Side Roads

Colorado
High-Country
Destinations

by Jim Elder

Most of the 4,500 men, women and children at Camp Hale found time for at least one trail ride. Some took time for more, choosing from the 30 different routes offered. And those are merely the nearby 4x4 trails.

Colorado claims to have the most and best four-wheeling in the United States. Utah and California might dispute that claim, but a book -- many books -- could only begin to cover all the possibilities in the Mile High State. No wonder, with the Continental Divide dominating the western third of the state from border to border. Of the 68 peaks taller than 14,000 feet in the lower 48 states, 54 are in Colorado. These mountains also lured the gold and silver seekers who built trails, roads and railroads. Most of the mining camps are gone or only ghost towns, but the trails remain to provide adventure for Jeep owners.

These routes range from paved scenic drives to highly technical
low-gear/low-range expeditions. Most are marked. Detailed guide books and maps can be bought in local bookstores, service stations and even in some grocery stores in the mountain towns. And the local folks are friendly, as long as visitors Tread Lightly! (See Map below, right).

Many of the trails are friendly, too. That means ratings of 1 to 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. "One" is a graded dirt road, easily driven with two-wheel drive except on ice or snow. "Five" means any or all of the following: ruts or rocks, no steps, water crossings up to 12 inches, passable mud, grades up to 15 degrees, and sidehills up to 20 degrees, four-wheel drive required, but no special modifications or winches.

Boreas Pass
Rating: 2

Boreas Pass is a scenic but sensible warm-up for Colorado trails. A gravel-surfaced road that was once a railroad bed, this trail runs northwest from Como off U.S. 285, over the top at 11,482 feet, and down to Breckenridge on Colorado 9.

What it lacks in difficulty is made up for in scenery. It is an easy morning run from the Denver area, down U.S. 285, over Boreas to a lunch break at the summit. One could backtrack for another view of the scenery or drive up Colorado 9 to I-70, then east to Idaho Springs and the Mount Evans summit road, which is paved, but at 14,264 feet is the highest road in North America. Nice place to watch the sun setting over Hawaii. Not quite, but you can see forever, in any direction.

Georgia Pass
Rating: 4

Another route from Breckenridge is Georgia Pass. This takes off Colorado 9 north of Breckenridge on Tiger Road. The top of Georgia Pass is a good place for a weather and reality check. Weather, because you are on lightning strike terrain. The weather and reality -- your driving skills and comfort level -- should determine where you go from there. You can backtrack to Highway 9; descend on a two-wheel-drive road to U.S. 285; or head northeast atop the Continental Divide on the Glacier Ridge trail.

Rain, thunderstorms, mud, snow or ice can make Glacier Ridge a toe-curler or even whiten your knuckles. In dry conditions it is spectacular. You can then descend on the Georgia Pass trail or go down the Middle Fork of the Swan River. Most of this option would be no more difficult that the ascent -- 4 in decent weather -- but four miles from the divide lies S.O.B.

S.O.B. is aptly named. A short but severe section requires skill, sometimes a spotter, and determination. It is possible to become stuck going downhill.

Ptarmigan Pass and McAllister Gulch
Ratings: 4

Compared to S.O.B., Ptarmigan Pass and McAllister Gulch are rehabilitation and relaxation. The route leaves I-70 at the top of Vail Pass on a road marked "Shrine Pass." About 10 miles later, a left turn leads to Ptarmigan Pass and down to Camp Hale. From there, you can loop north up to McAllister Gulch and the Shrine Pass road. The Turkey Creek road and Highway 24 are easy scenic drives back to the main highways.

Mount Antero
Rating: 5

Mount Antero is 14,269 feet in the sky. The trail reaches to within 169 feet of the summit. It is rated at 5 because of steep grades, tight switchbacks and narrow stretches with nothing between the vehicle and an endless roll down the treeless (above timberline) slope if something went wonky with the vehicle or the driver.

Antero is reached by turning off U.S. 285 onto County 162, south of Johnson Village. The same trail can also take you to Baldwin Lakes, a less intimidating but certainly rewarding destination. The locals often drive to the Baldwin Lakes area for lunch, then tackle Antero if the weather looks good and the vehicles are all running and braking in top form.

Mosquito Pass
Rating: 4 to 5

If Antero exceeds your comfort and confidence level, Mosquito Pass might be a better choice. At 13,186 feet, it is the highest drivable pass in Colorado, and it offers the above-timberline vistas of Antero without the trickier switchbacks and extreme steep sections. Long, narrow, don't-even-think-about-
getting-over-the-edge stretches might be intimidating to extreme acrophobics, but the trail is not technically demanding.

Mosquito Pass can be reached from the west by climbing east out of Leadville. From the east, take U.S. 285 to Fairplay, Colorado 9 to Alma, and up from there. The pass is rated 4/5. It is a 5 if one takes the alternate descent to Leadville -- take the right fork about a mile west of the summit for the bird's eye gulch trail. Bird's eye has more rocks, and might have mud. Adventurous four-wheeling.

The scenery and adventure of high-country Colorado four-wheeling fill the cup to overflowing. But there is another reward in these mountains. The miners who pioneered the trails left towns -- now ghost towns -- scattered among the peaks. The same maps that show the trails indicate the townsites. They echo with names like Como, St. Elmo, Tincup, Pandora, Eureka, Bachelor, Bonanza, Buckskin Joe, Mudsill, Stumptown, and many more -- each with a story of boom and bust.

Maps

This report is not meant to include detailed route instructions. Even if space allowed, trail conditions change with the seasons and the years, and regulations also change. It would be unwise to head for the high backcountry without up-to-date maps and trail reports. Check with local U.S. Forest Service District offices for maps and information. Talk to the locals. And don't go alone, even with a cellular phone, into isolated areas.

