Colorado...

“Who would carry a 6lb tent? Unless they share tent weight between 2 people... I guess

Hey, no bear canister needed on this trip... My pack will weigh very little.”

“Looking at the pics, it looks like good hiking.”

“I am looking at the map and I am thinking that to break up the 12.7 mile day, I could start out on Friday morning and camp near where tail 214 joins the horsethief trail. And then wait until on saturday until the rest of the group joins me.
Gem, would you or bigpoppa have any problem with that?
And anyone else who wants to join me, can.”

“Go ahead. No big deal. Like gem said, when we connect with a ranger who knows the trails, this route will have some changes. I need to confirm the existence of some of trails and the conditions.”

“I am trying to reach someone over there as well. No luck so far.”

“Try calling on the phone at about 8:00 MST.”

“I don't think they like Germans ;)
So far no luck. I did have issues calling numbers in Cali as well. Wondering if its a problem with Verizon SC.”

“got my food that I ordered, I'm thinking about driving I'f I can get a couple of other riders, let me know .I've been looking at flights also $230.00 from Indy”

“$230? That's pretty good. I'm driving as well, but i'll be driving from SC to OH, and then carpool with BigPoppa to CO. I still wasn't able to get In contact with those rangers up there... But I'm not too concerned.”

“Gem, register on this site, someone on there may be able to answer your questions.
www.14ers.com
last edited: 3/12/13 10:08:02 AM”

“Flying is really my only option. I will only have to spend 2 days traveling as opposed to driving from CT.”

“Pepsi, I know what you mean, but i really REALLY want to summit mt sunflower ;) . I took all my vacation for this trip. So it looks like ill be working over Christmas, unless I take unpaid. Lol”

“Any updates on this trip? Any idea how many people will be along?”

“Pepperdog, we are still working on the final details. Damn rangers are very hard to get in touch with. So far it looks like there will be about 17 people. Could be a bit more.
We are thinking about closing the trip after 25 sign ups...”

“Count me in...changing my maybe to a yes...I love Colorado...can't wait to get back out there!”

“I forgot to add that I will be driving up from Alabama, if anyone wants to ride up with me or needs to be picked up at the airport just email me. I'll be renting a SUV, so I will have plenty of room!”

“awesome. You should mention this on the FB page...”

“We finally reached a ranger (well, Eric did). Final trip changes will be posted soon. It'll be awesome!”

“OK, I finally got through to ranger. She said to bring good rain gear. We should expect rain starting around 1 pm through the afternoon. So my guess is we need to get up early and get going. I made this route for a 7 day hike. Leave Friday Morning, get out Thursday afternoon. Hope this works out. That leaves us Friday for an extra day for rain day or to do some day hiking wherever. I need to get on the road Saturday Morning. I start work Sunday at 1130 PM.
last edited: 4/21/13 9:18:56 AM”

“Transportation: We are going to need to shuttle. No way around it. We are starting at the end of road 871 Bachelor Mine and ending up at Silver Jack Reservoir. That communte is 1hour 30 drive. I looked into a taxi service in Ouray. I need to call them, but thier website says they will drop people off at treail heads. So I am thinking that we drop our cars at the reservoir and have a taxi service take us to our trailhead near Ouray. I will find out price.”

“Not sure where to post the whole route. Email me and I will send you a word file. We start at Trail 215 Bachelor Mine, head east then north up Trl 232 (Big Blue Trail) and then west on Trail 225 to Silver Jack Reservoir. First three days average 5 miles a day, last 4 days average 7.5 miles a day. One 9 mile day. We have one day for pad, just in case. Email me. [email protected]”

“Pappa YGM! Yo bear!”

“I'll post the update tonight after work.

Originally I wanted to meet BigPoppa in Ohio, meet up with my man an drive to Colorado, but now that he move to Columbia, it wouldn't make any sense. That means ill be driving from Columbia, SC to Colorado. have room for one person. Let me know if someone is interested in carpooling.”

