- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Made my annual Fall Colors Tour, but went solo this year.... the wife wasn't feeling good and even after inviting local friends, nobody could go. Oh well!
I started out in Marble, CO and drove up to Lead King Basin.... this is such a beautiful area, doesn't get much attention due to the Crystal Mill. On the way up there was a massive avalanche path with HUGE downed pine trees. At one point it blocked the trail, but someone cleared a path thru the debris. I can't imagine how much work that was, there were places where the was still snowpack and the debris was well over 8' deep. The path was wide as well.
I climbed the steep switchbacks and traversed the road at pretty high elevation. The colors were beautiful, some of the mountains surrounding the valley still had snow on them from last winter. The road up Lead King doesn't stay high for very long, I dropped back down more switchbacks and worked my way down to the main road (Schofield Pass) and then drove down to the Crystal Mill. The Mill is Colorado's most photographed structure, it's beautiful.... but these days, it's packed. The land owners have but up a cable fence, there are signs posted saying 'no drones' and they have 'guards' on site to make sure you follow their rules and if you don't, they call the local Sheriff on you. On top of that, it was stupid busy while I was there, probably 15-20 vehicles and hardly any more room to park. I took a few pics and got out of there, but not before some random guy had his photo taken while he stood next to the Gladiator!
I headed back uphill to Schofield Pass, proper. Schofield is steep, rocky, off camber and has a few large rocks placed in tight spots. There was a brand new JLU Rubicon on 35's right ahead of me also going up, but fortunately the hardest part of the trail was pretty quiet. There is one spot with a massive boulder on the cliff side of the trail, I watched the JLU drag his rear tire right on the sidewall as he tried to squeeze by. I was worried about the longer Gladiator, so I put my front tire ON the rock and drove over it. My rock slider got dragged pretty hard, but I made it over just fine. Once you get out of the Devils Punchbowl, the trail continues to be narrow. I ran into a few vehicles and we had to get pretty creative to get past each other.
Once out, I continued on to Crested Butte and over to Kebler Pass. Kebler is a graded dirt road and it was BUSY.... all kinds of #Subaru & #VanLife folk out & about. The colors were good, there is one stand of trees that's my favorite as it usually has some killer Red & Orange trees in it, but it has been better in years past. Matter of fact, I think the colors were pretty bland this year, compared to years before. I was ready to be done with all the traffic, so I buzzed down the road and back to pavement, then on home. It was a good trip, would have been better with company along for the ride and less people on the roads.
I started out in Marble, CO and drove up to Lead King Basin.... this is such a beautiful area, doesn't get much attention due to the Crystal Mill. On the way up there was a massive avalanche path with HUGE downed pine trees. At one point it blocked the trail, but someone cleared a path thru the debris. I can't imagine how much work that was, there were places where the was still snowpack and the debris was well over 8' deep. The path was wide as well.
I climbed the steep switchbacks and traversed the road at pretty high elevation. The colors were beautiful, some of the mountains surrounding the valley still had snow on them from last winter. The road up Lead King doesn't stay high for very long, I dropped back down more switchbacks and worked my way down to the main road (Schofield Pass) and then drove down to the Crystal Mill. The Mill is Colorado's most photographed structure, it's beautiful.... but these days, it's packed. The land owners have but up a cable fence, there are signs posted saying 'no drones' and they have 'guards' on site to make sure you follow their rules and if you don't, they call the local Sheriff on you. On top of that, it was stupid busy while I was there, probably 15-20 vehicles and hardly any more room to park. I took a few pics and got out of there, but not before some random guy had his photo taken while he stood next to the Gladiator!
I headed back uphill to Schofield Pass, proper. Schofield is steep, rocky, off camber and has a few large rocks placed in tight spots. There was a brand new JLU Rubicon on 35's right ahead of me also going up, but fortunately the hardest part of the trail was pretty quiet. There is one spot with a massive boulder on the cliff side of the trail, I watched the JLU drag his rear tire right on the sidewall as he tried to squeeze by. I was worried about the longer Gladiator, so I put my front tire ON the rock and drove over it. My rock slider got dragged pretty hard, but I made it over just fine. Once you get out of the Devils Punchbowl, the trail continues to be narrow. I ran into a few vehicles and we had to get pretty creative to get past each other.
Once out, I continued on to Crested Butte and over to Kebler Pass. Kebler is a graded dirt road and it was BUSY.... all kinds of #Subaru & #VanLife folk out & about. The colors were good, there is one stand of trees that's my favorite as it usually has some killer Red & Orange trees in it, but it has been better in years past. Matter of fact, I think the colors were pretty bland this year, compared to years before. I was ready to be done with all the traffic, so I buzzed down the road and back to pavement, then on home. It was a good trip, would have been better with company along for the ride and less people on the roads.
