We are not giving away the details of this hidden little gem- even if you beg!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Jeepn in Salida
Spring break started in pretty good fashion this week. Co Jeep Dude, Jeep Girl and Rock Dawg headed off for a nice relaxing three day weekend of sun, soaking and JEEPN! Jeep girl booked a great little cabin at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs and Resort, so we had an awesome place to come back to and soak in the springs after a tough day of muddin' and exploring.
After we got checked in we headed up Chalk Creek road to start exploring. Being fairly new to this Co Jeep Dude picked a couple of trails that seemed like they would be fun to try out. The first trail was Mt. Antero and the second was Tincup Pass. With the weather being in the 70's for the last couple of weeks, what was not realized was that no amount of gorgeous Colorado weather was going to melt several feet of snow off of 14'ers by the end of March. The roads were still socked in with several feet of snow and there was definitely no way of even getting started on these trails. We'll try again in June or July when the snow, hopefully is gone, till then stay tuned.
What we did end up doing instead of the trails is poking around a neat little old mining town called St. Elmo. All of the property is privately owned and many of the buildings were still covered and surrounded by several feet of snow. Rock Dawg had a blast jumping in and out of the drifts and getting muddy in general. A neat little bit of Colorado history to see still standing and our first ghost town of the weekend.
After exploring St. Elmo, we headed back towards the hot springs, but not before we pulled off to the side of the road to enjoy the quiet and the views of Chalk Creek. Rock Dawg and Co Jeep Dude splashed in the creek and played while Jeep Girl sat and enjoyed the quiet burble of the water. A relaxing time was had by all. Just a mile or so so down the road we stopped at a small wildlife viewing area and lo and behold, there was a small herd of mountain goats grazing in the field. Such an neat and cool area with so much to see in such a short distance. Calling it a day we headed back to soak in the 105 degree springs and ease into the evening with a glass of wine/martini, a steak dinner and a star filled sky as the sun set that evening.
Day 2:
Started the day off with a cup of coffee on the back deck of the cabin listening to the creek wander by and figuring out where to go for breakfast. Patio Pancake Place is where we ended up based on the recommendations of some of the locals and it didn't disappoint. We left Rock Dawg in the Jeep while we ate breakfast and she was all to eager to snack on our beef jerky snacks while we were in the restaurant. She had a solid breakfast of dog food, jerky and a pancake that morning. Afterwards we stopped by a local jeep rental place, 4x4 jeep rental and talked with Craig, the owner. A great guy who was more than eager to fill us in on a few great places to go and invite us back to go jeepn with him whenever we were back in town. After a short trip to the local dog park, we headed for the hills to see what we could find.
Based on Craig's recommendation we started by tracking down our second ghost town of the weekend. This time we were headed for a place called Turret, an old abandoned mining town, as well. Taking CR181 out of town we found Turret tucked away in the back hills nestled amongst the Pinyon Pines and Aspen Trees. Much to our surprise it appears as if several people still live and reside in Turret, even if only on a part time basis. Several new smaller cabins were spread in between the older abandoned homes and businesses. Driving through Turret we followed several smaller trails to the west and Jeep Girl got her first taste of traversing some deep ruts in the mud and even crawling up some rocks in low gear. All in all another cool place to see and stop and have lunch and take in the sunshine and the scenery.
We wrapped up with Turret and headed back to go explore Crater 4WD road off of CR181. A fun trail with some small rock ledges and lots of mud to play in with some incredible views of the Collegiate peaks. We finally started heading back towards home and decided to take CR173, which turned out to be the best part of the trip, and a great 4x4 trail. Coming in from CR181 the initial first few miles of the trip were typical gravel road with some smaller rocks and muddy terrain. As we got further back into the trail we came across a couple of mountain bikers and several hikers as we started traversing some steep switchbacks and narrow roads. With solid rock to the left and drop offs several hundred feet to the left on the narrow road, things were pretty interesting trying to get over the last little bit of snow that still covered the road in places. Further down the trails, the switchbacks got a little steeper and we started encountering cantaloupe size rocks that made the going rough on the Rubicon, but nothing it couldn't handle. The 360 degree views of the snow capped Rockies was breathtaking and we literally just sat and stared at times at the magnificence that was before us.
As we trekked on down the trail, which is just wide enough for one vehicle, barely, we did see another off roader headed up the trail. Co Jeep Dude found a spot to pull over and wait for the fellow explorer to pass by. Turns out we weren't going anywhere soon. The truck headed our way up the trail, was a mid nineties Toyota with a 4.5" lift and 35" tires and had stalled out trying to make the steep climb up the hill. The Toyota had stalled at such an angle that it wasn't getting any gas to its carb and just wouldn't start and with the way it stalled on the trail, there was no way to level it out without rolling the vehicle. We sat and tried to come up with ways to help, but in the end we ended up having to go off the trail to get around him, much to the chagrin of the rock rails and skid plates of the jeep. We headed down the trail and found some fellow Jeepers to send up with tow ropes to aid the stranded Toyota. As the day came to an end we finished up the trail and headed back into Salide to grab a bite to eat and have dinner while the sun set over the peaks to our west. Rock Dawg, Jeep Girl and Co Jeep Dude finished up their first four wheeling family outing and headed back to the hot springs to soak and call it a night.
