TrailElder
Trail Wise!
I'm a Blue Liner, following blue lines on the map wherever they may lead. Tenkara rod in hand!
Posts: 487
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Post by TrailElder on Feb 20, 2021 5:54:48 GMT -8
I'm designing a trip in through Dark Canyon (so from the west of Oh-Be-Joyful). I'm thinking of basing at the confluence of Middle/North Anthracite for a bit and exploring those canyons in there. Then I'd probably make a run up to Oh-Be-Joyful and Democrat Basin and back. I was looking at a possible loop involving a Buck Creek bushwhack up to the pass, coming back on Silver Basin/Devil's Stairway. Looking for info on any of the Anthracite tribs and travel in that area off trail in general. Not seeing much beta on that side of the Raggeds. burntfoot looks like you have spent some time in the Raggeds, and maybe Westy?
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Post by burntfoot on Feb 20, 2021 7:58:47 GMT -8
TrailElder, that is a neat area back in there. And, depending on where you go, you may not see many people, except horse parties. With the exception of hunting season in October. I've gone all the way back in there once from Dark Canyon in hiking boots, and in cross-country ski boots. Word of caution, that ski trip was scary. I did it late season (March), and warmer temperatures were melting the cliffs above, and an occasional boulder came crashing down. My favorite Trip was a 4-day loop that I did starting from Horse Ranch Park on the Kebler Pass Road. On day one, I hiked in from Horse Ranch Park down to the confluence in Dark Canyon and had a late lunch. I then went part-way up North Anthracite. On day 2, I went up and over Anthracite Pass and down to the Aspen side to Yule Creek and camped up that creek about a mile above the marble quarry. On day 3, I went to the headwaters up and over Yule Pass. From there, instead of walking the trail to Paradise Divide, where there were a bunch of 4-wheelers parked, I descended straight down into the Slate River drainage. I was on packed snow almost all the way down to where the switchbacks coming from down from Paradise bottomed out. By the way, this was August, and I was still on snow in there. I walked the road down to Oh-Be-Joyful, and then about halfway up towards Democrat Basin. On Day 4, I went over Oh-Be-Joyful Pass and back to Horse Ranch Park. From Dark Canyon, Oh-Be-Joyful would be one heck of a side-trip (and climb). But, it is one of my favorite passes. And, Democrat Basin is probably my favorite camping area in Gunnison County. I went back a few years later just to camp.
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
I'm a Blue Liner, following blue lines on the map wherever they may lead. Tenkara rod in hand!
Posts: 487
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Post by TrailElder on Feb 20, 2021 16:02:34 GMT -8
What a great walk, burntfoot . Thanks for this. You've given me a lot to process! What year was your 4-day trip? Yes, I was thinking I would move my camp with me into Democrat. Is it pretty busy these days, do you know? I know it's one of John Fielder's favorite spots... Where did you camp in there? You then took Silver Basin/Devil's Stairway back to Dark Canyon confluence, I assume. Am I right about the confluence being a good place to camp? What more can you tell me about N. Anthracite? (The trail and the water.) What is Slate River like? I hadn't been focused on that but, wow, it looks amazing in there. Even the CalTopo satellite imagery has a lot of snow, though I can't figure out when it was taken. Curious why you chose to come in from Horse Ranch Park instead of through lower Dark Canyon. Visions of rocks falling on you? (I spend a lot of time in canyons, and have had more than one close call. The latest was from some bighorn sheep walking above me, trying to take me out!)
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Post by absarokanaut on Feb 20, 2021 16:19:17 GMT -8
For many years the world record elk was shot at Anthracite Creek.
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
I'm a Blue Liner, following blue lines on the map wherever they may lead. Tenkara rod in hand!
Posts: 487
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Post by TrailElder on Feb 21, 2021 6:20:49 GMT -8
For many years the world record elk was shot at Anthracite Creek. I love this story! Next time I'm in CB, I'm going to stop in and lay eyes on the Plute Bull of 1899. "[John Plute] was also known to be a colorful character. An inveterate bachelor, a miner, and a mountain man, he traded the head to the local saloon keeper in payment of an overdue bar bill. It later passed to the stepson of the saloon owner, who dragged it out of storage and submitted the first unofficial measurement of its antlers in 1955."
