Medano pass

[Mobyjeep]

Packing the fam up and doing Medano pass June 12-14 if anyone wants to join. Do some camping and hit the dunes for a bit

[open_circuit]

That's been on my list for a couple years. Perhaps.

Are you planning to run the pass into the national park, or out of the national park?

[Mobyjeep]

That's been on my list for a couple years. Perhaps.

Are you planning to run the pass into the national park, or out of the national park?


My thoughts were to go into the park. I’m thinking maybe leave early Saturday morning instead of Friday afternoon take the trail into the park camp Saturday night then spend Sunday putting around the dunes.

[Mobyjeep]

But honestly we are up for whatever it’s on the list of trails to do so we don’t really care which direction we take

[open_circuit]

I don't know if it matters which direction to go, other than planning out the days around it. I last was at the dunes a couple summers ago, but didn't bring the Jeep. It was a pretty long drive to get there, and we spent the night in Walsenburg before heading into the dunes the next morning. I'm not familiar with where the northern terminus of the trail is, so I guess I don't know how long the drive to get to the trail is. It might be a very long day from the northern Denver suburbs to get to the trail and then run the trail in the same day. I don't think the trail is supposed to be particularly challenging or long if the water crossings are not impassably high, so that helps.

[Mobyjeep]

It’s about 4 hour drive down there and the trail is supposed to take about 2.5-3 hours

[Mobyjeep]

We are also cool with driving down hanging out and camping Saturday then head out early Sunday hit the trail and head home from there.....

[Tom]

I drove it a few years ago. We started at the Eastern end near the Sangre De Cristo mtns. Went through the town of Westcliffe on the way there. Camped at the Crestone Needle trailhead then ran it to the Sandunes. It was easy though water was low.

[Jim]

Interested. Never have. Camping would be good. Open for about anything / where the wind blows.

[open_circuit]

My 10 year old is interested. Put us down for a yes.

[newracer]

This has been on my bucket list for a while along the Blanca. I may try to make it.

[open_circuit]

Is the park going to be open then? I just tried calling to ask some questions, and the recording at the Sand Dunes NP phone number still says the park is closed effective April 17 until further notice.

Edit: I see on the park website they will begin reopening on June 3, and the primitive road, campsites, and main park roads are expected to open then.

I was (am) concerned about whether we need a reservation to access the park, since Rocky Mountain National Park is only allowing entrance with reservation in advance -- thus the reason for me trying to call the park. I don't see any information about reservations being required on the park website, however, so it looks like it shouldn't be a problem.

[Tom]

Is the park going to be open then? I just tried calling to ask some questions, and the recording at the Sand Dunes NP phone number still says the park is closed effective April 17 until further notice.

Edit: I see on the park website they will begin reopening on June 3, and the primitive road, campsites, and main park roads are expected to open then.

I was (am) concerned about whether we need a reservation to access the park, since Rocky Mountain National Park is only allowing entrance with reservation in advance -- thus the reason for me trying to call the park. I don't see any information about reservations being required on the park website, however, so it looks like it shouldn't be a problem.
Fyi reservations are made thru recreation.gov for rmnp. I assume they would be for all parks requiring reservations. You may be able to find more info on that site.

I made one for this friday in rmnp. There is a $2.00 service charge plus entrance fee. You need reservations for each day in the park. I am entering via the McGraw ranch and asked a ranger if one required a reservation when not entering via a manned station and you do.

Just a bit of info that I hope might help.

[open_circuit]

Thanks much, Tom. That's the sort of information I am looking for. I'll try to call the park later this week or next week to ask about any policies like this as well.

[Mobyjeep]

Thanks much, Tom. That's the sort of information I am looking for. I'll try to call the park later this week or next week to ask about any policies like this as well.


they open Wed

[Java]

https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/medano-pass-road.htm

https://www.nps.gov/grsa/learn/news/phased-reopening-begins-june-3.htm

hoping to go there later this month :thumb:

[Mobyjeep]

https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/medano-pass-road.htm

https://www.nps.gov/grsa/learn/news/phased-reopening-begins-june-3.htm

hoping to go there later this month :thumb:


so the pass is open on the 3rd but no camping until mid June? Maybe the weekend of the trip will be mid june

[Jim]

Is that established campground camping or dispersed camping?