All in all it was a great weekend in a a beautiful area of Colorado not too many folks get out and see. The weather was incredibly and everyone got funny tanlines, some smiles and another incredible Colorado experience. Stay tuned until next time when we take on Eagle Rock and Saran Wrap, part II, as part of the Rock Pirates 4 wheeling club.
After we got checked in we headed up Chalk Creek road to start exploring. Being fairly new to this Co Jeep Dude picked a couple of trails that seemed like they would be fun to try out. The first trail was Mt. Antero and the second was Tincup Pass. With the weather being in the 70's for the last couple of weeks, what was not realized was that no amount of gorgeous Colorado weather was going to melt several feet of snow off of 14'ers by the end of March. The roads were still socked in with several feet of snow and there was definitely no way of even getting started on these trails. We'll try again in June or July when the snow, hopefully is gone, till then stay tuned.
What we did end up doing instead of the trails is poking around a neat little old mining town called St. Elmo. All of the property is privately owned and many of the buildings were still covered and surrounded by several feet of snow. Rock Dawg had a blast jumping in and out of the drifts and getting muddy in general. A neat little bit of Colorado history to see still standing and our first ghost town of the weekend.
After exploring St. Elmo, we headed back towards the hot springs, but not before we pulled off to the side of the road to enjoy the quiet and the views of Chalk Creek. Rock Dawg and Co Jeep Dude splashed in the creek and played while Jeep Girl sat and enjoyed the quiet burble of the water. A relaxing time was had by all. Just a mile or so so down the road we stopped at a small wildlife viewing area and lo and behold, there was a small herd of mountain goats grazing in the field. Such an neat and cool area with so much to see in such a short distance. Calling it a day we headed back to soak in the 105 degree springs and ease into the evening with a glass of wine/martini, a steak dinner and a star filled sky as the sun set that evening.
Day 2:
Started the day off with a cup of coffee on the back deck of the cabin listening to the creek wander by and figuring out where to go for breakfast. Patio Pancake Place is where we ended up based on the recommendations of some of the locals and it didn't disappoint. We left Rock Dawg in the Jeep while we ate breakfast and she was all to eager to snack on our beef jerky snacks while we were in the restaurant. She had a solid breakfast of dog food, jerky and a pancake that morning. Afterwards we stopped by a local jeep rental place, 4x4 jeep rental and talked with Craig, the owner. A great guy who was more than eager to fill us in on a few great places to go and invite us back to go jeepn with him whenever we were back in town. After a short trip to the local dog park, we headed for the hills to see what we could find.
Based on Craig's recommendation we started by tracking down our second ghost town of the weekend. This time we were headed for a place called Turret, an old abandoned mining town, as well. Taking CR181 out of town we found Turret tucked away in the back hills nestled amongst the Pinyon Pines and Aspen Trees. Much to our surprise it appears as if several people still live and reside in Turret, even if only on a part time basis. Several new smaller cabins were spread in between the older abandoned homes and businesses. Driving through Turret we followed several smaller trails to the west and Jeep Girl got her first taste of traversing some deep ruts in the mud and even crawling up some rocks in low gear. All in all another cool place to see and stop and have lunch and take in the sunshine and the scenery.
We wrapped up with Turret and headed back to go explore Crater 4WD road off of CR181. A fun trail with some small rock ledges and lots of mud to play in with some incredible views of the Collegiate peaks. We finally started heading back towards home and decided to take CR173, which turned out to be the best part of the trip, and a great 4x4 trail. Coming in from CR181 the initial first few miles of the trip were typical gravel road with some smaller rocks and muddy terrain. As we got further back into the trail we came across a couple of mountain bikers and several hikers as we started traversing some steep switchbacks and narrow roads. With solid rock to the left and drop offs several hundred feet to the left on the narrow road, things were pretty interesting trying to get over the last little bit of snow that still covered the road in places. Further down the trails, the switchbacks got a little steeper and we started encountering cantaloupe size rocks that made the going rough on the Rubicon, but nothing it couldn't handle. The 360 degree views of the snow capped Rockies was breathtaking and we literally just sat and stared at times at the magnificence that was before us.
As we trekked on down the trail, which is just wide enough for one vehicle, barely, we did see another off roader headed up the trail. Co Jeep Dude found a spot to pull over and wait for the fellow explorer to pass by. Turns out we weren't going anywhere soon. The truck headed our way up the trail, was a mid nineties Toyota with a 4.5" lift and 35" tires and had stalled out trying to make the steep climb up the hill. The Toyota had stalled at such an angle that it wasn't getting any gas to its carb and just wouldn't start and with the way it stalled on the trail, there was no way to level it out without rolling the vehicle. We sat and tried to come up with ways to help, but in the end we ended up having to go off the trail to get around him, much to the chagrin of the rock rails and skid plates of the jeep. We headed down the trail and found some fellow Jeepers to send up with tow ropes to aid the stranded Toyota. As the day came to an end we finished up the trail and headed back into Salide to grab a bite to eat and have dinner while the sun set over the peaks to our west. Rock Dawg, Jeep Girl and Co Jeep Dude finished up their first four wheeling family outing and headed back to the hot springs to soak and call it a night.
All in all it was a great weekend in a a beautiful area of Colorado not too many folks get out and see. The weather was incredibly and everyone got funny tanlines, some smiles and another incredible Colorado experience. Stay tuned until next time when we take on Eagle Rock and Saran Wrap, part II, as part of the Rock Pirates 4 wheeling club.
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