marble / schofield / lead king basin

[fjcruzer]

Took a spin up to Marble to check the snow pack at the Lead King Basin and Schofield Pass trailhead. Lots of runoff starting along the Crystal River on Highway 133.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18004.jpg
Still a bit of snow on the high northern slopes.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18005.jpg
Beaver Lake is still a bit cold.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18007.jpg
Not another car on the road, but who do I run into... TFF, a twin! Fine folks from Ridgeway, hope to see them in June!
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18010.jpg
Other than the 2ft plowed at the end of the road it is starting to be passable. If I'd had company I'd have busted it to see how far the snowmelt has progressed... Guapo / Hawk?
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18011.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18013.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18014.jpg
Walked up about a 1/4 mile, snowy and getting muddy, but most of Lead King is rock, so might not be too bad in a couple of weeks.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18024.jpg
More good runoff on the way back down the Crystal River.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fjcruzer123/marble%20march/march18033.jpg

[RedRunnertc]

Cool - I can't wait for some more scenic 'wheeling!

[Lysmachia]

Sweet pics Eric, can't wait to get up there and wheel with you!

[Wildturkee]

looks great, when are you all gettin together to do it?

[RedRunnertc]

http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60374

[Jacket]

Awesome pics Eric. I was just in your part of the state this weekend (see my other thread) - lots of snow still up on the trails, but damn beautiful scenery you got up there. Lucky man!

[hawkonthewing]

What's on the road down at the beginning is one thing. The real problem is further up where the valley is steep and very narrow. There are some avy chutes that can cover the entire bottom of the valley with thirty or forty feet of snow. That can take quite a while to melt. Getting up there now would even be risky because of avalanche danger. I don't think I would even ski it right now except at about 5:00 AM. Talk about a terrain trap.

It hasn't been a huge snow year; so, we can hope for the best.

[fjcruzer]

Your right about that and I'm going with the optimistic hope that snwomelt will be rapid this year. In the mean time we should try something sooner where it's warmer, perhaps Bang's Canyon on the 31st? I know there was some scuttlebut about that a couple of weeks ago, so we'll see.

[hawkonthewing]

Hey nice pictures, by the way; but something tells me you didn't make it to the Crystal mill. Bangs on the 31st might work. I'll check with my little miss schedule person. Have you heard the one about the little girl who ate bullets? Yea that's right - she grew bangs.

[fjcruzer]

I've got a similar scheduling compromise to work out, so let me know what you find out

Bang, bang.. funny haha :D

As far as the Crystal Mill goes, I ran out of time to hike, so definitely didn't see it!

[stagecoachco]

I would be in for bangs canyon on the 31st. Actually either saturday or sunday would work for me.

Tony

[Lysmachia]

31st or March? Hmmmm I wonder if Troy and I can pull that off???

[fjcruzer]

I have faith in you... besides, got the wife on board, so you gotta come meet her!

[hawkonthewing]

You know, Sunday would actually work best for us. I might not be able to go Saturday but could commit to Sunday. What do ya'll think? Does that give RR and Lys time to get home?

[fjcruzer]

Unfortunately Sunday won't work for us. My wife has to drive to DIA to fly back to Boston that day :(

I started a new thread on this :)

http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum/showthread.php?p=777903#post777903

[ajax]

still lots of snow on our side and in the punch b o wls

[Lysmachia]

Hmmm... Yeah sunday would be a lot harder for us. It would be a LONG day to then drive home and be ready for work. What about the following saturday (in April)?

[fjcruzer]

Well, it looks like FJGrandJunction and Stagecoachco are in for this Sat, and after that my wife won't be back until the middle of May... hope you folks can join us!

http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63480

[fjcruzer]

still lots of snow on our side and in the punch b o wls

Thanks for the update, beats driving all the way around to check! Let us know how the melt goes from your end and we'll see that happens.

[padesertboy]

yeap I`ll be running this trail in a couple months....:D

[hawkonthewing]

Good point.