Mt. Baldy Trip Report 2008
Saturday, May 17, was a beautiful day, nearly like summer. The Breakfast at Lithia Jeep was well received by all with a variety of bagels, spreads, hot coffee, and plenty of orange juice.
At 9 a.m. we divided up into the two groups and Group 1 left Lithia with 13 vehicles. We took Stage Coach Road up behind the Broadmoor Hotel until it intersected with Gold Camp Road. We pulled over and let Group 2 pass us as they were continuing on farther down the road than we were going.
We elected to take the short cut near the Rosemont Reservoir, which provided for a short distance of fun in four wheel low range for everyone. Even though we were mostly stock vehicles, no one needed help in any way. We continued on up Gold Camp Road to the trailhead for Mount Baldy and turned north a couple of hundred yards to find a good place to air down. We proceeded from there up the trail, in low range, toward Frosty Park.
There we picked up another member and started toward the top of Mount Baldy. Well, we didn't get very far as the snow got deeper and deeper. We made it about half way, to the bald knob that makes a left hairpin turn. We stopped and had a serious discussion about the possible consequences if we tried to continue on in the slippery conditions, with the current altitude reading being at 10,600. The group decision was to return to Frosty Park and have lunch. We gave the children time to play around there on the bald knob for an extra fifteen minutes, with different members taking a number of pictures, and then headed back down. It was so cool even back at Frosty Park that most of us ate lunch in our vehicles. We then gave everyone multiple options as to what to do for the remainder of the day, as it was still so early, about 12:30 p.m.
The various options included going west on Gold Camp Road to Victor and on to Phantom Canyon Road, or west to Cripple Creek and on Shelf Road to Canyon City, or back on Highway 67 to Highway 24 and down the pass back home. A number of us decided that we wanted to go on home, wash our vehicles, and get some summer type chores done. Overall, we had a wonderful time together, had no accidents, and lots of fun!
Denny Hage, Trip Leader
