Looking for some High Altitude camping in CA or CO

[hwitten]

While waiting for my Prolite Suite to get finished I'm pondering some summer camping, probably during July.

I'd like to spend 7-10 days around the 10,000 foot level. It's something that I was never able to do in my GMC MH. MH age, weight and length eliminated many destinations. I'm hoping that I will now have much more flexibility with CUV and TTT.

I'm still working, sort of. I telecommute, so my workplace can be anywhere I have Internet. I can only drop off the grid for short periods of time during the week, rest of the time I have to be reachable. I know that limits me some but hopefully not as much as it used to.

Basically I'm looking for high places as remote as reasonable to travel to with CUV and 12 foot trailer. California or Colorado I would guess. Cell reception a must, electricity optional, very optional as I think I can survive on solar for laptop needs.
I've been searching the 'net and it seems like Pike's Peak area is a good candidate and maybe the Tahoe area. I'm hoping that someone knows of such a place and is willing to share.

[asianflava]

Been to Georgetown, but never been to this specific place. Looks like it meets your elevation criteria.

http://campincolorado.com/federal/arapa ... _pass.html

[JuneBug]

Lake City, CO is a bit below 9,000 ft elevation, but would meet your other criteria. Many people use it as a base of operations to access nearby 14,000' peaks.
Keep in mind that elevations around 10,000' won't be accessible until late June, early July (depending on snowpack in any given year) and will be susceptible to daily, intense summer monsoon thunderstorms. Clouds begin building at noon, and culminate with a serious afternoon thunderstorm, on an often daily basis. In the past this pattern persisted throughout the month of July, often starting on the July 4th weekend and going through until early Sept. Absolutely loved it when I lived in SW Colorado.

[atahoekid]

The closest to the 10,000 foot elevation around Lake Tahoe is the Mount Rose Campground on the Mount Rose Highway at the summit. Elevation there is 9300 feet. The highway runs between the lake and Reno, NV. This is on the NV side of the lake. Bummer is you can't see Lake Tahoe from there. You'd be real close as your only about 20 minutes from the lake. They recently redid the campground. I took a drive through it just before it closed last year and it looked like a pretty nice campground.

[grant whipp]

There are quite a few campgrounds in the 9-10,000' range all along the eastern front of the Sierras in CA, from Whitney Portal all the way up past the highway to Yosemite, and a nice one in the White Mountains east of Big Pine just below Bristlecone National Park. I can't speak for cell phone reception at any of them, but all you have to do is take the short ride down to Hwy 395 to find it.

In '08 I stayed at a nice one in CO, south of Hwy 50 ... wish I could remember the nearest town, but it was well east of Montrose ... Silver Lake Campgrounds, 17 miles of gravel road at over 10,000'. Again, can't speak for cell reception, but it was well worth the drive (fishing was great, too!).

Good Luck and Happy Trails!

CHEERS!

[hwitten]

Thanks All. Keep the suggestions coming

A lot better results researching your suggestions than starting totally from scratch.

[Engineer Guy]

The Grand Mesa in Colorado is the World's largest Flattop Mountain [>800 square Miles], and is all over 11,000' elevation. Endless good dirt Roads, and stunning Forests. Lots of folks just pull off the 'primary' dirt Roads, and set up Camp [legally] on any number of secondary Roads. Because this is actually the 'bottom' of an ancient, collapsed Volcano, there's ~300 Lakes created by old subsidence. An area known as 'Land's End', at the N.W. part of the Mesa, has line-of-sight to all the U.S. Provider Cell Towers. Stupendous dark Skies due to no Light Pollution. There's also numerous Gov't Campgrounds w/o Electricity, and some Private ones w/Hookups.

After resupplying in Grand Junction CO, your best access is from east of Grand Junction on Highway 65; a nice paved Road that goes up and over the Grand Mesa. There are also small Country Stores on top of the Mesa. Besides being more than you could ever see, this area is several hours north of Pikes Peak. This would save you travel time. Pikes is nice, but offers only a fraction of what the Grand Mesa does.

The only 'downside' I can think of is that the lush Alpine Forests and Lakes = plenty of Bugs. So much acreage means no crowding vs. the possibility of this around Tahoe.

