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Old 10-03-2004, 12:05 PM   #1
RockyMtnRay
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 816
Arrow Almost Heaven: Brainard Lake NRA, Colorado

Yeah, yeah, I know John Denver didn't use the phrase "Almost Heaven" in his song Colorado Rocky Mountain High....but I think he would have if he'd seen the Brainard Lake Nat'l Rec Area first. It's about 60 miles NW of Denver at the very edge of the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. Here are some pics from my visit there the week of July 11th, 2004.

Let's start with a view of Mt Audubon (13,233) from the campsite just after sunrise:


And some scenes from around my campsite in the Pawnee Campground that were taken that morning and the evening before....

East side...this campsite is really tucked into the forest:


A shot from the west side (notice the complete privacy):


A couple of notes about the strange appearance (and small size) of the trees and shrubbery. The correct term for this type of tree where all the branches are on the lee-side is Krummholz...literally "crooked wood". Brainard Lake is at an elevation of 10,300 feet (just below tree-line) and has a sub-arctic climate (despite being at the same latitude as Virginia and central California). It's only snow free from early July until early September; in the winter the winds howl through with hurricane force (sometimes well over 100 mph) and temperatures drop to below -50.

Moving down to Brainard Lake itself (a short 200 foot walk from my campsite), here's a view of the Isabelle Glacier reflecting in the lake.



Heaven is not easy to get into. In case any of you are thinking this looks like an ideal place to visit (it really is!), you do need to keep in mind a few things.

First, the climb up from the plains around Denver involves an enormous amount of ascending in a very short distance....5000 feet in about 25 miles. There are a couple of miles of 10% grades coming out of Boulder and the first two miles of the access road to the NRA involve a 1000 foot ascent with some quarter mile stretches of 20% grades. It is STEEP! Going back down is equally challenging...I had my truck in 1st gear for maximum engine braking and still had to repeatedly and heavily use the wheel brakes to keep my speed under 30 mph...and to bring it down to 10 mph to negotiate several hairpin switchbacks. I would caution against trying to pull a TM in here unless you have an engine with at least 300 ft-lbs of torque and very low gearing (around 3.91 axles).

Another issue is waste water. There is fresh water at the campground but the closest dump station is 5000 feet in elevation and 25 miles down those tortuous and steep mountain roads. Having a full grey water tank really adds to the excitement of the descent.

And for you hookups types...no, there is no electricity. None at all...not even for the campground facilities.

This area is extremely popular so if you want reservations, you need to reserve at least 30 days in advance for a weekday stay and about 90 days in advance for a weekend stay.

Unfortunately, the board software only allows 4 images to be embedded into the post so you'll just have to click on the rest. Attached images are....
  • Another of Brainard Lake with Mt Audubon reflecting
  • View from inside the TM while eating breakfast
  • Another view of the campsite
  • Nearby Mitchell Lake (about a 1 mile hike) with Mt Audubon again
  • A nice cascade along the trail from Mitchell Lake to Blue Lake (there are 5 lakes total in this NRA). Yes, it was mid July and that's still remnants of last winter's snow
  • Blue Lake with Mt Toll in the background.
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__________________
Ray

I use my TM as a base camp for hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and climbing Colorado's 14ers


The Trailer: 2002 TM Model 2720SL ( Mods: Solar Panels (170 Watts), Dual T-105 Batteries, Electric Tongue Jack, Side AC, Programmable Thermostat, Doran TP Monitor System)

The Tow Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Tundra V8 SR5 4X4 w/Tow Package (Towing & Performance Mods: JBA Headers, Gibson Muffler, 4.30 gears, Michelin LTX M/S Tires, Prodigy Brake Controller, Transmission Temperature Gauge)


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Old 10-03-2004, 02:52 PM   #2
Windbreaker
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wow!

You sure make it hard for me to stay at lower elevations!

Did you put the smiley face in the snow at the cascade?
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Old 10-03-2004, 04:17 PM   #3
RockyMtnRay
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 816
Smile Glad you liked my pictures!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Windbreaker
wow!

You sure make it hard for me to stay at lower elevations!
Yep! Thought I'd show you "lowlanders" what you're missing.

According to the guidebook "Colorado Campgrounds: The 100 Best and All the Rest" the campsite I was in is arguably the most scenic in the entire nation. That book, BTW, is my bible for locating the most stunningly scenic campgrounds and specific campsites in Colorado.
Quote:
Did you put the smiley face in the snow at the cascade?
Hehe....nope, 'tweren't me that did that. Nicely done smiley face though!
__________________
Ray

I use my TM as a base camp for hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and climbing Colorado's 14ers


The Trailer: 2002 TM Model 2720SL ( Mods: Solar Panels (170 Watts), Dual T-105 Batteries, Electric Tongue Jack, Side AC, Programmable Thermostat, Doran TP Monitor System)

The Tow Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Tundra V8 SR5 4X4 w/Tow Package (Towing & Performance Mods: JBA Headers, Gibson Muffler, 4.30 gears, Michelin LTX M/S Tires, Prodigy Brake Controller, Transmission Temperature Gauge)


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Old 10-04-2004, 08:35 AM   #4
BobWilson
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Default Campground

Is this really a campground? Looks like you just backed into some trees in the middle of nowhere. Doesn't look like you have a picnic table or fire ring. Do you have any pictures of other campers or campsites, or restroom facilities? If there are flush toilets then you can carry your gray water to a toilet. It's not too much work just takes time to make a few trips. It does make you be conservative on water.

