The Monarch Pass Vegetation Management Project (MPVMP) has been underway for a few years now. This timber project aims to clear out dead and dying engelmann spruce trees affected by the spruce beetle. During the summer of 2018 we focused on ground based removal primarily around the trails served by the Garfield, Pioneer and Tumbelina lifts. Last summer we targeted…

A few of us visited our friends at Rocky Mountain Outdoor Center this week. They offer just about every type of river experience out there in addition to many land based activities. We were interested to see how they are conducting summer operations under COVID-19 guidelines. They appeared to have it dialed in with solid social distancing rules where appropriate…

I took a walk up the Egress Road at the end of the day to check out Mirkwood Basin. The runout below the bowl is lush and green. Not as wet as it usually is and the normal creeks and boggy areas were missing. Always neat to see how different this area feels in the summer vs. the winter. There…

Mt Ouray rises just to the southeast of Monarch Pass. At 13,961′ it falls just shy of “fourteener” status. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail/Colorado Trail passes just along its western flank. This mountain is named for Chief Ouray, a Native American Chief of the Ute Nation. Chief Ouray’s second wife was named Chipeta. The summit of the large prominent mountain…

Here is a nice morning view at the top of Pano. We had several projects going on up there this week. Winter showed up early last year and there was still some finish work to be completed on the new Pano Patrol Building. The property maintenance crew picked up where they left off last fall finishing trim work. The summer…