On Google Earth and the feature 'Panaramio' - where Visitors have uploaded their pictures - you should be able to preview the area completely. You can zoom down and see details of a given Campground. Also, by zooming in and down to 'Street Level View', you can 'drive' all of Highway 65 and really preview what you're in for. Start your Search in Mesa Colorado - a little Village at the base of the Grand Mesa on the North [I-70] side - and 'drive' south from there.

Colorado Grand Mesa

[hwitten]

The only 'downside' I can think of is that the lush Alpine Forests and Lakes = plenty of Bugs.

I'll take bugs over crowds anytime
My early camping was in the Yukon and Alaska.

The early camping days

yukon1977-mosquitoes.jpg (95.15 KiB) Viewed 581 times

[PKCSPT]

That picture has me all itchy now

[Martinjmpr]

Last year we found several nice primitive (and free!) campsites in the area between Winter Park and Grand Lake, CO. If they weren't at 10,000' they were darn close. We were in my 4wd 4runner but every place we found was accessible by any reasonably equipped car (well graded dirt) at least when dry.

At one of the campsites North of Granby and South of Grand Lake, I woke up in the morning to see a bull moose walking across the field about 300 yards from our campsite!

[markhusbands]

I really like Ebbett's Pass in CA, as well as any number of places along the 395, as Grant mentioned. And of course in Colorado there are innumerable high altitude places to camp. I personally have bookings at USFS campgrounds near Monarch Pass (Monarch Park) and Maroon Bells (Silver Queen) already; these places book up. I have no idea about internet capability and rarely use RV-oriented private campgrounds.

[Corwin C]

Don't discount Utah ... we have quite a bit of high altitude get-away places. Here's one of my favorites at about 9700' ...



... and another spot just a couple of miles away ...



Cell service is spotty (as is generally the case in mountainous terrain), but where it works it works well (3G somtimes 4G). Don't plan on getting up there until late June, some years mid-July. Timid Springs is an area where there are quite a few camping spots with vault toilets available. There are many others including Big John's Flat, Anderson Meadow, Kent's Lake (limited amenities), etc.

Good Luck & Happy Camping!

[hwitten]

Thank you. WIth those pics Utah is definitely being added to my list. Narrowing my timeframe down to mid-July for 2-3 weeks. Should fit with weather and cat-sitter

Those pics and the other areas suggested take me back a few years (in thought) and make me long for a repeat of my early days of camping.

Yukon. 60 miles south of Arctic Circle.

65-07-14.jpg (96.23 KiB) Viewed 509 times

In the sixties, when you could still drive the park yourself.

65-09-11-78.jpg (72.94 KiB) Viewed 509 times

Ahhhh, the good ol' days. No traffic.

65-09-06.jpg (86.16 KiB) Viewed 509 times

Those were simpler days

[JuneBug]

The Grand Mesa in Colorado is the World's largest Flattop Mountain [>800 square Miles], and is all over 11,000' elevation. Endless good dirt Roads, and stunning Forests. Lots of folks just pull off the 'primary' dirt Roads, and set up Camp [legally] on any number of secondary Roads. Because this is actually the 'bottom' of an ancient, collapsed Volcano, there's ~300 Lakes created by old subsidence. An area known as 'Land's End', at the N.W. part of the Mesa, has line-of-sight to all the U.S. Provider Cell Towers. Stupendous dark Skies due to no Light Pollution. There's also numerous Gov't Campgrounds w/o Electricity, and some Private ones w/Hookups.

Thanks for this reminder, EG. When I lived in the Cortez/Dolores/Durango area there was so much to do that was so close by, I never ventured up onto the Grand Mesa. Now on the to-do list!

[Bogo]

Motor Vehicle Use Maps: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gmug/maps ... rdb5191814

They designate where you can drive, and where dispersed camping is allowed along the roads in the area. All national forests, monuments, etc. should have the maps by now.

The Grand Mesa in Colorado is the World's largest Flattop Mountain [>800 square Miles], and is all over 11,000' elevation. Endless good dirt Roads, and stunning Forests. Lots of folks just pull off the 'primary' dirt Roads, and set up Camp [legally] on any number of secondary Roads.

In general dispersed camping is at least 100 feet, but no more than 300 feet from the center line of the road. Also there are restrictions like no closer than 100 feet from water, etc.. Check with the National Forest, etc. that administers the land you wish to camp on for current restrictions, etc.. High use areas may be closed to allow them to recover and for other reasons.