4Runninfun
August 18th, 2008, 12:55 AM
Well saturday turned out to be quite the day for wheeling. we wound up doing wheeler lake, mosquito pass, and weston pass.
the day started out leaving a bit late from the house but nothing too bad, then as we were headed up ute pass ryan got pulled over for expired tags, so that delayed us a bit. Then as we turned onto hwy 9 from 24 we saw very low level lightning, rain and hail. the hail at some points was almost 2" deep on the road. at this point we weren't even sure we were going to be able to make the trail. luckily as we got into alma and towards hosier pass things looked good enough to wheel.
as we got to the trail head of wheeler lake the sun broke through. and was mostly sunny during the drive up to the top. once we got to the top it started to snow. nothing too heavy but we knew we should get headed down. It snowed off and on while we were headed down. but we got down without a hitch and were back in fairplay around 2 IIRC.
we decided that it was still early enough we could do something else. we decided mosquito pass was pretty close and that would be pretty fun. most of the drive up and over the pass was very foggy, even though we didn't see much it was still pretty neat to be driving in the clouds. as we came down into leadville we decided it was getting to be about supper time so we stopped at the brass ass cafe.
after dinner we got to looking at the map and decided instead of heading all the way down 24 to bunea vista and then back up we could just cut straight across weston pass. weston was much of the same snow, rain, and fog. but again was still a lot of fun. we got back on 9 and started heading home. as we entered teller county i got pulled over for a headlight out. having had our fair share of red and blue we opted to go up and over mount herman rather than take 24 down ute pass. herman was incredibly foggy. the thickest of the day. we even came accross a rock slide which blocked half of the road. we both were able to get around but it was a bit nerve wracking as there was a steep drop-off in addition to the fog. but we made it past and continued back down to monument.
door to door the day was about 16 hours. thats a good day wheelin' as far as i'm concerened! pics...
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2859Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2881Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2895Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2906Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2907Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2932Y.jpg
the day started out leaving a bit late from the house but nothing too bad, then as we were headed up ute pass ryan got pulled over for expired tags, so that delayed us a bit. Then as we turned onto hwy 9 from 24 we saw very low level lightning, rain and hail. the hail at some points was almost 2" deep on the road. at this point we weren't even sure we were going to be able to make the trail. luckily as we got into alma and towards hosier pass things looked good enough to wheel.
as we got to the trail head of wheeler lake the sun broke through. and was mostly sunny during the drive up to the top. once we got to the top it started to snow. nothing too heavy but we knew we should get headed down. It snowed off and on while we were headed down. but we got down without a hitch and were back in fairplay around 2 IIRC.
we decided that it was still early enough we could do something else. we decided mosquito pass was pretty close and that would be pretty fun. most of the drive up and over the pass was very foggy, even though we didn't see much it was still pretty neat to be driving in the clouds. as we came down into leadville we decided it was getting to be about supper time so we stopped at the brass ass cafe.
after dinner we got to looking at the map and decided instead of heading all the way down 24 to bunea vista and then back up we could just cut straight across weston pass. weston was much of the same snow, rain, and fog. but again was still a lot of fun. we got back on 9 and started heading home. as we entered teller county i got pulled over for a headlight out. having had our fair share of red and blue we opted to go up and over mount herman rather than take 24 down ute pass. herman was incredibly foggy. the thickest of the day. we even came accross a rock slide which blocked half of the road. we both were able to get around but it was a bit nerve wracking as there was a steep drop-off in addition to the fog. but we made it past and continued back down to monument.
door to door the day was about 16 hours. thats a good day wheelin' as far as i'm concerened! pics...
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2859Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2881Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2895Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2906Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2907Y.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/4runninfun/wheeler%20et%20al%208-16-08/IMG_2932Y.jpg