Wheeler Lake - New Jeep Trail This Weekend!

[cewtwo]

New Jeep Trail This Weekend!

I took the Mighty YJ out again this weekend. We (Tom, Molly and I) went to Wheeler Lake Trail. It is located on Colorado Highway 9 between Breckenridge and Fairplay, Colorado. Two Jeep clubs attended this – The Rock Frogs and the Colorado Jeep Club.

It was a nice morning but an odd weather day. Denver was sweltering in very hot temperatures, but we experienced sunshine, cloud cover and rain. The area was almost surreal in a green and verdant way. Wildflowers were everywhere.

Nine Jeeps were on this trip. Those of us that came from the Denver area met at a local restaurant on the south side of town. We ran down there in a Jeep convoy. It was a little over two hours from the restaurant parking lot to the trailhead.

This is a very narrow trail with 3 main obstacles. They are named as “Flopper,” The V,” and “Bolling Ball Hill.”


Elevation on this trail was from just under 11,000 feet to just at 12,250 feet.

The Flopper has 3 paths up. To the right is the Medium difficult, in the middle is the easiest, and to the left is the hardest. Rocks at different heights adorn the base of the hard approach. It is the most popular. Tom drove the Mighty YJ and attempted to place it on its side.




The V is a series of rocky ledges that form a crack (hence the name). Almost everyone in he group from the Grand Cherokees to the Wranglers had to try it.



Here, Tom is explaining to Molly how the jeeps should run this walled obstacle.


Bolling Ball Hill is aptly named. It is like trying to navigate a 600 foot hill by driving over bowling balls.


The top of Bolling Ball Hill presented all of us with some pretty grand vistas including that of Mount Lincoln one of Colorado’s fourteeners. There were several small falls that adorned the cliffs above Wheeler Lake. It was an absolutely beautiful place to have lunch with the bunch.



This trail also has some water on it. Spring runoff was still happening. The trail follows the river bed in several places.

It was a good run with almost no carnage. The Mighty YJ did get some rim damage when Tom attempted to look at life from a sideways viewpoint.


I ran most of the way up the trail and all of the way down. It was a fun way to spend a day.

Just as we pulled in to the trailhead again to air up, it started raining cats & dogs. The timing was great. Tom aired the tires back up while Molly and I watched from inside the Jeep.

[almostcj7]

I did that trail back in '99. Bueatifull place! Is the wall still the only way to the lake? It was about 1/4 mile from the lake.(I think it's at the end of what you are calling bowling ball hill)

[Bounty__Hunter]

Nice writeup, thanks.

[Red Neckerson]

Looks like a great trail! Beautiful scenery, and challenging. Good pics!!!