By the way. This thread should have been placed under "Recommended Campgrounds and Places to Visit". That category I like to scan for new places to go.
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Old 10-04-2004, 12:14 PM   #5
RockyMtnRay
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Default Yes, it's the Pawnee Campground

Quote:
Originally Posted by BobWilson
Is this really a campground? Looks like you just backed into some trees in the middle of nowhere.
Yes, it most certainly is a developed National Forest Service campground...the here's its listing on ReserveUSA. The campground has 55 sites, most reserveable. The reason it looks like I was in the middle of nowhere is most of the campsites are spaced quite nicely...around 100 to 150 feet apart with a thick forest between sites.

I avoid as much as possible any campground where the site spacing is so small that I can even see another campsite. IOW, if I have to close any of my TM's side curtains to obtain privacy, I feel the campground is way too jammed together. The good news is I usually can find campgrounds with enough spacing between sites that not only do I not have to see any other campers but I don't even have to hear any voices from adjacent campsites. I came close to that in this campground...no voices but I could faintly hear a generator somewhere a few campsites over.

There was another TM in the campground and ours were by far the largest trailers there...the sites are quite narrow and small...and that really challenging climb up the access roads apparently keeps out the bigger rigs. (I did tell the other TM's owners about our website but they've never shown up here).


Quote:
Doesn't look like you have a picnic table or fire ring.
Yes, I believe my campsite did have a fire ring and a picnic table...IIRC, both were in a small clearing directly behind the trailer. The high altitude climate is usually not conducive to outdoor eating...summer evenings are usually quite cold and often fairly windy...even in mid July the windchill usually drops into the 40s at sunset. Hence I don't recall ever using a campsite picnic table. And after the massive wildfires of 2002, I stopped having a campfire. Since I never use the picnic table nor the fire ring, I never even think to include them in a picture. Sorry.

To be honest, the only folks I typically see using a campsite's picnic table are the tenters...basically everyone who has some form of RV (even a popup) eats inside where it's warm! Accordingly, the tables seem to be usually placed next to the campsite tent pad (which most sites have) and seldomly anywhere near the site's parking area. And it's my observation that not very many folks have campfires either...probably only around a quarter to a third of the campers do so. Again, too cold plus a lot of concern about wildfire...and at $6 for a small bundle of firewood, a campfire's not cheap either.

Quote:
Do you have any pictures of other campers or campsites, or restroom facilities?
No, sorry, didn't take any other pictures of the campground but recall that most of the other sites were even more forested and even smaller than my site. The ReserveUSA link above does have a "Photos" link with some additional campground pictures.

Quote:
If there are flush toilets then you can carry your gray water to a toilet. It's not too much work just takes time to make a few trips. It does make you be conservative on water.
The toilets were mostly the very old style, rather stinky pit toilets; one was a new style "no stink" vault toilet. None were of the flush variety...given the subarctic climate with bedrock just under the surface, my guess is a sewage/septic system is totally infeasible. So, no, there's definitely no option of draining the sewage/waste water into a tote and dumping it down a flush toilet. And simply dumping the grey water on the ground is absolutely prohibited due to the extremely fragile ecosystem of the campground area...anyone who would do this would be shortly paying a large fine to the Federal Magistrate in Denver. The ONLY way to get rid of waste water/sewage is to haul it 25 miles and 5000 feet down to a public dump station in the Town of Lyons. The round trip would be in the 1 to 1.5 hour range due to the extremely curvy, low speed limit roads.

Very, very few of the Forest Service campgrounds in Colorado have flush toilets and most of those that do also have dump stations since they have to have sewage systems anyway.

Quote:
By the way. This thread should have been placed under "Recommended Campgrounds and Places to Visit". That category I like to scan for new places to go.
Good suggestion. Perhaps we can get Chris to move it...or once Chris finishes with the "Mod" features, I can move it there myself.
__________________
Ray

I use my TM as a base camp for hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and climbing Colorado's 14ers


The Trailer: 2002 TM Model 2720SL ( Mods: Solar Panels (170 Watts), Dual T-105 Batteries, Electric Tongue Jack, Side AC, Programmable Thermostat, Doran TP Monitor System)

The Tow Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Tundra V8 SR5 4X4 w/Tow Package (Towing & Performance Mods: JBA Headers, Gibson Muffler, 4.30 gears, Michelin LTX M/S Tires, Prodigy Brake Controller, Transmission Temperature Gauge)


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Old 10-04-2004, 04:31 PM   #6
BobWilson
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Default Widely Space Campsites

That fact of having such widely spaced campsites is an interesting concept. Typical California style camping is more like 15 to 25 feet minimum between neighbors, some have more space, maybe 40 or 50 feet. But typically the terrain is hilly that limits the campgrounds to groups of campsites that are reasonably flat enough to park and put up a tent. I like about 25-30 feet unless the neighbors are particulary noisy because I like the social aspect of camping. I have even thought about being a campground host. I don't like the RV parks with 10 to 12 foot spacing and no trees.

Eating outside is what we prefer and most of the time the weather is nice enough for that 3 meals a day. If it gets a little chilly then we eat at the fire ring. But too cold for a fire? Hmmm. Never camped in Colorado but eventually we will try it. Thanks for the warning.

Bob W.
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