Middle St. Vrain
We intended to run Gillespie Gulch but the pavement on the way to Jamestown was closed for construction so we ended up on Middle St. Vrain and Coney Flats. It was covered in snow and ice which made this normally mellow trail a lot more challenging! A few of us got stuck here and there, spinning tires in the snow, but everyone had a great time.
We started off at the parking lot that was almost completely empty. There was about two inches of snow on the trail here, at it's lowest point in elevation. We talked to some people in a stock Jeep Liberty who were going to the end to do some hiking, thinking that they wouldn't have any issues. After we aired down we let them go first, but then we backed out again as we saw them backing back out of the trail. They decided it was too difficult, so they got a ride in the back of Joe's truck instead.
There were a few icy spots but otherwise the beginning of the trail was just fun playing in the snow. When we got to the main rocky obstacle it got interesting. Bob managed to get over the big rock, and about half of the rest of the group tried it but couldn't stay on it. It was too icy and tires were too packed in snow. Robert came directly at it and managed to get himself high-centered, so a few of the guys pushed him back down. Gary got inventive and took his skinny CJ around the rock to the right, managing not to slide off the trail completely.
The hill was covered in ice, making it a fun challenge for everyone sliding all over the place.
We were in the shade for most of the trail, but then when we came to the place with the largest water crossing (which only had a little bit of water in it) we found sunshine and the ground had no snow on it. This was a good place to break for lunch so we stopped. After a little bit, Joe continued on without us to take the hikers to the end of the trail because it was so close. He waited for us at the Coney Flats "lake" but we took a little longer than we had anticipated (see the Coney F
lats report for more details).
We went to the end but no one got out to check out the scenery. There was a lot of snow at that end. We all turned around and started up to Coney Flats.
This trail is a blast in the snow!
Reports from Other Days: 12
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