For more information on Colorado and the area's National Forest destinations, check out these websites:

www.fs.fed.us/r2

www.fs.fed.us/recreation/

www.colorado.com

www.off-road.com

www.4x4now.com

www.gorp.com/gorp/
location/co/co.htm

Good sources for books and maps include:

www.4x4now.com

www.pointswestoutfitters.
com

www.coloradomaps.com

Any of several ghost town guidebooks would add to your adventure. They are widely available in local stores.

Copyright (c) 1998 Jim Elder. All rights reserved.

Camp Jeep

by Jim Elder

"Activities included white-water rafting, mountain hiking and biking, fly fishing, archery, and an extensive program of product and engineering exhibits and seminars."

	Camp Jeep 1998.

"It's A Jeep Thing -- You Wouldn't Understand." That was a popular T-shirt and bumper sticker motto at Camp Jeep. The 4,500 Jeep loyalists understand. They came to Camp Hale in 1,500 Jeep vehicles -- Grand Cherokees, Cherokees, Wranglers, CJ's, Flatfenders and Jeepsters again this year, turning the former training camp into a small city 9,000 feet high in the Colorado Rockies.

In 1942, Camp Hale was built in seven months to train the 14,000 skiers, cowboys, climbers and mule skinners who had volunteered to form the 10th Mountain Division. National Ski Patrol founder "Minnie" Dole had recommended to President Roosevelt that a highly trained mountain and winter warfare force would be needed in Europe and (worst case) for defense on this continent.

Training included skiing, mountain climbing, mule and horse packing, and cold-weather operations, along with the basic training for infantry and light artillery. The camp also became a testing site for specialized winter and mountain equipment -- the U.S. Army was woefully unprepared and unequipped for fighting in harsh terrain and climates.

	The 10th Mountain Division exhibit at Camp Jeep.

Some of the men were European emigrants, drawn to the U.S. by the ski industry, or men who had fled Germany and Austria during Hitler's rise to power. And many of the 10th Mountain men came home to become principals in the postwar ski industry, including the founders of Vail, which was just another Colorado mountain valley until the ski troops "discovered" it during training maneuvers.

Even with 32 new Jeep Grand Cherokees and 1,500 other postwar Jeep vehicles at Camp Hale for the 1998 Camp Jeep, the presence of the 10th Mountain Division lingered, kept alive by the veterans who man the historical exhibit at Camp Jeep. The exhibit included equipment used in the legendary Italian campaign, where the 10th captured strategic areas considered impossible by regular Army units. And there was a perfectly restored World War II Jeep, the object of much attention and photography from Camp Jeepers.

Camp Jeep Today

This year's Camp Jeep was much more than history, however. Activities included white-water rafting, mountain hiking and biking, fly fishing, archery, and an extensive program of product and engineering exhibits and seminars. But the main draw was Jeep 101, featuring 32 all-new 1999 Grand Cherokees.

Jeep 101 was a driving challenge/training course, highlighting the first-ever Quadra-Drive all-wheel powertrain. The dips, short steep climbs and descents, sidehills, ditches, rockpiles and log bridges gave the Camp Jeepers a chance to experience the almost unstoppable all-wheel system that delivers power whenever it is needed.

Adjacent to the Jeep 101 circuits was a driving comparison test area where attendees drove the new Jeep and "brand X" models up slick metal ramps and through other traction challenges. The results impressed even the flatfender traditionalists. But not so much that the 1,500 Jeep vehicles that had assembled at Camp Hale rested in the parking lot.

Guided off-highway trips on 30 different routes were offered and "sold out" each day. These trips varied in length and challenge, ranging from scenic drives to low-range creeping over exciting, but not dangerous, trails. All backroad and off-road adventures adhered to Tread Lightly! standards.

Back at camp, there were large tents with displays of Mopar accessories, product engineering exhibits, vintage Jeep vehicles and concept vehicles. Roundtable seminars featuring question-and-answer discussions with Jeep engineers were popular. These sessions were model-specific, with meetings for Wranglers, CJ's, Wagoneers, Cherokees, Comanches, YJ and TJ's, and even Grand Wagoneers.

Some campers found time for fly casting lessons, Magellan GPS instructional hikes, mountain biking and golf. There were demonstrations of camp cooking, falconry and mountain boarding, a new sport which uses a contraption which is a melange of snowboard, surfboard and skateboard.

Little Jeepers had a full plate of activities to keep them busy. One tent featured crafts, another puppetmaking and puppet shows. There were pedal-Jeep vehicles and visits with Smokey the Bear and Woodsy Owl. A portable planetarium was another popular attraction, for children and adults. Archery and soccer were other diversions.

Full plates were also offered at the Jeep Grille, where breakfast, lunch and food for trail lunches could be purchased. Food was served during the Saturday evening concert featuring Kenny Loggins. The U.S. Forest Service was present with exhibits focusing on fire ecology, noxious weeds and ethical land-use. National Geographic presented mountain photo displays and seminars.

Other magazine exhibits included Sunset, Backpacker, House Beautiful, Smart Money, Men's Health, and Martha Stewart Living. The National Outdoor Leadership School had seminars sponsored by Outside magazine. Country Living magazine organized a tree-planting project. And the men from Warn were there with demonstrations of winching techniques.

Something for everyone. An organizational and logistics miracle. It took 800 workers three weeks to set up the camp. Afterwards it took five days to return this valley to the quiet it has enjoyed since the 10th Mountain went off to Italy.

Colorado High-Country Passes

Colorado offers some of the most scenic high-country driving in the country, including these six mountain passes. See Side Roads (at left) for more on these trips.

Copyright © 1998 Jim Elder. All rights reserved.