Grand lake where to stay, any guides?
- Thread starter landon283
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The only areas you can't go in are the 'protection' areas. The play area basically means it's all wide open (no trees) vs playing in the forest... These are usually the spots that get tracked up first so be sure to hit them up while there is still powder...
If anyone is going to be riding at Grand Lake this weekend, I'd be up for joining. I have no one to go with and it's going to be beautiful out
Not to jump in on your thread but....we are heading to Grand Lake next Thursday for our first Mountain trip!! Anyone familiar with the area going to be around? Forgive my lack of mountain knowledge, I am curious if we plan on staying on the trail and in the play areas, should we still wear beacons? Also, looks like the weather is going to get pretty warm there next week, assuming we will have to trailer out of town to get to the trail head? (Tried getting the place right on the trail, booked!)
Thanks. (And before you beat me up too much for my silly questions, I am a chic, give me a little room!)
Thanks. (And before you beat me up too much for my silly questions, I am a chic, give me a little room!)
Not to jump in on your thread but....we are heading to Grand Lake next Thursday for our first Mountain trip!! Anyone familiar with the area going to be around? Forgive my lack of mountain knowledge, I am curious if we plan on staying on the trail and in the play areas, should we still wear beacons? Also, looks like the weather is going to get pretty warm there next week, assuming we will have to trailer out of town to get to the trail head? (Tried getting the place right on the trail, booked!)
Thanks. (And before you beat me up too much for my silly questions, I am a chic, give me a little room!)
1) Great choice in destination! It's really a beautiful town.
2) The only time I really use my beacon is when I'm alone and the snow is really wet and heavy, not sure about other people. There is an avalanche safety class so maybe those guys can chime in because I've never attended one.
3) Here is the trail map. If you don't want to start from town; you can trailer to the 'Idleglen lot' located off Stillwater Pass road which is just outside of town. That's probably the best bet if you have your own sled already.
As far as going from town; I do it all the time, just fyi- it takes a long time to get back to town once you're up there, so be sure to keep track of gas levels etc..
http://www.grandlaketrailgroomers.com/m/
4) You guys are more than welcome to join me for riding. Sounds like it's going to be sunny all week. & I typically stay on trails and in the play areas ( No trees)
I'm starting to think we need a master thread with all this information. When I moved out here I felt like they hide this info because they want you to pay for the tours. But if you are an experienced rider, those tours would bore you to death! Luckily I knew some locals who showed me around for free
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Thanks! We have the trails downloaded to the GPS. Great trail maps, btw! I am afraid that if we rode with you, you would be waiting for us all day. (Since we are flatlanders making our maiden voyage!) IDK how fun it would be for you?? We get in on Thursday and might try a short trip out to work the bugs out and test out the lungs in that high altitude. I will send you a pm if we think we can hang 
We did end up getting a spot at Gateway!! I got lucky and found a cancellation!! Can't miss my pink sled. It is one of a kind!
We did end up getting a spot at Gateway!! I got lucky and found a cancellation!! Can't miss my pink sled. It is one of a kind!There are no official guided tours in Grand Lake, only in Winter Park. All rentals in Grand Lake are un-guided.
If you have beacons, I'd use them. You paid for them, use them. If you don't have beacons, then just use common sense and you'll be fine.
Oh my bad, thanks for clearing that up! I had seen on the trail rentals had tours on their website...must be old or something.
@Snowshell - I understand where you're coming from, it's always fun to just explore and play on your own especially when you're traveling this far.. Have fun riding!
Wow, you're right about the guides in Grand Lake. Sorry. On The Trail does offer trail guides now. Shows how long it's been since I rented a sled.
2) The only time I really use my beacon is when I'm alone and the snow is really wet and heavy, not sure about other people.
Are you kidding me? How do you USE your beacon when you are alone?
Anyway, a few of you really need to take an avalanche safety course! Ride with some experienced mountain riders that are willing to help you out. Some of the replies from a few of you here are a little disturbing. I don't want to see anymore lives lost do to avalanches. I have seen enough of that already.
[Qro-8250;3819626]
That's a class I am definitely going to take in the near future..
When I ride solo, I always stick to the crowded areas. So let's say you DO get buried and someone happens to witness it.
To my understanding, the beacons are all compatible with one another? so you would still have that much more a chance of survival vs having nothing at all *Maybe you can clear that up.
I know you're not supposed to ride alone, but as long as you are in the correct setting and there is someone around (assuming they have a beacon as well) then you can be found more easily? It just seems better than nothing at all in my opinion..
2) The only time I really use my beacon is when I'm alone and the snow is really wet and heavy, not sure about other people.
Are you kidding me? How do you USE your beacon when you are alone?
