Date: 7/9 ~ 7/10 (arrival at campsite on Friday 7/8 ) Route: Bald Mountain north and south loops, over two days Camping: We're in the E-Loop, at the Dinkey Creek Campground. Book for nights of 7/8 and 7/9.
My suggestion would be the same thing we did last year (I know you weren't there). Bald Mtn north route on Sat, south route on Sun.
I think it took us about 5 hours to get to the lookout tower on Sat...the multi rig factor plus the fact that the north route has some fun optional lines. It's a good trail to play on.
The south route is normally a little shorter (if nobody's rig breaks...).
Off-topic question: can you tell me the title of the book you are using?
I've been trying to find a reliable guide book for trails in Alberta and am finding it really difficult. I'm wondering if the book you are using is made for different regions, so a good place to start is knowing the title!
Thanks for the help and sorry for the thread-jack.
Our Bald Mountain trip last year was on Aug 8th and 9th and it was not very hot. The biggest issue we had was smoke from nearby wildfires but luckily, it did not effect us much. We stayed at Dinkey Creek CG which had a store and hot showers.
I agree with Jen that there are a lot of trails right on Bald Mountain that can be run over a 2 day trip. The local 4x4 club has been working on new trails in conjunction with the forest service, which need to be researched. Total length of the loop (both N and S) is 9.2 miles but getting a large group through the difficult spots takes time and as we found out last year, repairs on the trail can add more time. This is another area that we do not want to rush through. Splitting it up makes the most sense.
Per Mapquest, the travel time to the start of Shuteye Peak trail from Dinkey Creek CG is about 2.5 hours, so that would make for a very long day.... especially if folks are headed home on sunday.
Per Mapquest, the travel time to the start of Shuteye Peak trail from Dinkey Creek CG is about 2.5 hours, so that would make for a very long day.... especially if folks are headed home on sunday.
Let's stick with Bald Mountain this time around, and early August would work for me. Eventually I'd like to try Shuteye, as well as all the other "red" routes in the Shaver Lake area... provided some of you accompany me
It sounds like somebody broke a part last time around? What part was it?
Jen, is your book written also by Charles Wells? My book seems to be a revised series, and just shows what is shown in the first photo of my initial post; the other pages describes each trail in detail. We really need to compare our books physically sometime.
The route on the right is the 'North Loop' and the route on the left is the 'South Loop'.... which is pretty weird because, in reality, there is only 1 loop! If you look closely at that page you can see the N and S designations.
We entered at marker 1 each day and I believe we did the 'South Loop' trail sat to the top of the mountain then went down to marker 5 and turned left and exited on rock Creek Road..... then on sun we did the 'North Loop Trail' and exited the same way. We did not go back up top on sun as most folks were leaving for home.
One thing that does not show in the guide book is the distance driven on Rock Creek Road, it is at 20-30 minutes of very rough broken pavement and dirt each way.
If you have not seen the pictures and videos from last years trip, here is a link: Bald Mountain 8/8-8/9 2015
If you look at the above thread you can see that there are several optional challenges that added a substantial amount of time to each day. Getting a large group through the tricky spots takes extra time as well. The guide book notes the time needed for a single vehicle to run each trail which is a lot quicker.
We also stopped and had lunch on the trail both days and spent some time repairing NYTKSHR after a shackle came apart and fell off on the trail.
I'll try to take a look at the campsites today to see which weekends the sites we got last year are available. I meant to do it last night but didn't get to it obviously.
Check with jbumx2, maybe you could share a site with him. The site I got is pretty lg but you would have to call them and see if you can just pay for the extra vehicle or what.
I got E45. You have to specify how many people and how many vehicles when you make the reservation.
Have fun guys. I would love to join, but am taking too much PTO with this damned move and Moab and with my folks wanting to come for 2 weeks in October I really can't take 2 more days to come back up to Fresno, though I really wish I could. I know the shackles are tight this time and I might actually remember the sites if I were to do it again.
Patrick, since you posted this I would like to suggest that you edit your first post to include the dates and attendees (or start another thread). BTW... if you click on the 'Go Advanced' button on the edit page you can edit the title as well. Including a link to the CG will help folks find a site.
Hi everyone- This trip looks like fun and the issues that prevented me from joining in last year's trip have pretty much been resolved. Please put me down at 100% for the weekend. Looking into coming up Friday.
-Tom R
Hi everyone- This trip looks like fun and the issues that prevented me from joining in last year's trip have pretty much been resolved. Please put me down at 100% for the weekend. Looking into coming up Friday.