[open_circuit]

so the pass is open on the 3rd but no camping until mid June? Maybe the weekend of the trip will be mid june

I see in the list of open items "medano pass primitive road, including numbered campsites on first come first serve basis". The pinon campground does not appear to be open on June 3 though. Sounds like dispersed camping at the limited marked sites (which have bear boxes) is ok if you can snag a site

[Mobyjeep]

I see in the list of open items "medano pass primitive road, including numbered campsites on first come first serve basis". The pinon campground does not appear to be open on June 3 though. Sounds like dispersed camping at the limited marked sites (which have bear boxes) is ok if you can snag a site


For everyone interested:
Where are you coming from
where should we meet and what time? Any thoughts?

im coming from Edgewater (20th and Sheridan)

[open_circuit]

I'm about 15 miles directly north of you, on Sheridan as well. My wife says there is a pie shop run by Amish or Mennonites that she used to visit as a kid in Westcliffe when on vacation in the area. That might be a good meeting place if we want to meet near the trail head.

Jim is in Fort Collins, and usually avoids highway routes.

[Mobyjeep]

That sounds good Do we know the name of the shop? Looks like there are quite a few in Westcliffe. What time works for you guys?

[open_circuit]

Sugar and Spice Bakery. Yelp reviewers indicate this business only accepts cash and check for payment. Since that isn't normal these days, I thought I should point that out.

[open_circuit]

That sounds good Do we know the name of the shop? Looks like there are quite a few in Westcliffe. What time works for you guys?

I think we could meet sometime between 11 and 2pm, depending how early we all agree we want to leave? Google tells me it is about 3 hours to the pie shop, so I'll call it 3.5 with the Jeep and a kid and figure I have to leave by 7:30 to make an 11 am meeting.

What are you thinking?

[Jim]

I'm sitting back through much of this but it'd be nice to not be on the road at 5am.

[open_circuit]

I called the Sand Dunes NP line today and spoke with someone about the road and camping. They confirmed the marked camp sites (29 of them?) outside of the park along the road are open. I was also told that about half of the calls this week have been about camping in that area because camping within park boundaries is currently not allowed. I was told to expect the trail and camping to be busy. I take this to mean we need to claim a camp site fairly early, though I don't really know what "early" is in this case.

I suppose if we don't find any camping on the road, it would be useful to have a fallback location. Worst case, I'll run the trail and then make a very late drive back home. I do not prefer this option.

[Jim]

Are hotels open (vs. late nite return - or drive to other dispersed camping)?

[Brian]

The turn off for Blanca Peak is dispersed camping and not too far from the dunes. It's where I camped the night before I ran Blanca last year.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/BLM+Sacred+White+Shell+Mountain/@37.5217302,-105.6019232,52m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x871684a90df1cae1:0x48aac dafd50521be!8m2!3d37.5218935!4d-105.6019773

[open_circuit]

I'm sure I can find a hotel in the area. I'd like to explore other dispersed campomg nearby as a backup. I'll have to hit Google after dinner. Hoping that camping on medano pass road works as planned

[Jim]

Google maps 80525 to Westcliffe says 205 miles / 3h25m - so I'd schedule a realistic 4 hours for a drive (I thought it'd be a bit more).

[open_circuit]

We can try to meet earlier if everyone wants to. Didn't want to try to push the schedule too early or too late before we all have a chance to really think about and discuss it. Hoping Mobyjeep pops back in sometime this weekend.

[open_circuit]

The turn off for Blanca Peak is dispersed camping and not too far from the dunes. It's where I camped the night before I ran Blanca last year.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/BL...4d-105.6019773

It looks like this is south of the park. This will be an option if we run the entire trail Saturday and then leave the park.

