| 116 | Road Closure | 2009-08-26 |
A great tragedy has beset the mountaineering community, the 4WD road to South Colony Lakes will permanently close in October. Now, hikers, climbers, fishermen, hunters, and campers will have to walk two and a half miles further to reach the lakes. Oh, for those who have never been to South Colony, it is an easy mile and a half walk from the gate to the Lake. With the road closure the users will have to walk about four miles to the Lake.
Some users are truly upset about the coming restrictions. The closure only hurts because something will being taken away in this case the road. A four mile approach is not an unreasonable distance even if carrying a backpack. However, many users are planning trips to the area to take advantage of the short approach before the road closes. As for the upset users, they will get used to the new trailhead soon enough. The pain will be short lived, but hopefully the closure will still prevent users from abusing the area.
For those who just cannot live with such a long hike, maybe they will just opt to visit Pikes Peak or Mount Evans, where they can drive all the way to the top. Still not satisfied, maybe a llama or horse packing service will be able to thrive to help ease the burden of such a long four mile approach to South Colony Lakes.
The Forest Service is closing the road to lessen the impact on the Lake areas. They are taking actions to help preserve the area. Judging from the whining of the users it seems as if the Forest Service plan will be successful. If the closure prevents the overuse of the Lake area, it will be a very successful program and will perhaps lead to other closures. Perhaps the Forest Service will look at closing the Antero Road, Mount Princeton Road, Mount Sneffels Road, Mount Massive Road, or Castle Peak Road, to name a few.
We as climbers should be grateful that we have the opportunity to climb and visit so many beautiful areas. Our leadership will help preserve the areas for the generations to come, even if we have to climb a little bit more.
Happy longer trails.
Link - http://www.14ers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20504