Exploring around Montezuma, CO

upcruiser

Perpetual Transient
I did a brief outing yesterday to go explore some of the roads around Montezuma. I have a loaner Land Rover Discovery I that has just been begging me all week to go see some offpavement use. It was a last minute plan as the owner of the aforementioned vehicle decided to take a day off work and come up to Summit County to visit. Thanks to Bill and Nick who offered up some great information regarding the area and some potential routes to explore. The weather was tough with high winds and blowing snow. We went from rain down near Keystone to driving snow up on the high ridges of Webster Pass. The Discovery worked brilliantly. I really enjoy driving it. It is sporting an OME suspension, 235/85 BFG AT's, a 4.6 liter conversion and a manual tranny to make the most of that power. Overall it was fun and I'm hoping to do some more exploring over the next few weeks here. Here are some pictures....

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Stopping to take a break, and get some fresh air before getting up into the wind.

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The Disco in its element

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Climbing through timberline. The snow wasn't deep but was wet and slick with patches of ice for fun.

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Maddie, our adventure mascot was enjoying running along outside the rig during most of the trail.

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We pulled off here and hiked up the trail a ways to assess it and the conditions. After going about 3/4 of a mile up it I decided it was safe enough to give it a go. The visibility wasn't so great so I couldn't really see much of the trail from below or even where it was heading above. This was the safe thing to do as back down a long, slick and snowy shelf road could be pretty tricky.

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shot from the shelf road as we hiked up it

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Alexia showing off her unique sense of style, Maddie in the rare moment when she was standing still.
 

upcruiser

Perpetual Transient
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Up along the ridgeline pretty high. It was hard to see the surroundings but this was a pretty substantial drop we were on the edge of. The wind was absolutely howling making for time outside of the rig at a minimum. The surface was scoured to ice with occasional drifts that we would power through.

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A very visible snowline that we descended back through

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the alert navigator

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An old structure along the road

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The old school house in Montezuma. This town has an interesting mix of old buildings and new. Listed as a ghost town, I was surprised by how many people reside here.

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As the light was fading we explored a bit up Keystone Gulch road and climbed up a ridge across from north peak on a fairly narrow trail.

Was a fun outing, we packed in some good scenery and challenges in a short period of time. Not sure what the next spot will be, but will share for sure.
 

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