Information on current and past 14er closures, usually due to private property issues.
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Joey_parm wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:38 am
Is the closure of the entire Decalibron effective immediately? Could not determine from the article exactly.
I confirmed with John that the closure is taking immediate effect - legally speaking, he had to post a sign and share an announcement in the newspaper for the peak to be 'closed'.
The Sun article constitutes the announcement, and he said he is posting a sign at the trailhead as well.
-Alex Derr
"Some people go to church, other people explore the outdoors. But we're all looking for the same thing, at the core of it: A place in and respect for the world bigger than ourselves."
justiner wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:41 am
A stone's throw away you do have Bartlett Mountain, which does show the scale at which a mining company would go to, to mine relatively mineral poor ore if the market makes it profitable. I think that's what the owners of say: Bross are dreaming about.
It's not a poor ore if its profitable.
"A couple more shots of whiskey,
the women 'round here start looking good"
justiner wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:41 am
A stone's throw away you do have Bartlett Mountain, which does show the scale at which a mining company would go to, to mine relatively mineral poor ore if the market makes it profitable. I think that's what the owners of say: Bross are dreaming about.
It's not a poor ore if its profitable.
The owners have a pretty simple theory - but it is somewhat compelling. Commercial gold and silver mining in America is no longer economically competitive compared to other parts of the world where the lack of environmental and worker safety regulations means they can mine at a far lower cost than they could here in Colorado.
If the rest of the world were to ever catch up with the U.S. and adopt similar regulations as our own, it would dramatically raise the cost of gold production abroad and make US mining operations more competitive.
Whether or not that means mining Bross and Lincoln would actually be profitable is open to debate - but it would definitely increase the land value from a speculative standpoint. Realistically, the Colorado DNR would never approve a permit for hard-rock mining operations on any of the 14ers - there's just too much economic activity generated from hikers to justify it, and the state can take that into account when approving/denying permits.
-Alex Derr
"Some people go to church, other people explore the outdoors. But we're all looking for the same thing, at the core of it: A place in and respect for the world bigger than ourselves."
rijaca wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 12:37 pm
It's not a poor ore if its profitable.
There's been times in fairly recent memory where the mine has closed because of economic pressures. One of the side effects of that was almost taking Leadville with it.
Does someone have a map of where the public/private boundary is? I'm looking at Caltopo and it's just showing a portion of the road as private. Seems like you could access from the north or east slopes of Lincoln? I must be missing something obvious?
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Buckie06 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 1:35 pm
Does someone have a map of where the public/private boundary is? I'm looking at Caltopo and it's just showing a portion of the road as private. Seems like you could access from the north or east slopes of Lincoln? I must be missing something obvious?
Here is a map of the private land (shaded white). No easy/safe way to make it up any of the four peaks without passing through at least one short stretch of private land. The North and East approaches towards Lincoln are both on private land.
The south shore of Kite Lake and part of the trailhead parking area is actually also on private land - not sure whether or not its leased to the USFS or just informally used - the camping areas are on public land, but just barely. The trail to Emma Lake also goes through closed private lands.
-Alex Derr
"Some people go to church, other people explore the outdoors. But we're all looking for the same thing, at the core of it: A place in and respect for the world bigger than ourselves."
Buckie06 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 1:35 pm
Does someone have a map of where the public/private boundary is? I'm looking at Caltopo and it's just showing a portion of the road as private. Seems like you could access from the north or east slopes of Lincoln? I must be missing something obvious?
This USGS topo probably illustrates the mess better:
decalibron-private1.jpg
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cottonmountaineering wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:36 am
i think thats whats going on with the mine right outside fairplay, going through old tailings, i just have to think it would be near impossible to profitably mine at the top of a 14,000 peak, there is no infrastructure to process the ore anywhere close by, and making a road etc to the valley likely wouldnt happen since its on public land
A stone's throw away you do have Bartlett Mountain, which does show the scale at which a mining company would go to, to mine relatively mineral poor ore if the market makes it profitable. I think that's what the owners of say: Bross are dreaming about.
The difference being that Bartlett is actually being mined whereas these mountains are not. Definitely stay away from an active mining site, don't jeopardize your safety, the workers livelihoods, cause mine ops to shut down etc. Walking on land which isn't being used is a little bit different than being where hundreds of pounds of explosives are routinely detonated and hundreds of tons of Earth moving equipment are in use every day.
