Camping Beside A lake or river would be great.. in amongst some trees.
I suppose it’s time to get tight on the rendezvous time at the staging area Sunday August 29th. 12:00 noon would be nice, and easy enough for those of us staying the night before in Montrose.
Let’s have others weigh in on this please….😊
Sunset will be 7:40, IMO, we need to stop to set up camp not less than an hour before sunset. According to map details, it’s approximately 47 miles from the staging area to Main Street Nucla, and according to the details provided, there are at least two side loop trails off the main trail between the staging area and Nucla that are worth exploring. Also according to trail details we can’t camp at or adjacent to Nucla, as the trail leaves NF about 4-5 miles before we hit Nucla and we don’t go back into NF until about 20 miles farther west of Nucla.
On the Colorado side, we have the Iron Springs campground, the Columbine campground, the Ballpark campground, and the Buckeye campground near the Utah state line in the order in which we’ll encounter them.
For the first nights camp, I’d say Iron Springs is out of the question as it’s just 14 miles from the staging area. However, if we take the advise found in the map/trail details posted at the Rimrocker site and do the Roubideau Jeep loop trail they highly recommend, we would add 13 miles to the afternoons commute and staying at Columbine Pass Campground would be more possible. That’s if we fancy a designated (albeit primitive with vault toilet) campground, otherwise we could travel up the Traver/Moore loop trail, that is also a recommended side trail coming right out of the Columbine campground (or very near it) a short distance and camp along Potter creek. Of course being so near a mountain pass, I can’t guarantee how much water the creek would have.
The other option for the first nights camp would be to remain on the Rimrocker proper towards Nucla and camp anywhere we’d like before the trail leaves the NF at mile 47.1……leaving us just 5-6 miles outside Nucla the following morning for a quick and easy jaunt to town on the OHV approved asphalt road where we can replenish ice, fuel and any groceries needed before hitting the trail for a full days ride…🤔
Again, this is all so difficult to pinpoint in advance with so many variables at play. There’s still going to be a lot of “play by ear”. But everyone is welcome to their input and in fact it’s encouraged…..😎
There’s lots of options for day two and camping for night two, but let’s tackle that later on and keep this conversation to day one and night one….for now….👍