“it won't let me update the trip info on the Trip Page, so here it is.

WHERE: Uncompahgre Wilderness, CO
WHEN: August 16th to August 24th [Be at trailhead Friday, August 16th]
Day 1:
We leave cars at Bachelor Mine (Road 871) The road ends at a river crossing. Depending on water depth, we leave cars there or we can drive further down the road. It is supposably doable for a two wheel drive car. We start on Trial 215 and hike to the end of Bridge of Heaven.
First Campsite Bridge of Heaven… distance 4.56 Miles
Day 2
We stay on Trl 215 going South East and pick up Trail 233 The American lake is about a few mile on Trl 233

Second Campsite American Lake … distance 5.14 Miles
Day 3.
We go east then east north on Trl 233 and pick up Trail 140. Trial 140 goes north, we pass a two trails and then there is an intersection of four trails. We are a going to travel East on Trail 245 . Trl 245 connects with Trail 233. We head north on Trl 233 to the next spring right before the Trail 256 to Wetterhorn Peak.

Third Campsite Spring before Wetterhorn Peak….distance 6.40 miles
Day 4.
Big mile day! Time to get some distance. We have a long way to go. Trl. 233 will travel north then east until we pick up Trail 239. This trail will merge with Trail 232. We will stay on Trl 232 heading north. We will past Trail 23 1 on left and continue on Trl 232 for another mile. There is an unnamed lake on the right. That will be our next campsite.

Fourth Campsite unnamed lake on Trl 232….distance 9.08 miles
Day 5
We will travel north on Trl 232 until we get to the end of the waterfalls(this might be the beginning of waterfalls..whatever). I thought we would camp at the end of those waterfalls about a mile short of Big Blue TH

Fifth Campsite Trl 232 waterfalls … distance 7.02 miles.
Day 6
We will continue traveling north on Trl 232 until we hit the Alpine trail 225. This trail is for off road vehicles. Speaking to the rangers, it is so far north, that not many people use it. We should have it to ourselves. We actually have a few options to go west. We want to get over to Alpine Little Cimarraon TH. I chose to stay on Trl 225 and camp about a ½ mile before we meet that trail head. Does not look like there is much there, but it is right before going up with a bunch of switch backs.

Sixth Campsite ½ mile before Alpine Little Cimarron TH….distance 8.14 miles.
Day 7
Stay on Trl 232 until we hit Silver Jack Reservoir.

We get transported back to our cars…distance 6.96 miles.
MAPS:
http://rockymountainmaps.com/item/270/uncompahgre-national-forest-map-mountain-division
OR
http://www.amazon.com/Silverton-Telluride-LakeCityC-National-Geographic/dp/1566953405/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid;=27TZYXHAOQO0U&coliid;=I3HCCWOEO5DYFD

GUIDEBOOK:
http://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Colorados-Uncompahgre-Wilderness-Regional/dp/0762711094/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid;=27TZYXHAOQO0U&coliid;=I3PW89W9C1148T

IMPORTANT: if you fly into Denver, you'll need to rent a car. I found FOX rental to have very affordable minivan rentals. http://www.foxrentacar.com/ $58/day...Each van holds 7 people.


This could be one of the epic TT trips...

Bear canisters are only required in the Rocky Mtn National Park area [Thanks Embear and MsDolittle]

I should add, that everyone is responsible for their own transportation

Embear has offered camp spots in her yard for incoming and departing people. [luv ya em] Check her post on here for details.

ONLINE RESOURCE:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5286479.pdf
http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-uncompahgre-national-forest-colorado-sidwcmdev_069171.html
http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=618&tab;=General
http://www.summitpost.org/uncompahgre-wilderness/558911
http://www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/uncompahgre.html”

“I need everyones contact info. Name, trailname, phone, cell phone, email and what state you are traveling from.

Thanks, [email protected]”