Additionally, climax mine and Henderson mines are the only primary Molly mines, that we know of, in the western hemisphere. Everywhere else extracts molybdenum as a secondary mineral from copper and silver mines.
ekalina wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 9:24 pm
I don't see much hope for us on these access issues unfortunately. The state legislators are likely to continue caving to the special interests that don't want any changes made to the law and are bankrolling people to make sure it doesn't happen. There aren't enough voters that care about this niche issue to matter. It would take at least ten minutes to even explain to the average citizen what the problem is, and then the finger wagging will start about how we shouldn't expect to access private land in the first place.
I think the only way is what cotton mountaineering suggested - a fundraiser is needed so we can buy out the landowners. I would gladly contribute. The 14ers should be in the public domain anyway. Sure, *maybe* there's precious metals on their land, maybe the land holds sentimental value. But both of those things have a price tag associated with them. If the state can't offer the right price, maybe another organization can with the help of crowdfunding, and then donate the land to the public.
If I may please....
Why should the 14ers be in the public domain?
Mike
"There's a feeling I get when I look to the West and my spirit is crying for leaving" Led Zeppelin
ekalina wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 9:24 pm
I don't see much hope for us on these access issues unfortunately. The state legislators are likely to continue caving to the special interests that don't want any changes made to the law and are bankrolling people to make sure it doesn't happen. There aren't enough voters that care about this niche issue to matter. It would take at least ten minutes to even explain to the average citizen what the problem is, and then the finger wagging will start about how we shouldn't expect to access private land in the first place.
I think the only way is what cotton mountaineering suggested - a fundraiser is needed so we can buy out the landowners. I would gladly contribute. The 14ers should be in the public domain anyway. Sure, *maybe* there's precious metals on their land, maybe the land holds sentimental value. But both of those things have a price tag associated with them. If the state can't offer the right price, maybe another organization can with the help of crowdfunding, and then donate the land to the public.
If I may please....
Why should the 14ers be in the public domain?
Mike
Well they were "public" in the pre-columbian era. If thats not good enough for you, its good economics for the local areas and the state.
A man has got to know his limitations.-Dr. Jonathan Hemlock or Harry Callahan or something F' it: http://youtu.be/lpzqQst-Sg8
'Life is too short to ski groomers'
"That man's only desire was to stand, once only, on the summit of that glorious wedge of rock...I think anyone who loves the mountains as much as that can claim to be a mountaineer, too."-Hermann Buhl, Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage
ekalina wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 9:24 pm
I don't see much hope for us on these access issues unfortunately. The state legislators are likely to continue caving to the special interests that don't want any changes made to the law and are bankrolling people to make sure it doesn't happen. There aren't enough voters that care about this niche issue to matter. It would take at least ten minutes to even explain to the average citizen what the problem is, and then the finger wagging will start about how we shouldn't expect to access private land in the first place.
I think the only way is what cotton mountaineering suggested - a fundraiser is needed so we can buy out the landowners. I would gladly contribute. The 14ers should be in the public domain anyway. Sure, *maybe* there's precious metals on their land, maybe the land holds sentimental value. But both of those things have a price tag associated with them. If the state can't offer the right price, maybe another organization can with the help of crowdfunding, and then donate the land to the public.
If I may please....
Why should the 14ers be in the public domain?
Mike
Well they were "public" in the pre-columbian era. If thats not good enough for you, its good economics for the local areas and the state.
I mean, the entire United States was "public" in the pre-columbian era. Not sure that's a strong argument.
-Alex Derr
"Some people go to church, other people explore the outdoors. But we're all looking for the same thing, at the core of it: A place in and respect for the world bigger than ourselves."
Well they were "public" in the pre-columbian era. If thats not good enough for you, its good economics for the local areas and the state.
I mean, the entire United States was "public" in the pre-columbian era. Not sure that's a strong argument.
If thats not good enough for you, its good economics for the local areas and the state.
A man has got to know his limitations.-Dr. Jonathan Hemlock or Harry Callahan or something F' it: http://youtu.be/lpzqQst-Sg8
'Life is too short to ski groomers'
"That man's only desire was to stand, once only, on the summit of that glorious wedge of rock...I think anyone who loves the mountains as much as that can claim to be a mountaineer, too."-Hermann Buhl, Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage
