Mar 26 2008

California Pass

California Pass (Silverton, Colorado)

California Pass is one of the many high passes in the San Juan Mountains that offers excellent views. The trail is not very difficult unless you have a fear of heights. Most stock 4×4 vehicles should be able to handle this trail without any issues. This pass tops out at an elevation of 12,930 feet.

This trail can have snow late into the summer which can cause the trail to be a bit muddy as it melts. Near the pass there are a few tight switchbacks and shelf roads that must be navigated. After travelling over the pass, you are greeted with an excellent view of Lake Como.

Don’t forget to check out Animas Forks ghost town before you head up California Gulch. After finishing this trail, you can continue on a number of trails including Corkscrew Pass and Poughkeepsie Gulch.

Please feel free to leave your comments and post your pictures from California Pass below.

California Pass KML Track
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Open file above in Google Earth.

Full Galleries: (07/07)> | (09/08)

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Mar 26 2008

Top of the World

Top of the World (Moab, Utah)

Top of the World is a very bumpy ride that offers a great view at about 7,000 feet elevation from the Waring Mesa of Fisher Valley, Onion Creek, and the La Sal Mountains. I ran this trail back in 2003, and don’t recall it being as bumpy as it is now. It certainly is not a difficult trail, but does require some higher ground clearance and some rocker protection.

The beginning five miles of this trail is a pretty smooth graded road, but the second half of the trail is a little rough. At the viewpoint, there is a rock overhang that is great for taking photos of anyone brave enough to stand on it.

Don’t forget to check out the Dewey Bridge off of highway 128 when you turn off to head up to the trail. This area is part of Kokopelli’s Bike Trail, so watch out for mountain bikers.

Please feel free to leave your comments and post your pictures from Top of the World below.

Top of the World KML Track
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Open file above in Google Earth.

Full Galleries: (10/03) | (03/08)

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Mar 25 2008

Long Canyon

Long Canyon (Moab, Utah)

Long Canyon is a nice easy drive for most 4×4 vehicles that offers great views of Long Canyon and the La Sal Mountains. This trail makes a good loop when combined with the Potash Road/Shafer Trail, and also works well as a shortcut back to Moab after visiting Dead Horse State Park or the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands.

The majority of this trail is pretty smooth, however, there are a few bumpy sections; especially when you head through Pucker Pass where it gets both narrow and bumpy. There is also a great photo opportunity where you have to pass under a large boulder that fell from a cliff above creating a natural tunnel.

Don’t forget to check out Jug Handle Arch near the bottom of the canyon by highway 279.

Please feel free to leave your comments and post your pictures from Long Canyon below.

Long Canyon KML Track
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Open file above in Google Earth.

Full Galleries: (05/06) | (03/08)

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Oct 11 2007

The Pipeline

After running The Pipeline trail in Northern Wisconsin last month, I figured it might be a good idea to start a page about the trail, since it is a well known trail, but is hard to find information about.

First things first, here is one of the few pages I have found on the Internet with a little history on The Pipeline: Pipeline Restoration Project

The closest town to The Pipeline is Lakewood, Wisconsin. McCaslin Mountain Campground is not very far from The Pipeline and is where I stayed at, so that’s where I will give you directions from. For info on the campground, go to their website here.

From the campground, you want to go East on CR-F for a few miles until you come to Chickadee Road, which will take you into the Nicolet National Forest. You will take a right and head South on this road until you reach Bucks Ranch Road. Here you will take a left and head East again for a mile or two until you see yellow pipes sticking out of the ground. This is The Pipeline trail.

When I got to the trail, I ended up taking it South to CR-W and looping back to the campground. However, you can also take the trail further North, and you can also continue further South once you reach CR-W. I was told that once you go South past CR-W that the mud holes can be very deep and requires large tires, so beware of that. When I was on the trail, it was very dry. Supposedly, this trail is usually pretty wet and muddy. Thankfully I picked the right time to check it out 😉

Below I have created a map of my route colored in yellow (click the map for a larger version). I added the red lines on the sections of the trail that I bypassed because of large mud holes or that I did not continue on during my loop.

For those of you that would like a waypoint to input into your GPS, here is the waypoint for the point that I turned onto the trail (named ‘The Pipeline’ on the map below):

Latitude: 45°19’33.64″N
Longitude: 88°19’30.83″W

More pictures from my trip down The Pipeline can be found here.

If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to answer them. Hopefully this will help some of you out there looking for information on The Pipeline.

3 comments | posted in Trails