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Click on the trail map below from CoSports.com |
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On October 3rd, 2004, the Hobos (Paul& Brett-CJ7, Jeff-TJ) met at the Morrison exit off I-70 at 8:00am in preparation to run up to the Bill Moore Lake Trail. Plans were to meet Hobo Scott-TJ and his son Tom in Empire, because he was coming from a Boy Scout event in Steamboat.
Shortly after air down, we headed off up the trail. Approaching the "chute", we noticed all the large boulders had been removed from the trail. Too bad the stockers couldn't just back out of the chute and go over to the easy trial to the right instead of destroying this fun section of trail.
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Looking southwest, the Continental divide is already snow covered... |
The trail was relatively dry but occasionally there were a few minor snow patches to cross. At the top of the hill before you drop down into the valley, and a couple of miles from the lake, we encountered a brief downpour of "corn" snow. The steep shelf road down to where the mud bog is was pretty spooky due to all the snowdrifts and ice. So it was down in low range first gear. It's just a matter of time before this section to the lake will be impassable. We were glad to be able to see the lake this late in the season with a thin covering of ice on it. Brett, myself, and my brother were up here about three weeks ago and the trail was dry all the way through. I noticed that the family of ducks I had seen three weeks earlier had moved on to warmer climates since then.
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| Bill Moore lake with a thin layer of ice. No mountain goats anywhere to be seen... |
The air was crisp clear and cold at the lake, so we decided to have our lunch in our Jeeps. We posed for a few photos on the "rock" and then headed back the way we came. Without being fully locked Jeff had some trouble getting back up that icy shelf road, but prevailed after some skillful tire placement.
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Scott "Mad-Max" Maxwell flexing... |
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From left to right: Brett and Paul "Weisz-Guy" Weisz, Jeff Simmons, Scott "Mad-Max" and Tom Maxwell... |
As we started down the loose rocky section of the trail we encountered about thirty some H2s being lead from Medved personnel. They were all friendly and complementary of our rigs. They asked about the trail ahead and I warned them of the icy shelf road "probably not a good thing for newbies to try". Their leaders said they would avoid that area and that they were just up to show new owners their vehicles capabilities.
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Here comes the Bling-Bling H2's... |
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Paul climbing out of the stream and crawling over what ever he can... |
We made our way over to the Empire Loop Trail and had some fun crossing and posing at Mill Creek. After the loop we made our way back down to Empire.
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| Tom crossing the stream in his 2 wheeler... |
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Scott maneuvering up the trail... |
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Hobos hidden in the trees... |
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Dirty Hobo sticker on a dirty Jeep... |
After a brisk lunch in the snow storm, we played on the rock in the parking lot. We took our last look at Bill Moore Lake for the year and headed back down the trail. We followed our tracks (literally) back down out of the clouds and stopped by the "rock chute" for a run down it. We took another look at the chute going down in the rain and snow. All of the larger rocks were not only loose but now they were wet and slippery. We headed on down to the trailhead and aired backup. Another great trail with great friends on a great day…
"JEEP,JEEP!!"
Story and Trip Leader for Bill Moore by:
Paul Weisz HoboJeepers
Here are some other Bill Moore Lake Trip Reports:
Bill Moore Lake Trail by COSPORTS
Bill Moore Lake Trail 10-00'-HoboJeepers
Bill Moore Lake Trail 6-00'-HoboJeepers
Bill Moore Lake Trail 99'-HoboJeepers
Bill Moore Lake Trail Photos by Don Wilson MHJC Patrol 11
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