Pole Hill Road

[Rob]

A good day on the trail with Jim (and Cathie) and Shayne (and his friend Justin).

After the snow we had in Longmont last night, I thought we might be in for an interesting snow run, but some of the trail was dry and the deepest snow was only three or four inches, and that was on the hill loop.

We ran the main loop counterclockwise (the alternate side), then did the hill loop, then the loop to the Notch, with a side trip to the poser rock. After the Notch, instead of heading back out we did the hill loop again clockwise, then went back out the main trail. (It none of this makes sense, see the map below for the route. Red arrows in, blue arrows out.) As a bonus, the hill loop was unbroken snow.

Going back up the hill loop was a little challenging in one spot, with snow, rocks and holes in the trail. When we ran in in January, Jim and I both had trouble at that spot. Less snow this time and we managed to get through the obstacle, though it took me a few tries. From what I could see in my rearview, Shayne's rig floated up the hill on his new Treadwrights. :thumb:

No recoveries, no winching and no carnage. It was a fun day with good folks. After the run, we headed to Estes for some lunch.

And a reminder: Canyon Lakes District its closing all of its trails Dec. 1. If you want to run Pole Hill, Johnny Park, Pierson Park or others, do it before then.

Here's the route and some pics.

[Rob]

A few more pics.

[Rob]

And a few more. And I forgot to mention that the elk were out in force in Estes today.

[AccordRanger]

Great day out today! As always great to wheel with you again Rob. Jim and Kathy nice to meet you, love the way the taco looks.
The Treadwrights did amazing today!
Nice going out to lunch and had a great Elk burger, haven't had elk in a few years!
After lunch me and Justin headed up to Button Rock, then did Johnny to the mud pits. Want to try and run those two and Pierson before December.

http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af294/AccordRanger/Pole%20Hill%2011-14-10/039.jpg

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[AccordRanger]

http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af294/AccordRanger/Pole%20Hill%2011-14-10/063.jpg

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[AccordRanger]

Also got a pic of the mud pit. Tempting but I really didn't feel like being pulled out today.

http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af294/AccordRanger/Pole%20Hill%2011-14-10/057.jpg

[dr350jja]

Hey, thanks for a fun run!

[dr350jja]

Glad we all made it up the hill OK :thumb:

[dr350jja]

pics

[dr350jja]

pics- 2

[dr350jja]

pics- 3

[dr350jja]

pics- 4

[dr350jja]

pics- 5

[Rob]

I don't think I've ever seen so many elk in one place before. Amazing. Took me a while to get out of town since the elk tend to wander back and forth across the road.

[dr350jja]

Pole Hill video:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HXzsOQaMXU

[dr350jja]

Estes Park - elk time:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz9fB5v6j2Q

[Brody]

Thanks for the report and pictures. Sorry that I was too sick to make it....

[Brad]

Great report and pics. I wish I could have been there.

[Aaron]

Great report guys as always.

Also, for those that went on the run, add a 4xTT report with the button at the top of the posts. I know that Johnny Park Road is a trail that exists in the dropdown. Pole Hill would have to be added (by clicking the add trail link). No one probably gps mapped the trail, however, if you can find the trailhead on a map, you can add the trail to 4xTT and its pretty easy.

[Pathrat]

Love the elk shots!!!

[dr350jja]

I don't think I've ever seen so many elk in one place before. Amazing.

I agree with that....they seemed to be 'everywhere'.

It was an awesome experience to see/hear the bull elk bugling. :):

[Brody]

They also tend to congregate in a huge field on the NE side of Estes as well as on the big field just before you get to Pole Hill on the south side. I have seen so many on both of these fields that they essentially covered the fields.

Many years ago, I was dating a lady whose family owned some property that was buried in a valley just before the northern entrance to RMNP. The NE side of the property was part of the migratory route for the elk and if we were up there at the right time of year, we could watch huge herds of elk file through on the trail. It was pretty cool as a lot of times they would mill around in the front and back of the house, pretty much filling the property with back to back elk.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine and I were putting up a new (900') rock climb on McGregor Slab, just above the northern entrance to RMNP. we had hiked through the campground and had started up the main trail to the rock. The whole hillside was literally covered with elk. We kind of looked at each other trying to decide what to do as the elk were all over the trail. We just said 'screw it' and proceeded to wade through the elk, sometimes no more than 4-5 feet from them, if that. We had no idea what they would do, so this was a bit entertaining, but all they did was to rather casually look at us and move 'just enough' out of the way. Two of the things that I remember most about this was walking past a carcass of an elk that had found out the hard way that running downhill increases momentum and, with enough momentum, you can really eat it hard and break a neck. We figured that it had been chased by something.

The other thing we got a big laugh out of was watching a young bull try to mount a female that had simply slowed down on the trail. Yeah...the female just paused to munch a tasty goody, and this young bull was all over her like right now. Jokes have been made on this subject , but it is a totally another thing to actually see it happen in real life....So the young buck has just mounted the female on the steep hillside and the alpha male sees this from his vantage point quite a bit higher (remember that we were only about 30' away from where this was happening..). He just puts his head down and launches down the hill, blasting into the younger buck and literally knocking him off the female and ass over teakettle down the slope.....Of course we didn't have a camera with us....Most of the time when we go climbing if there are only two of us (and especially if we are putting up a new route and are carrying 60+ pound packs), we usually have our hands full with climbing and seldom, if ever take pictures. This was one such occasion and one where we missed some classic shots...

[Aaron]

That would have been cool to see!

[MelloYello]

That looks like a fun day. Good day to have the camera too.

[KnuckleHead]

Nice shots guys, thanks for the report and pix

[AccordRanger]

4x4trailtalk.com (http://www.4x4trailtalk.com) Trip Log

Trail name: Pole Hill (http://www.4x4trailtalk.com/forum/trails.php?trailid=378-Pole Hill)
Trip Date: 11/14/10
Rating: 3
High Rating: 4
Comment: Light snow on most hills, no more than 4". One water crossing. Still easily passable. One hill to give a little trouble for rigs with open diffs and all terrains, but all made it up on their own.

[Aaron]

4x4trailtalk.com (http://www.4x4trailtalk.com) Trip Log

Trail name: Pole Hill (http://www.4x4trailtalk.com/forum/trails.php?trailid=378-Pole Hill)
Trip Date: 11/14/10
Rating: 3
High Rating: 4
Comment: Light snow on most hills, no more than 4". One water crossing. Still easily passable. One hill to give a little trouble for rigs with open diffs and all terrains, but all made it up on their own.

Cool!