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Alex Wood - Oct 2, 2008 1:18 am - Voted 10/10
Nice Pagebut you should attach it to an area or moutain so more people can find it.
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Page Type:
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Trip Report |
|---|---|
Lat/Lon:
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39.62212°N / 106.10038°W |
Date Climbed/Hiked:
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Dec 28, 2006 |
Activities:
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Hiking |
Season:
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Winter |
Mesa Cortina Trail
Mesa Cortina Trail is a beginner trail through a beautiful aspen and lodge pole forest, a couple of sage brush meadows. There are amazing views of Lake Dillon, Ptarmigan Peak and the Williams Fork Mountains.Dirictions: To get to the Mesa Cotina Trail take Colorado 9 north from the Silverthorne exit (205) of I-70. Turn left onto Wilderness Road at the traffic light - A Wendy's is located on the right and a 7-11 store on your left. As you start up the mountain Wildernest Road becomes Ryan Gulch Road. Look for Buffalo Drive on your right and turn right here. Buffalo Drive dead ends at Buffalo Mountain Drive and you will turn right here. Take the next left, Lakeview Drive, which is soon intersected by Aspen Drive. Turn left onto Aspen Drive and the parking lot for the trailhead will be on your right.
From the trail head there is about a 20-30 min. walk (depending on the season) to the entrance to the Eagles Nest Wilderness. Not long after you enter the forest there is a series of ascending switchbacks and then it tends to level off. If you are cross country skiing is careful when coming back because the switchbacks are not wide and I have seen more than enough skiers crash into logs of which are straight ahead as opposed to turning with the trail. At about 2.1 miles from the trailhead an old ranching road merges from the east and then a half a mile past and the start of the Gore Range Trail.
We got on the trail at about 9:30am and went about 2 miles but had to turn around due to a severe storm coming in. When we started out it was about 22ºF. And when we came back it was around 27ºF. We got back around 12:30 although we did stop for many photo ops and then we had a problem with one of my buddy’s snowshoes. At the trail head there was a family getting ready to snowshoe but after they took off on the trail (10 minuets before us) we never saw them again. Besides them we did not see anyone else. It is a wonderful hike and there is always something new on the trail. It is easy enough for kids (although in the winter I would not recommend it for anyone under the age of 12) yet challenging enough for those who want something more. I hope this helps.
-Sarah
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