Scouting trip for G-Treffen 2003, 29 to 31 August 2003:

Well, we meant to get this trip done quite a bit earlier in the year, but one thing lead to another and all that was left was Labor Day weekend. We crossed our fingers that the crowds wouldn't be too bad, and that the weather would hold. For better or worse, Dave and Q are on the road in the intrepid G-Zilla.



We arrive at the Cement Creek campground outside Crested Butte to find Brian, son Aidan, and faithful pooch Angus have saved us a spot in one of the most beautiful areas around. Here are the Gs against some of the local finery right outside our camp site. Those clouds look menacing, and we did indeed get some rain, but it was manageable and at least the clouds kept night time temps reasonable in the high 40s.



The next morning under more clouds we get a start on our first trail, Schofield Pass which leads north out of Crested Butte past the beautiful power house outside Crystal, and on to the little burgh of Marble, Colorado where the original stone for the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetary was quarried. But I digress. Here's Brian just getting into a rocky decent along the trail.



There's a lot of beautiful scenery along this trail. Here Brian crosses a stream adjacent to a waterfall.



We begin our decent into the Devi'ls Punchbowl area of the trail. This is the infamous area known as the most dangerous trail in Colorado, due to the fact that nine people were killed here in 1970 when their Suburban slid off the edge of the trail and rolled into the deep ravine.



This trail may not be open to vehicular traffic much longer. The forest service hasn't blocked the trail yet, but someone has put up these rather serious new signs since the last time I was here a couple years ago.



Here Chuque is spotting Brian through a difficult and slippery section. It started to drizzle while we were in the most difficult parts of the trail, making the rocks slippery and the vehicle prone to slipping suddenly sideways. This is REALLY unnerving when all you can see out your passenger window is the far side of a 300 ft deep rock ravine. The picture doesn't bear it out, but Brian is only about a foot from the rocky ledge. Chuque will spot him a line through this section that keeps his tires on the inside of some healthy rocks so he can't slide off the trail. all our minds were put as much at ease as possible by Chuque's great experience spotting competitive rock crawling events. The only one not aware of this advantage we had was the hiker who had been coming up the trail as we decended, and chose to follow us back down a ways out of morbid curiosity.



Thank goodness the hiker was disappointed and we made it all the way to the narrow bridge at the base of the decent to find this beautiful waterfall. At last our hearts could return from our throats to their rightful places in our chests. Once we crossed this bridge, at least the drop-offs were on the driver's side where he could better discern his relationship to the edge.



No time to let our guards down though. A stream crossed the trail at one point and while the downhill edge was shorn up with a small log now, we could see why. Far below we could make out the reamains of a vehicle, given away as likely a Ford Bronco by the shape of the just visible spare tire carrier. We couldn't be certain though, and since a fall like that meant the occupants almost certainly perished, we moved on quickly with unsettlesd stomachs.



At last we make it to the far end of the posted portion of the trail, and breathe a sigh of relief.



Here's a shot of the trucks parked near the famous Crystal power house.



And a more traditional view of the mill from down in the creek bed. This is our real "destination" for this ride and we'll return to Crested Butte by an alternate route to form a loop. If there's snow, or dangerous conditions at the time of the Treffen, we'll still be able to visit this point without traveling the dangerous Devil's Punchbowl area.



LUNCH TIME!!!!!!



After a short trip out through Marble and a quick, but beautiful, pavement drive down to the south end of the Paonia Reservoir, we turn onto the Kebler Pass road for our return to Crested Butte.



Kebler pass is a smooth dirt road that provides many fabulous mountain vistas. In the fall with the aspens turning yellow, this area will be absolutely stunning.



This is a view from a different direction from the same point in the road as the previous picture. We have to stop and marvel a bit. This road is a refreshing change from the white-knuckle trip through Schofield. If conditions are poor for the Treffen, we'll go to Crystal by this route in the morning and return by the same way in the afternoon, getting a chance to see these beautiful vistas in different light.



Back at camp, Chuque finds another use for the winch - cutting firewood!



The next morning dawns bright and clear with no sign of rain. We've boken camp and made our way along the Italian Creek trail to a high point between the Gunnison and Taylor Park drainage systems. Here Brian looks back toward Crested Butte while Chuque talks to some jeepers camping nearby about whether we should take the upper or the lower option on this middle portion of the trail. We opt for the lower as the upper section is known to be more of the same conditions we saw on Schofield and we'd rather this was a more liesurly day.



We stop for a minute to admire the view and contemplate which direction to take at this fork in the trail. Of course you know we chose the wrong way! But luckily the diversion was not a long one. It did end in a bit of a drive along a shelf road though, and required Brian to back up quite a long ways while watching me in his rear view mirror as I walked backwards up the trail giving hand signals to keep him on the trail and as little off-camber as possible.



When we got back here to the trail fork, we could see the high option trail along a shelf road on the talus high above the lake. We were glad we'd chosen this way.



This trail is also rich in long mountain views. We'll probably plan this trail for our first day since it's not too strenuous, but does provide some good rocky climbs and even one optional section that will be best attacked with lockers for those who wish to.



This old pile of mine tailings near the top of the trail was difficult to climb even on foot and showed some signs of other vehicles getting stuck half way up. It's no problem for the Gs though.



Brian explored another route to the top where we found one of the infamously dangerous abandoned mine shafts that are so common in Colorado's alpine tundra. This is a pretty spot though, and has room to get a bunch of trucks off the trail without venturing onto the fragile alpine flora, so we'll probably stop here for lunch on our trip over the Italian Creek trail in October.



The hills are alive with the sound of.........er....never mind......He's a heck of a four-wheeler, but he's no Julie Andrews.



A little farther up the trail there's a long steep climb on a spur trail that leads to one of the most spectacular views I've ever seen out into the Taylor Park area. This is a nice spot, but it's cold and very windy, so we'll stick with our original plan to have lunch at the mine.



From here on it's mainly a long trek down a rough dirt track toward Taylor Park. They're nice folks in Taylor Park and they know it's nice to be greeted by a friendly face at the end of a long trail ride.



The dirt road decends toward Taylor Reservoir with long mountain views in all directions across the wide valley. We'll eventually reach pavement and return by about another 1.5 hour drive back to Crested Butte.



That drive will be for another day though. Today we're turning left at Taylor Reservoir to head home over Cottonwood Pass. We've scouted a couple of great possibilities for the Treffen though. We hope this report will give you all a feel for the adventure and fun we'll have and inspire as many as possible to join in. Keep an eye on the Treffen page and the G-treffen e-mail list for further details as the big days approach.