[Brian]

I've not been to this campground, but it's closer to the dunes.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Zapata+Falls+Campground/@37.6203847,-105.5619885,1577m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!1m2!2m1!1scamping!3m4!1s0x0:0x38 995b857dcbadca!8m2!3d37.6214167!4d-105.5602241

[open_circuit]

I started looking closely at the route and maps to try to understand camping. This is a complicated trail because it seems to pass through at least 3 separately governed areas, as best I can tell. It appears we enter San Isabel National Forest from 559, and remain in the forest as we ascend the pass. There are six designated dispersed camping sites on this side of the pass.

At or near the top of the pass, we seem to enter the Great Sand Dunes National Preserve. According to https://www.4x4explore.com/rds/m_rds/medano_ps.html , there are 21 marked sites with bear boxes in the national preserve. I believe these to be open, and are listed on the national parks Medano Pass information page https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/medano-pass-road.htm. The first link indicates black bear encounters are common in this area, and the use of the provided bear boxes is high encouraged. I have not found information about bear boxes being present at the first 6 campsites outside the preserve. The marked (numbered) campsites appear to be detailed at the following page https://freecampsites.net/#!7713&query=sitedetails

Further on, I guess we enter the National Park (or is this part of the national perserve?). The park services told me there is no camping within the park. I take this to mean the national preserve spots are not within the national park, and are open, based on the information here https://www.nps.gov/grsa/learn/news/phased-reopening-begins-june-3.htm

[Jim]

Is it a thought to drive in and if there's available camping mid-trail, then camp and finish the trail the next day?

How many overnights are folks thinking of?

[open_circuit]

I understood the trip to be drive in on Saturday and camp at one of the sites I detailed above (probably one of the 21 sites within the National Preserve). This is actually very close to the National Park boundary (within 6 miles, I think). The next morning, proceed to the park, spend some time at the dunes and / or hikes in the park, then continue home (after lunch?).

I only intend to spend one night out on the trip. I'd like to get confirmation on what MobyJeep was planning if what I've stated is not their intent.

[Jim]

So you're thinking of asphalt back from dunes to home? What would the thought of trail back be like? hitting mapping now to check times...

[Getaklu]

Would be a nice several day trip to include Blanca peak, Bonanza area, BV (Chinaman Gulch, Mt. Antero, etc), Breck/Montezuma, home. Lots to do in a loop that direction.

[open_circuit]

The last time I was here, I took the scenic route home via 285. This took us ~4 hours. If I were to leave the sand dunes after lunch, I can't imagine having time to run several hours of trail and still make the drive home in the same day. If it were open, I'd suggest stopping in Buena Vista at the Deerhammer distillery on the way home for a tour and some damn fine whiskey, but they have suspended tours indefinitely due to COVID-19.

We could also run Medano pass in reverse to exit the park, and return home the same route. It'd be a long day, and my daughter may prefer I let her spend some extra time at the dunes instead of a trail run on the homeward-bound day.

[Jim]

Would be a nice several day trip to include Blanca peak, Bonanza area, BV (Chinaman Gulch, Mt. Antero, etc), Breck/Montezuma, home. Lots to do in a loop that direction.

I can do Fri > Sun with two overnights. Blanca doesn't overly interest me (but I could). Mt. Antero interests me more.

[Tom]

Bonanza area is awesome if you like remote old mines and their associated buildings. A plus is they come out on the same road (285) that Trent was discussing. The video is Whale Hill from the Bonanza side. All the stills are ruins seen on the route.


https://youtu.be/IxF5HuXzDjk

gpx track
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ato6TRKXJiDQ8SCbDgId_WZAQZRz

[Jim]

Bonanza area is awesome if you like remote old mines and their associated building.

Sounds interesting!

[Tom]

Just added a video of my run.

[newracer]

I've not been to this campground, but it's closer to the dunes.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Zapata+Falls+Campground/@37.6203847,-105.5619885,1577m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!1m2!2m1!1scamping!3m4!1s0x0:0x38 995b857dcbadca!8m2!3d37.6214167!4d-105.5602241

Zapata Falls is awesome. Well worth the short hike.

