The Mosquito Pass Trail is the highest motorized pass in North America at 13,186'

**More photos to come, these were the ones I had from my roll, Bobbette has more (come back)...

    On Sunday, September 16th 2001, Jed McClelland (CJ7), Drew "Drewby" Middleton (TJ), Bobbette "Smiley" Mathews and kids (TJ), and myself (CJ7) with my jeepin-sidekick Molly, all headed out of Glenwood Springs for a tour of Aspens and beautiful Colorado scenery!!  We stayed at Jed's brother's condo in Glenwood, as we had a blast the day before at Battlement Res.  Still thinking Jed's problem was the starter solenoid, he picked up a couple and installed it in the morning.  Hummmm, it still won't start.  Not thinking it was the battery (since it clicked on a jump), it was a day of push starts.

    We headed out about 10am towards the Aspen valley and Aspen.  Scrub Oak and Aspens were punching out vast colors of orange, reds, greens, and yellows.  A beautiful place to live if ya gat the dough.  Past Aspen, Highway 82 winds up the golden covered valley thru some 'one-lane' sections on up to 12,000+ Independence Pass.  We strolled around and absorbed the views.  Jed by now was getting pretty good at jump starting.  Down thru the east side we followed the North Fork of Lake Creek, on to Twin Lakes, where we stopped and tempted Mother Nature with having a 'quick' lunch as a storm approached and overtook us.

    Storms loomed all over the valley as we headed up past Leadville on Highway 24.  We aired down again just east of Leadville up from the Baby Doe Matchless Mine.  It was about 2pm by now, though there was virtually no traffic up and over the pass.  The trail is mostly easy, with a few rocky sections on the east side.  The lure is the sure height of the pass (only Imogene Pass in the San Juan's is close at 13,142'), and the 360 degree views of distant 14,000+ peaks and valleys over 2000+ below.

    We took a side trail that goes south over to some radio towers and views off to the SE and SW.  The wind was howling (as it always does in the jet stream!), so we headed over to the actual pass itself.  Hey, it's windy here too!  Easily 40mph winds were testing the Velcro strength on our Hobo flags.  Once down the east side, the winds were only breezy as we passed thru some rocky sections and the London Mine.  Just below about 600' at the bottom of the valley is the London Mill where the ore was transported down to where it was milled.

    The road gets less bumpy and eventually turns into Park County road 12 that takes you to pavement.  A left takes you up and over Hoosier Pass to Breckenridge, while a right takes you to Fairplay (where we went).  Since the aspens were at their peak we took Highway 285 back to Denver.  Seems some early spring frost effected the aspens as their colors went mostly to brown in the area.  We made it home about 7pm after a great tour of some of Colorado's best off and one road trails!

Mosquito Pass Report-www.4x4trails.net

Mosquito Pass Trail by Jens Moller

Mosquito Pass Trail by CoSports

Mosquito Pass Trail COOL Photos

Pack-Burro Racing over Mosquito Pass

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