Medano Pass & The Great Sand Dunes 5-2010

[Backwoods Rambler]

My club and a few other friends and family did some camping & general exploring around Medano Pass & the Great Sand Dunes over memorial day weekend. It was a memorable trip to be sure.

I have GPS track logs if anyone is interested.

R.M.E.C. Medano Pass 2010

Here are some teaser pics :sombrero: enjoy!

 

[SWbySWesty]

Wow - when do we get the full trip report?

 

[The Adam Blaster]

The colours in that last pic are ridiculously vivid! :Wow1:

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

Wow - when do we get the full trip report?

I put a lot of time into the trip report that I linked to in my original post. That website isn't in a format that I can just cut-n-paste here, so unfortunately that means I won't be redoing the whole thing here.

The colours in that last pic are ridiculously vivid! :Wow1:

Yeah, I took some liberties with editing some of the photos to make them more like you're seeing the real thing instead of some washed out point-n-shoot camera picture. So what you see there is how I remember it. :ylsmoke:

 

[SWbySWesty]

I put a lot of time into the trip report that I linked to in my original post. That website isn't in a format that I can just cut-n-paste here, so unfortunately that means I won't be redoing the whole thing here.

Sorry! Didn't realize it was a link to your trip report. I do have another hour before 5pm, right? :sombrero:

 

[deadbeat son]

Looks like you all had a great time! One question for you, is the picture below from the actual Medano Pass road? The wife and I were planning to do Medano Pass next weekend, but this looks like more mud than I care to encounter.

 

[ExpeditionFj]

I was there the same weekend with my wife and this particular section is very small and you should not have problem with it. The rest of the trail is dry except for a few river crossing.

 

[deadbeat son]

Sounds good. I'm locked in the rear with 32" MTs, but the other vehicle going is open diffed (also on 32" MTs). Good to hear this shouldn't be too big of an issue. Thanks for the report!

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

I was there the same weekend with my wife and this particular section is very small and you should not have problem with it. The rest of the trail is dry except for a few river crossing.

I saw you there, it was a great day to be on the trail!


That section can cause a problem as you see in that picture, but on the way UP the pass (heading East from the dunes) Ted made it through that section with no problem.

Note that 2 of the river crossings can be pretty deep, but won't likely cause problems for most vehicles that are built for trail riding.

Have fun.

 

[deadbeat son]

Note that 2 of the river crossings can be pretty deep, but won't likely cause problems for most vehicles that are built for trail riding.

Have fun.

We'll be in a stock Tacoma OR on 32" MTs and a stock Wrangler Unlimited with the optional 32" MTs (but no Rubicon pkg). In the past, I haven't had difficulty doing water crossings like the "lake" at the end of Middle St. Vrain (which is pretty far across and was about tire deep).

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

The only reason the grand got stuck is ground clearance and street tires. You should be fine.

 

[E30RUNNER]

Sweet trip and pics!

BTW I'm also lovin Mumford & Sons!

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

Sweet trip and pics!

BTW I'm also lovin Mumford & Sons!

Thanks!

I'll be seeing Mumford & Sons at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival :victory:

 

[nwoods]

Love the muddy leg photo and corresponding caption. Nice report!

 

[Larry]

Medano is a beautiful trail that can be traversed in pretty much any stock 4x4. My wife drove our stock Tahoe over it a couple springs ago without issue.

I remember when I was a kid in the 80’s you could drive all over the sand dunes as far as your rig could go. Boy, the guy that had the coronary in a different thread a while back about one of our members writing Expedition Portal in the sand with footsteps a would have really freaked out back then.

Beautiful pics JD!