Hancock Pass
We all met up at the Gunsmoke gas station for the trail run. Everybody got gas and then headed to the Grizzly Gulch trailhead parking lot to air down. There is a large aspen grove just uphill bordering the parking area, and the aspens were just glowing in yellow. It was breathtaking.
On the way between the gas station and the parking lot, Corrigan's Comanche started overheating due to the slower speed and uphill drive, so he made the decision to leave his Comanche in the parking lot and ride along with Matt.
Tim had gone ahead of the group and accidentally went past the Grizzly Gulch trailhead, but he eventually turned around. After finding Tim (or Tim finding us) and locking up Corrigan's Comanche, everyone was aired down, and we started the long hill climb up to the top of Hancock Pass. It was slow going over a generally rough and worn-out trail.
After a while, we stopped in a scenic and secluded camping area just big enough for all of us to park in. We had lunch there and enjoyed the surrounding views around the campsite. We had been seeing glimpses of entire mountain sides and valleys glowing with the aspens' and cottonwoods' beautiful fall colors, because the area was at the peak time for leaf peeking.
Hancock Pass was very bumpy and slow going. Near the top on both sides of the pass the trail was a little more difficult, with rocks and boulders that got bigger as the trail got steeper. We saw a few people on dirt bikes and side-by-sides near the top and at the crest of the pass. You could really see all the fall colors from up high.
The other side of the pass was a lot steeper than the side we drove up, but we didn't have any trouble. There was a lot of traffic on the road to the West Portal of the Alpine Tunnel, the shelf road part of the trail that is very narrow and not great for passing oncoming vehicles. We all had to do some interesting maneuvering to get by the oncoming others, and it took some time to get it sorted out.
It was fascinating driving on the old Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad narrow-gauge track, a shelf road with wonderful views down into a long valley. We drove to the West Portal Alpine Tunnel Museum area. They made a large parking lot and put up a lot of signs and improvements. We followed a walking trail to the ruins of the engine house, old section house, boarding house and a little house that was the telegraph house. A longer walk took us all the way to the end of the valley where the tunnel entrance used to be. It has since been filled in. Everybody walked around and looked at the exhibits, historical remains and signs. It was a very interesting end to a fun trail.
Reports from Other Days: 3
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