Anyway, a few of you really need to take an avalanche safety course! Ride with some experienced mountain riders that are willing to help you out. Some of the replies from a few of you here are a little disturbing. I don't want to see anymore lives lost do to avalanches. I have seen enough of that already.
That's a class I am definitely going to take in the near future..
When I ride solo, I always stick to the crowded areas. So let's say you DO get buried and someone happens to witness it.
To my understanding, the beacons are all compatible with one another? so you would still have that much more a chance of survival vs having nothing at all *Maybe you can clear that up.
I know you're not supposed to ride alone, but as long as you are in the correct setting and there is someone around (assuming they have a beacon as well) then you can be found more easily? It just seems better than nothing at all in my opinion..
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landon283
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We stayed in a cabin only about half a mile from "on the trail" rentals and yep you are correct hey do have guides out of there. If you happen to hire one contact Jesse, we met him on the mountain one day and he was a super stand up guy and originally from Minnesota. He offered to take us out the next day and show us around some of the sweet spots and was pretty cool to talk to even though we never did end up riding with him. Also the owner there Nick, was great to give directions in the morning and insight as to where to go for fun areas to play in. He even went out of his way when I had to call him for directions and explain where we were off my gps and referencing my map to try find our way out cause 2 of us including me out of the 9 in my group had dropped into an area that we didn't quite know that we would get out of. Instead of just walking me through where to go he actually suited up and came and met the other guys in my group at the top and showed us the way out. Pretty top notch if you ask me!
Max as for you sorry we never ended up hooking up to get to ride together, there will for sure be a next time probably next winter and we WILL be getting back hold of you again. Thank you!
Not to jump in on your thread but....we are heading to Grand Lake next Thursday for our first Mountain trip!! Anyone familiar with the area going to be around? Forgive my lack of mountain knowledge, I am curious if we plan on staying on the trail and in the play areas, should we still wear beacons? Also, looks like the weather is going to get pretty warm there next week, assuming we will have to trailer out of town to get to the trail head? (Tried getting the place right on the trail, booked!)
Thanks. (And before you beat me up too much for my silly questions, I am a chic, give me a little room!)
We were in Grand Lake last Week (Sunday to Sunday). Stayed at Rapids Lodge at the end of town. Great place for anyone looking to stay there in the future. Our first trip west. Rookies also.
Your trail ride from the Gateway is about 5 miles to the trail head. It's not bad but with warm conditions, it'll be junk and you'll want to trailer. Looks like it's warm this week. As far as the trails, they are marked pretty good and you won't get lost or anything like that. The trails take you to the places you'll want to jump off and play at. You'll know them when you get there. I hate to even say this to you, and I hope it has changed since we left, but everything is tracked up pretty bad. When we got there it snowed about 2+ feet at high elevation. It was awesome for a few days and by the time we left, everything was beat. There may be some areas to get to and play, but it's going to be tough to find. Possibly some locals may know where to go. We had a mutual friend that knows Nick at On The Trail Rentals, and he pointed us to some spots we never even made it to. So stop in and see if one of their guys can take you out to somewhere more virgin.
All in all, Grand Lake was an awesome area and we enjoyed it. I would also suggest hydrating like crazy starting right now, grab something for altitude sickness right now, and take it easy. I got sick and had the worst stomach ache, headache, and sleeplessness for about 3 days. It was horrible. I'll prepare more for next time. The altitude kicks your ***.
Make the best of everything and have a good time. I know Max is a local guy in the area from this site, and he offered to ride with us and show us around. We never ended up getting together but his help and follow up was outstanding and appreciated.
Thanks guys! Glad you had a great time! I'm sorry we were not able to hook up, I had a crazy schedule that week. Give me heads-up the next time you're in town, and I'll make sure to carve some time out of my schedule to ride with you guys! Max
Sounds like you hit that storm just in time RPS! It's amazing how fast the snow melted. I agree, you will definitely want to trailer to Idleglen. I was up there yesterday and the trails are starting to get down to dirt in spots in lower elev.
The good thing about it being all tracked up is that as a flatlander, you can explore the spots you probably wouldn't dare to go if there was powder
The good thing about it being all tracked up is that as a flatlander, you can explore the spots you probably wouldn't dare to go if there was powder
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Thank you for the info!! I see that they might get some snow on Thursday and Friday. Fingers crossed!!
As a PA, I did some serious research on the altitude sickness. I went ahead an wrote out Diamox for each of us. We started it today (We head out tonight) and we started hydrating yesterday!!
They say that 70% of flatlanders will get symptomatic! I would like to try to feel well on this trip!!Thanks for the info!!
Where should we eat in Grand Lake??
You know, we stayed in a condo so we ate in. My buddies did eat at the restaurant at Rapids Lodge one night where we were staying. Said the food was very good. Otherwise we cooked chicken and brats and steaks and such on the grill. Yum.
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