Colorado adventures -- part 2

[photoleif]

Continued from part 1 (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1792)...

The rain finally tapered off sometime after sunrise, so we made the thickest coffee ever (French roast, Turkish-ground, “mud” style), and headed out.

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Here’s the view from the top, looking east.

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Me, courtesy of David. It felt like we were near the top of the world.

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A bit further down the trail, looking west.

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We encountered a weird shelter similar to some summit shelters I’ve seen on 14ers. This one turned out to be the Loch Lomand overlook. It appears to have been built, little by little, by passersby who contributed, one rock at a time, to its construction. It has at least five distinct rooms and reminded me a little of the old, primitive habitations at Chaco Canyon.

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…And here’s a bald guy bemused by the unexpected appearance of a mail drop box installed there as a container for the trail register. :-)

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Someone had also erected a 9/11 memorial.

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Now that’s a room with a view.

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We were about to leave, when a patriotic chipmunk showed up. Gotta snag that photo-op.

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Heading down. Looks like we’re driving off a cliff…

On to part 3 (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1794)...

[Bergger]

Great pics. Looks like a good time. I took the wife and daughter up to Loch Lomond last week, 4th of July, and could see that stone house from the lake road with some people around it. I was wondering what it was. I'll have to find out how to getup there and check it out.

[photoleif]

Great pics. Looks like a good time. I took the wife and daughter up to Loch Lomond last week, 4th of July, and could see that stone house from the lake road with some people around it. I was wondering what it was. I'll have to find out how to getup there and check it out.thanks. it's a fun drive. pull out TI103, look on the east side, and find apex. head west from there and stay on FR353 up over the top of that minor saddle between james peak and kingston peak, then the hut is a couple miles. there's no direct roadway from the loch up to the overlook. if you're coming from the i-70 side, you have to thread your way through alice, which is getting so built up now that it's a maze of dead-end roads. i guarantee it's easier to find from the apex side... be prepared for a rough but passable road. it's less challenging on the alice side than apex, if that matters.

[Bergger]

Thanks. I'll look up the route this week and hopefully give it a try in the next few weeks. I've wanted to check out Apex anyway.

[Bergger]

thanks. it's a fun drive. pull out TI103, look on the east side, and find apex. head west from there and stay on FR353 up over the top of that minor saddle between james peak and kingston peak, then the hut is a couple miles. there's no direct roadway from the loch up to the overlook. if you're coming from the i-70 side, you have to thread your way through alice, which is getting so built up now that it's a maze of dead-end roads. i guarantee it's easier to find from the apex side... be prepared for a rough but passable road. it's less challenging on the alice side than apex, if that matters.

I'm thinking about doing this in the next few weeks. Just curious, have you done it from the Alice side, I was thinking of starting on that side and making a circle loop down to Apex. How difficult is it on both sides? About the hardest trails I've done are Mosquito Pass and Pomeroy Lake, is this trail harder or easier in your opinion.

thanks