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Post by burntfoot on Feb 21, 2021 9:44:12 GMT -8
What a great walk, burntfoot . Thanks for this. You've given me a lot to process! What year was your 4-day trip? Yes, I was thinking I would move my camp with me into Democrat. Is it pretty busy these days, do you know? I know it's one of John Fielder's favorite spots... Where did you camp in there? You then took Silver Basin/Devil's Stairway back to Dark Canyon confluence, I assume. Am I right about the confluence being a good place to camp? What more can you tell me about N. Anthracite? (The trail and the water.) What is Slate River like? I hadn't been focused on that but, wow, it looks amazing in there. Even the CalTopo satellite imagery has a lot of snow, though I can't figure out when it was taken. Curious why you chose to come in from Horse Ranch Park instead of through lower Dark Canyon. Visions of rocks falling on you? (I spend a lot of time in canyons, and have had more than one close call. The latest was from some bighorn sheep walking above me, trying to take me out!) I'll try to answer these in order. 1. I did that 4-day loop in August of 1993, the year after I moved here. We had a huge snowfall that previous winter, and it brought down a lot of snow via avalanches into the Slate River drainage. So, I was able to descend on snow from Yule Pass to within a quarter mile of the Paradise road where the first switchback starts up. 2. I haven't been in Oh-Be-Joyful/Democrat Basin area in a dozen years, so don't know how busy that gets. Last time I was in there, I had Democrat Basin to myself for a couple of nights. But, there were a few day-hikers in there that didn't stay for the night. My guess would be to aim for a camp in Democrat Basin for week nights, not weekends. I camped in a flat area a short walk from a small pond. 3. Actually, coming over from Oh-Be-Joyful Pass, there is a trail that allowed me to bypass having to go back to the Stairway. It kind of was a diagonal back towards Horse Ranch Park. 4. Its been awhile, but I do remember good campsites in there. Can't remember how big, and what they looked like. I camped at one when I hiked in from below once. 5. When I did it, North Anthracite was a pretty good maintained trail, with a few sketchy side trails off of it. The creek didn't have a lot of water in in in August. But, I had enough for a camp. Of the 3 camps on that loop, this was my least favorite, and I'd probably camp down in Dark Canyon if I were to do it again. 6. Slate River was good to avoid miles of road walking. But, it would be too narrow and steep for a good camp, even with the snow gone. Once on the road, I walked past Pittsburg Road. I've hiked up that one in a different year, and saw a few good campsites up a ways. The next good camping was up in the Oh-Be-Joyful Valley. 7. I started from Horse Ranch Park for 2 reasons. First of all, it saved me a lot of driving at the start and end of the trip. Secondly, I had that diagonal from Oh-Be-Joyful Pass, and was able to cut off mileage on my last day. Not a lot to see down in the trees, though, so another time I'd start from Dark Canyon unless it was late September for the trees, which are great that time of year.
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
I'm a Blue Liner, following blue lines on the map wherever they may lead. Tenkara rod in hand!
Posts: 487
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Post by TrailElder on Feb 21, 2021 10:57:57 GMT -8
Thanks for taking the time for these good answers. Super helpful. One last one (for now). What was the Anthracite flow like at the confluence?
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Westy
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Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
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Post by Westy on Feb 21, 2021 19:22:50 GMT -8
TrailElderNo direct experience in Ragged Wilderness other than nearby 4-Pass Loop with the family and peakbagging the usual suspects. Enjoyed the Redstone Inn and drove the gravel road to Crested Butte. WTG burntfoot!
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Post by hikinggods on Feb 21, 2021 20:52:45 GMT -8
I took a short trip probably 10 years ago through Dark Canyon, up the Devil's staircase and headed across toward Oh-be-joyful. It was an unseasonably warm and gorgeous first week of October. I camped up in Buck's basin and didn't see ANYONE after I started up the Staircase. There was NO water from Dark Canyon until a mile or two before Buck's basin. Last year we hiked up OBJ from the Slate River side to camp a night at Blue Lake. There were quite a few day hikers, but we were the only people camped at the lake. The next day we hiked over to OBJ pass, and explored the area, then camped in Democrat basin overnight. There was only one other party camped in the area. This in a busy Covid year. It was a Thursday and Friday night trip. Water was no problem on this trip.
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Post by burntfoot on Feb 22, 2021 20:40:27 GMT -8
Thanks for taking the time for these good answers. Super helpful. One last one (for now). What was the Anthracite flow like at the confluence? I remember it as being a rock-hop across in August, or possibly a calf-deep ford.
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