Colorado 2011 Early Winter Hang Discussion Thread

[flexytoy]

I will not be able to make it that weekend due to a christmas party for work. Hard to miss since I am the boss. Will plan on the next trip.

[ringtail-THFKAfood]

Reverends Ridge Campground. Yes, there is a fee, but paved roads and good snow plowing.

[Isheian]

Is that a federal or state park?

[Cannibal]

Reverends Ridge is in Golden Gate State Park.
Could be an issue if the right (wrong) ranger happens by, but unlikely. Winter tends to bring a more liberal enforcement of the rules in most campgrounds out here; in my experience anyway.

[Cannibal]

I went and checked out a few car camping sites that I'm familiar with this weekend. Unfortunately, the ones in mind had very limited parking on pretty narrow roads. Probably not ideal.

I do have a thought that I'll throw out and see what happens. Genuine Draft and I volunteer (although it's been a while) at a Wolf sanctuary near Guffey, CO. A few of you may have seen/heard the video I did one night when we were down there of the wolves howling at the moon in the wee hours. It was a very cool experience. Below the pens about 100 yards is a wonderful flat area inhabited by a grove of Aspen trees. It is a beautiful place to hang. There are all kinds of hiking trails nearby if someone gets the hankering and a restaurant within a 10 minute car ride for the post-hang meal.

Mark is the name of the gentleman that runs the sanctuary. I'm confident he would welcome our group onto his property and he has absolutely no issues with hammocks. A fire pit would be allowed as long as the forest service allows them in the forests (fire bans) and I'm sure he'd be happy to give the group his standard 'tour' through the sanctuary. The sanctuary is run 100% on donations, so if everyone would toss a $5 or $10 bill at him, I think he'd be tickled.

He has plans of building some huts down in the area I'm proposing, so he is interested in having overnight guests in the future anyway. Maybe this would be a good test-run for him. Roads are well maintained year-round, so at worst, we'd have to park at the top of the hill and walk down...then back up. But, that's a pretty minor detail.

If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to give Mark a call and see where he stands on the idea.

[Cannibal]

Here are a couple of videos from the sanctuary.
The first one is probably the more relevant. The beginning couple of minutes is just a dark screen (was the middle of the night after all) with audio of the wolves howling. Kind of a creepy thing to wake to. It also has some video of the area I'm proposing for a site.



This one is just about the wolves. This video is a year or two old, so some of the names and faces have since changed. But, you get the idea of how sweet these particular wolves can be. Downright cuddly!

[Just Jeff]

I'd definitely be interested in camping at the wolf preserve. Even if I don't make it to this hang, I'll get the details from you and look into this for later.

[Isheian]

It sounds awesome!!! I just have one question: is there good level spot for a tent? Saving up to move up.

Here is another spot for consideration, though i dont know a whole lot about it. Only been there once for about a week. The link is just to show the general area, if you keep going on the same road there is a free camping area. Real rough, un-modernized, un refined woods. Some areas have been impacted by the camping and some have pre-made fire rings. Cottonwood Lake Campground

Pretty scenery, lake near buy, and a hot spring within easy driving distance. Rates on the hot springs are reasonable and the ticket is good till midnight. They are open all year round. They have food (the edible kind, not the HF member), massages, 5 pools of different temps, and as mention before, are not to far from the campground.Cottonwood Hot Springs! The town of buena vista is also not to far away and is about 2-3 hours away from both Denver and Colorado Springs.

[Cannibal]

If, for whatever reason, you wish to sleep in a tent, it won't be a problem. Plenty of flat.
But seriously, we can fix it so you aren't on the ground. I have one, maybe two, extra setups.

[Just Jeff]

But seriously, we can fix it so you aren't on the ground. I have one, maybe two, extra setups.

Yeah...almost like I barely got stuck last year, you might be able to hook up an extra setup or two.