to the mountains in time to do some walking around at or above 10,000 feet before backpacking. Or, as you have planned, just go slow at first.
    Rob will probably flame me for this, but I'm sticking to my story: Avoid the Denver Metro area like the Plague! Last year my wife & I returned to Texas from South Dakota by driving mostly due south from Mt. Rushmore. Limoncellos, CO was a close as we got to Denver. Colorado Springs isn't much better traffic and congestion wise. Walsenburg to Salida is a nice drive. Unfortunately, the 4 Pass Loop may involve Denver. Good luck!
    Looks like Denver & Summit County on Labor Day?
    Wayne
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    Here’s wishing ALL TEXANS avoid the entire state.

    They are like a locust plague.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    No grizzlies in Colorado. Grizzlies are Brown bears. Black bears in Colorado.
    Give moose a wide berth. They kill more folks in Alaska than the Grizzlies.
    It would be very beneficial to get to the mountains in time to do some walking around at or above 10,000 feet before backpacking. Or, as you have planned, just go slow at first.
    Rob will probably flame me for this, but I'm sticking to my story: Avoid the Denver Metro area like the Plague! Last year my wife & I returned to Texas from South Dakota by driving mostly due south from Mt. Rushmore. Limoncellos, CO was a close as we got to Denver. Colorado Springs isn't much better traffic and congestion wise. Walsenburg to Salida is a nice drive. Unfortunately, the 4 Pass Loop may involve Denver. Good luck!
    Looks like Denver & Summit County on Labor Day?
    Wayne
    No flames! I Agree on "avoiding the Denver area", but Aspen is no where near Denver.... But of course, you do have to drive through Denver coming from the east to get to Aspen, assuming you're on I70 but as long as you avoid rush hours or Bronco games on Sunday afternoons, the traffic getting through Denver ain't bad.

    What I would actually recommend for getting to Aspen, is to come in to town via Independence Pass, highway 82. Really pretty drive. LEave I70 at Copper mountain, head south on CO 91 to Leadville, south on US 24, then hang a right on CO 82.

    The parking situation at the Maroon Lake trailhead keeps changing, I'm going to be looking afresh into that myself for our upcoming hike, I'll report back with the latest. They do have an "overnight lot" specifically for backpackers, but it is not huge and does fill. The approach road is closed to private vehicles 8am-5pm every day, so you have to arrive outside of those hours. As I said, I'll check all of this out and report back in the next couple weeks.

    When you're done with the 4-pass, you can return back over Indy Pass (CO 82) to Twin Lakes CO and hit the collegiate west portion of the CO trail from there. Either out and back, or better yet, there are some looping options.

    BTW Labor day itself tends to thin out with folks going home, but definitely avoid the LD weekend in CO, and to be safe, yeah, start your hike on that Tuesday.

    More later, including an alternative that might work (different trailhead for the 4-pass loop).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hosh View Post
    Here’s wishing ALL TEXANS avoid the entire state.

    They are like a locust plague.
    No worries mate. I know how to go around.
    Wayne

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    Thanks you'll, I'm glad to hear only black bears. And rob I will wholeheartedly take your advice on getting to Aspen to avoid Denver. And that does sound good after 4 pass, what you suggested I can get a hotel room then go back out for 4-5 days and do some research and put together a hike on co trail loop would be awesome. Yes please do report back , thanks again you've been a big help.

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    This is probably a false alarm & I apologize. Google didn't get the opening dates? It can't hurt to check.

    Rob & JNI64: Y'all need to check with the Colorado Highway folks. According to the internet, Hwy 82 is closed for construction. You can't drive to Aspen from Twin Lakes.
    This closure was announced quite some time ago. I didn't know that it was still closed. Or not. A phone call should clear up the current status. It could be open again by September 1.
    Good luck.
    Wayne
    Last edited by Venchka; 07-07-2019 at 12:52.
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    Ok so I'm getting ready to order maps for the maroon 4 bells loop, the nat. Geo should do? And the Colgate west loop nat. Geo. And maybe mags trail guide? I'll also be ordering the bv500, bear canister . And I think I'll be using the bear canister on my AT sections as well, I'm really tired of trying to find a place to hang at the end of the day. The Last section hike I'm glad there wasn't any bear around because he could have easily gotten it at least 1 night.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    This is probably a false alarm & I apologize. Google didn't get the opening dates? It can't hurt to check.

