Road to Music Pass Trailhead a Muddy Mess

[flyingmagpie]

Yesterday, August 12, a buddy and I did the Marble Mountain summit loop (see JimR's trip report on Marble on 13ers.com). We reversed the route, going first over Music Pass and descending into the Sand Creek valley, climbing to Cottonwood Pass, following the ridge first to the summit and then back to Music Pass and out. The incredible views made up for the effort of putting in such a long day of climbing/hiking. The weather luckily held the long while we were on the ridge. Music Pass is the gateway for a number of great 13er climbs, including Cleveland, Tijeras, Music, and Milwaukee Peaks, and Pico Aislado, among others. For those of you who are considering driving to the upper 4WD trailhead to reach Music Pass, I would urge you to change your plans. Midway up the road, the mud is almost impassable. I drive a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (4 door) with 32" tires for high clearance, and I almost didn't make it through. I live in Silver Cliff, and I have been driving this road many times each summer for climbing and fishing. I have never seen the road this bad. In the Sand Creek valley, we ran into a Park Ranger who was hiking out, and he told us he had never seen the road this bad, either. He said a number of people trying to get up the road this past weekend (August 9,10) had gotten stuck in the mud. It will be a while before this road dries, and if the Sangres keep getting rain, maybe a long while. For those of you who think you can drive through the mud just fine, I will say that the only way I did it, up and down, was hitting the puddles at sufficient speed and engine rpm's that momentum carried me through. The "puddles" aren't water, but thick sloppy muck that has been churned up by spinning tires. They are deep enough that even with my 32" tires I was bottoming out. My fear, after I had made it up OK, was that some other vehicle would get stuck while we were climbing and block the road, trapping us on the far side. My Jeep doesn't have a winch, so both we and the other vehicle would have been out of luck until some other Jeep with a winch came up the road. Once again, if you are going to Music Pass,I would change your plans, or at least postpone your trip until the mud dries, or consider parking low and hiking up the road, adding many miles to your climb. Seeing other JEEPS pulled off the road and parked was my first clue that something was wrong.

[k-berger]

Well, glad I stumbled upon this post, we are planning a trip in this area for the weekend. Any more recent conditions reports? Tried calling the rangers today with no answer. Any recent info would be appreciated....

[flyingmagpie]

k-berger:

I hope someone has some more recent information. I posted the topic a week ago, and there could have been some significant drying in the meanwhile. It was pretty bad a week ago! Because the other side of Music Pass is in the Great Sand Dunes National Preserve, there are two sets of rangers working the area. Forest Service Rangers are in charge of the road. Great Sand Dunes NP Rangers are in charge of the Sand Creek valley. You could try calling both sets of rangers.

[k-berger]

Thanks magpie. I tried all the rangers, got pushed around to several offices. The office that will have the best info is not answering the phones.

Either way, we are going to give it a look. Worse comes to worse we walk some extra miles....