Solihull Society - Denver, Colorado

Breckenridge, Colorado - Meeting time was approximately 9:00 at the Walmart parking lot at the Evergreen exit off I-70. When I arrived, two Defenders, a Disco, and a Range Rover were already there, lurking behind the shrubbery. Bob and Pat Lohman were there in their white ‘95 D-90 and so was Kristy Long in hers, also a ‘95. The red ‘94 Disco belonged to Mike and Sylvia Arnold, and Marc Richardson’s ‘92 Range Rover completed the group. Introductions were made and we wasted little time getting on the road, the V-8s stuck behind my ‘70 Series with its wheezing 2.25 liter 4 cylinder.

We made reasonably good time (in the opinion of a series guy) to the start of the trail, stopping once in Breckenridge to top off with fuel. We reached the trailhead at west end of Montgomery Reservoir at close to 1100, where we met the last four trucks, two more D-90s belonging to Jim Molter and John Bittenbinder, and Mark Groves and Terry Graham in Mark’s ‘01 Disco II. Lionel Rossignol’s ‘95 Disco brought the vehicle total to nine. More intros were made, accompanied by much hissing as tires were aired down in preparation for the trail. When all were ready, we set out up the road, passing under the gradually deteriorating walkway at the Magnolia mill. One of these days, perhaps soon, time and gravity will win and the whole thing will collapse.

The three-mile long trail winds up the valley of the Middle Fork of the South Platte between 14,286 foot Mount Lincoln to the south and the Continental Divide to the north. 12,168′ Wheeler Lake, the river’s source, and nearby Wheeler Mountain are named for Lt. George Wheeler, who led a U.S. Geological Survey expedition in the 1870’s to collect an accurate physical description of the territory west of the 100th meridian.

Arriving at the first obstacle, I decided to give the difficult left side variation a shot. Last time I was up here I gave it a try, but the rain-slicked rock had given my tires little purchase. This time, on a sunny day with dry rock, I found myself still flailing. I back down and change my approach. This time I made a little more distance, but also scored what felt like very large air under my right front corner. OK, well maybe not today. I again backed down and took the left side without difficulty. Marc Richardson, right behind me, took a look at the right variation, then without even a spot walked it like there was nothing to it. Don’t folks like that just irritate the heck out of you? My only consolation was that nobody else tried it, everyone taking the left side.

The second major obstacle presented a number of choices. I picked the easiest line, just right of center. Marc, in the number two slot, took the tricky looking center-left line. The approach wasn’t quite right and required a bit of readjustment, and on the second attempt Marc decided he’d prefer the far left side. Backing down to reposition, the right front wheel suddenly dropped off an edge, dropping down and left, and bringing a startled look of concern to Marc’s face. The situation was quickly assessed and he continued to back into position to reapproach on far left and successfully negotiated the new line. Kristy took far right line, straddling the ominous wedge and, with minor initial slippage from muddy tires, walked the yellow D-90 right up. The rest of the D-90s and Mark Groves’ white Disco II followed her line and the other two Discos took my line up the center.

Above this obstacle, the difficulties relented and the group made steady progress. The big mud hole I remember from my last trip had diminished considerably and was negotiated without difficulty. As we approached the final ascent to the lake, we could see a number of downward bound vehicles on the road above. We found a spot and pulled off for lunch and to let the descending rigs pass.

The final half-mile climb began as a climb up a surprisingly slippery section of rounded cobbles that ran all the way to the first switchback, where the most difficult obstacle on the trail used to be. Just what happened to it a couple years ago, I don’t know, but everyone negotiated it without difficulty and we all arrived at the lake shortly thereafter. The weather was beautiful and there was plenty of time for photos and to let the dogs swim. Lionel hiked west up the line of waterfalls looking for a 2 nd lake above. The rumored 4wd damage around the lake was nowhere to be seen. Just wildflowers, blue sky, and sunshine on water and granite.

After we had soaked up our fill of the alpine environment, we loaded up and headed out for a relatively uneventful descent, following gravity’s lead back to the trailhead. Back at the second obstacle, everyone took a turn at the wedge and came through unscathed. Well, I guess I did tag a rear corner, but it seems I do that once on every trail. Just wait till I get my corner armor welded up.

Back at the trailhead after a round of good-byes, the group split up and everyone headed home, half going north the way we came, and half taking the scenic route through Fairplay and back up 285. If you haven’t done Wheeler lakes, keep an eye out for the next opportunity.

Resources
View Photo Gallery

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 15th, 2004 at 6:23 pm and is filed under Trip Reports: 2004. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.