West Side Road

[Fairweather]

Pope and I rode mountain bikes up to Round Pass and then down to the old Klapatche trail head this past Saturday, then hiked up to St Andrews Lake and beyond toward Tokaloo Spire only to be fogged in for two hours--unable to locate the objective sans GPS. Some work is currently being done at the Fish Creek parking area, but the road took a big hit this past November just beyond with almost a mile completely obliterated. Beyond this, the road is in good shape and makes for a great bike adventure. I was surprised to see two NPS quads parked at Round Pass/Lake George Trail head. Seems to me that the MRNP brass ought to practice what they preach? The park has done well to maintain the access trail to the junction with The Wonderland and it looks like they're getting ready to put a new roof on the old ranger cabin at the trail head. Maybe the quads are assisting with the movement of supplies?

 

My harping about access to the west side of the park these past 18 years since the closure of the road is now a bit more tempered. While there are some outstanding opportunities for family adventure here, it was really nice to find a moderate degree of solitude--and the bike ride to the Klapatche Trail head takes less than two hours. Where I was once sure, I am now conflicted.

[AlpineK]

It was really nice in the old days being able to drive to trails there. A bike is somewhere in between driving and walking the whole distance. I walked the middle fork trail two weeks ago and saw a car that got permission to drive near the end of the old road. I'm not sure how they got permission to do that. Next time I'll bring a bike since I don't have the connections for driving.