[Tom]

More info on bonanza

[Mad Maxx]

I'd be down for meeting like 12:30-1pm-ish in WestCliffe, or even later.

I don't think there's any need to rush to get there too early, when I did Medano last year I did another trail beforehand and still had plenty of time to get there and mess around by the dunes.

I'm going to try to get my gear together to camp, I want to check out Zapata falls the next day too. As for the night of, I'd like to be anywhere with a nice view of the sky. It was awesome last time I was there, we don't see that many stars here in Golden!

That Whale Hill video looks neat too!

Protip - last year I took Medano Pass up towards home the day after (stayed the night in Alamosa) and I think it's probably equally as fast as taking the highway home, since it cuts through the mountains rather than the highways which go way around. It's really not too long of a trail, or at least seemed like it since it's more fun than the highway :D

[Mobyjeep]

I'd be down for meeting like 12:30-1pm-ish in WestCliffe, or even later.

I don't think there's any need to rush to get there too early, when I did Medano last year I did another trail beforehand and still had plenty of time to get there and mess around by the dunes.

I'm going to try to get my gear together to camp, I want to check out Zapata falls the next day too. As for the night of, I'd like to be anywhere with a nice view of the sky. It was awesome last time I was there, we don't see that many stars here in Golden!

That Whale Hill video looks neat too!

Protip - last year I took Medano Pass up towards home the day after (stayed the night in Alamosa) and I think it's probably equally as fast as taking the highway home, since it cuts through the mountains rather than the highways which go way around. It's really not too long of a trail, or at least seemed like it since it's more fun than the highway :D


I think an 11am meetup would work. If the sites are full I think we should check out other trails in the area. We do not plan on driving back Saturday night either way.

[open_circuit]

Works for me. Are we going to post this up as a run? It looks like the crew might include Mobyjeep, Jim, Antpile, and me?

[Mobyjeep]

Posted in planned

[speedkills]

I'm in as well. I'm in Nederland and the route through Leadville looks more interesting than going through Denver for me, half an hour more driving but seems like a much nicer drive.

[Mobyjeep]

Awesome we look forward to meeting and wheeling with all of you!

[speedkills]

I’m out, crawled under my rug to give it a once over and discovered multiple torn boots. So bummed about not being able to make this, and will probably miss next weekend as well.

[open_circuit]

I’m out, crawled under my rug to give it a once over and discovered multiple torn boots. So bummed about not being able to make this, and will probably miss next weekend as well.

That's disappointing. Not an option to take the old rover? I have a spare tent if you are worried about sleeping arrangement

[speedkills]

I thought about it but decided I’d try my hand at fixing the boots this weekend to possibly be able to take my Disco to China Wall. Really appreciate the offer though.

[speedkills]

Or maybe the tear is small enough I should just wrap it in duct tape and run it?

[open_circuit]

Mostly packed and ready to roll. My kid is very excited. See everyone at the pie shop

[Jim]

Or maybe the tear is small enough I should just wrap it in duct tape and run it?

I'll tell Red-Green you might need his advise. :D

[Java]

Or maybe the tear is small enough I should just wrap it in duct tape and run it?

Is that angle OK? IDK anything about LRs, but that looks like no boot could survive the angle the shaft is on. Is that normal?

[Mobyjeep]

Is that angle OK? IDK anything about LRs, but that looks like no boot could survive the angle the shaft is on. Is that normal?


running 30 minutes behind schedule

[speedkills]

Is that angle OK? IDK anything about LRs, but that looks like no boot could survive the angle the shaft is on. Is that normal?

I'm not 100% sure it’s ok. Need to do more investigation. Of course the shop that sold me the axles said they were designed for this angle by RCV and that they will stand behind them for 5 years, but let’s see what they say next week. Looks pretty suspicious to me as well but I don’t know what I do t know here yet.

[open_circuit]

Thanks Andrew. FYI, we have a thread here (https://www.frontrange4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?28093-Medano-Pass-6-14-2020) with some other photos and write-up of the trip.