Sleeping Overnight in Car @ Maroon Bells Parking Lot
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desertdog
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Re: Sleeping Overnight in Car @ Maroon Bells Parking Lot
I was up Castle Creek road on the dirt portion last week there were a ton of open camping spots. It was a weekday though.
The summit is a source of power. The long view gives one knowledge and time to prepare. The summit, by virtue of the dizzying exposure, leaves one vulnerable. A bit of confidence and a dash of humility is all we get for our work. Yet to share these moments with friends is to be human. C. Anker
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msmith7361
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Re: Sleeping Overnight in Car @ Maroon Bells Parking Lot
Thanks all. Indy Pass and Castle Creek are at least 40-45 minutes from the TH, which seems like wasted time. But, we may just pick one of those to be safe even though discreetly sleeping in a car for a few hours seems pretty benign to me.
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Tigerbear
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Re: Sleeping Overnight in Car @ Maroon Bells Parking Lot
Sometimes they have campsites open for climbers the day before. I drove up and got one! Never hurts to check. I don't think they are all reserved in advance.
people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel...
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BrentRichter
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Re: Sleeping Overnight in Car @ Maroon Bells Parking Lot
If you get caught sleeping in your car, you could probably say you just pulled in an hour or so ago and was taking a quick nap before starting your hike (as long as it looks like that, i.e. you're just sitting in a front seat of your car, and don't have a sleeping pad, bag etc. sprawled out on your laid down back seat . . . I was the latter). Don't state / agree you were sleeping over night when the ranger asks; I was honest, and paid for it. I don't know if a ranger would go to the trouble of pulling security camera video footage at the gate / station you have to pass on your way in or not, but the ranger that tapped my window sure wasn't gonna do me any favors.msmith7361 wrote:Thanks all. Indy Pass and Castle Creek are at least 40-45 minutes from the TH, which seems like wasted time. But, we may just pick one of those to be safe even though discreetly sleeping in a car for a few hours seems pretty benign to me.
(Oh, and if the ranger says that the parking lot doesn't have the facilities necessary to accommodate people parking overnight, such as restrooms / outhouses, don't point out the restroom right behind the ranger. In hindsight, that was another mistake I made.)