    Rob & JNI64: Y'all need to check with the Colorado Highway folks. According to the internet, Hwy 82 is closed for construction. You can't drive to Aspen from Twin Lakes.
    This closure was announced quite some time ago. I didn't know that it was still closed. Or not. A phone call should clear up the current status. It could be open again by September 1.
    Good luck.
    Wayne
    Are you sure whatever reference you found isn't referring to Cottonwood pass, which indeed, is closed for construction? No such closure on CO82, Twin lakes to Aspen, independence pass. If ever in doubt, go to codot.gov

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    Quote Originally Posted by JNI64 View Post
    Ok so I'm getting ready to order maps for the maroon 4 bells loop, the nat. Geo should do? And the Colgate west loop nat. Geo. And maybe mags trail guide? I'll also be ordering the bv500, bear canister . And I think I'll be using the bear canister on my AT sections as well, I'm really tired of trying to find a place to hang at the end of the day. The Last section hike I'm glad there wasn't any bear around because he could have easily gotten it at least 1 night.
    I highly recommend getting comfortable with using caltopo. Free, fairly easy to learn, just go to caltopo.com.

    Here is my saved Aspen 4-pass caltopo link:

    https://caltopo.com/m/DUK0

    On this caltopo map is the 4-pass loop, going clockwise, with some suggested camps. Camp 2 is especially fine, a real gem. The red/yellow/blue/orange are GPS tracks, got them somewhere, they are mostly notional, not exact, I don't believe I ever laid down an accurate track f the route, it is really easy to follow.

    With caltopo, you can zoom, print, whatever you like, generate a bunch of jpeg files at whatever detail you want, make a run to kinkos (or whatever they are now called, fedEx maybe?) and print them. I also like to do profiles of the trail segments, lets me know what I'm up against with elevation gain/loss.

    Attached are some example jpegs. The first is an overall view of the route. The second is a zoom-in of the early/late route, and the third is an elevation profile of the "day 1" route.

    I've also got a CT west caltopo file if you decide to go this way.
    Attached Images Attached Images

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    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by colorado_rob View Post
    Are you sure whatever reference you found isn't referring to Cottonwood pass, which indeed, is closed for construction? No such closure on CO82, Twin lakes to Aspen, independence pass. If ever in doubt, go to codot.gov
    Rob,
    I was using Google Maps. On highway 82 between Twin Lakes and Aspen. A red dot near the high point said Independence Pass Closed. Verified and the date on that occasion. I qualified my warning that it might be a false alarm.
    I did go to codot.gov. No help either way: Pass Open or Closed on that day.
    Y’all have fun!
    Wayne
    Last edited by Venchka; 07-29-2019 at 17:30.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    Rob,
    I was using Google Maps. On highway 82 between Twin Lakes and Aspen. A red dot near the high point said Independence Pass Closed. Verified and the date on that occasion. I qualified my warning that it might be a false alarm.
    I did go to codot.gov. No help either way: Pass Open or Closed on that day.
    Y’all have fun!
    Wayne
    Who knows why it was closed, wreck, whatever, but as far as I know, there is no major construction on the pass.

    FWIW, it's kinda 50/50 going over Indy pass or going I70 west to Glenwood springs then south to Aspen. Sitting in an Aspen bar one day after a climb, my buddies and I had a discussion as to which way was faster, so we tested it. One group went 82 to Glenwood then I70 to Denver, I went Indy pass to Twin Lakes, then south on 24 then north on 285 to Denver. They won, and rubbed it in. Turns out the driver of the other car got a ticket for going 86 in a 75 zone on I70. I went the speed limit, as I do these days. So really, 50/50. I just hate I70 and avoid it whenever possible.

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    Quote Originally Posted by colorado_rob View Post
    I highly recommend getting comfortable with using caltopo. Free, fairly easy to learn, just go to caltopo.com.

    Here is my saved Aspen 4-pass caltopo link:

    https://caltopo.com/m/DUK0

    On this caltopo map is the 4-pass loop, going clockwise, with some suggested camps. Camp 2 is especially fine, a real gem. The red/yellow/blue/orange are GPS tracks, got them somewhere, they are mostly notional, not exact, I don't believe I ever laid down an accurate track f the route, it is really easy to follow.

    With caltopo, you can zoom, print, whatever you like, generate a bunch of jpeg files at whatever detail you want, make a run to kinkos (or whatever they are now called, fedEx maybe?) and print them. I also like to do profiles of the trail segments, lets me know what I'm up against with elevation gain/loss.

    Attached are some example jpegs. The first is an overall view of the route. The second is a zoom-in of the early/late route, and the third is an elevation profile of the "day 1" route.

    I've also got a CT west caltopo file if you decide to go this way.
    Thank you, I was able to check out the 4 pass loop by tapping on caltopo .com but unable to open attached files for Colgate west not sure how to. I'm gonna get that app. And the maps as well.And as far as hotels would you recommend twin lakes as opposed to Aspen as far as pricing, looks very expensive in Aspen could you recommend a place? Probably need a place Sunday and Monday nights then a night after 4 pass probobly 4 days later I'll stay somewhere. then on to the Colgate west loop for 5,6 days. Thanks in advance.

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