Colorado Trip Preperations
 

I am about 3 weeks away from spending a week in Colorado on the KLX. I have a few questions for preparing for the trip.

1. What jetting? Here in Indiana around 800' elevation I run a 125 main jet. I plan on dropping it to a 110. Sound right? I am also considering removing the KDX snorkle and putting the stock back in?

2. We are staying in Lake City, any tips on trails to ride? I am not talking about all the well know passes, I am talking about trails like the Alpine Trail that is single track. Anything else in the area?

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I didnt go that low on my main jet. I would drop a clip position also. Mine ran great it was still fat down low at the high elevations 12-13K feet.

Another option is to pull the air box lid off completely when things start getting too rich. Didn't TNC say before he has done much of this on the KLX with no jetting changes at all?

Yes he did. Most of your riding will probably average 6k only a fraction will be at the elevations of the passes. Mine has run very well and pulled well from sea level to 9k. I have only noticed it feel boggy once and that was for a couple of minutes.

Lid off on the stock bike worked good for me out there as high as 11000' , slight bog at WOT, but tolerable. Since doing the 351 kit it runs great out there with no changes to jetting or airbox, no bog.


Eric, or anybody, got a location for this one?

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Dan, that's Bridal Veil Falls just above Telluride where Black Bear Pass comes out of the mountains. That house is a power generating outfit plus a residence.

Landon, I'm not familiar with the Alpine Trail singletrack you mentioned. I see where it's at sort of NW of Lake City. There is also some impressive singletrack just to the SE of LC on the La Garita Stock Driveway, the McKenzie Stock Driveway, and Miner's road...all on the east side of hwy 149. Don't worry...there's nothing driveway or road about them for the most part.

On your jetting, as long as your jetting isn't too rich at home, you may be surprised to find you need no jetting changes at all. Your KLX's CV carb does wonders at compensating for altitude. You're not riding at 10,000 feet or higher all that much. The CV carb performs quite well. You may need to adjust your idle at some point.

Black bear and imogene were amazing.
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This is in telluride, lookin back up to what we just rode down.
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Sounds like maybe I don't need to do anything to the carb. I might go as is and take some smaller jets incase I decide I need to go smaller.

Thanks for the trail information. What map do you use? I have a plotter at work I can print the MVUM off on. I believe I located La Garita, but its acutally showing on the west sid of hwy 149 and looks like you get on it at one point of hwy 149 and then come of a few miles down the road on 149, is that correct? I am having trouble pinpointing the other two, but have not looked at the forest service map yet.

La Garita goes across hwy 149 to the west, but the best part is over on the east with those other trails I mentioned. La Garita is FR787. You can get to it at Spring Creek campground on 149 south of LC. I normally use a Latitude 40 map of The Southwest Colorado Trails. I still won't cover all of those I mentioned. Another couple of trails in the area are the interconnecting Lost Creek, Trail Creek, and Pole Creek trails just off the Alpine Loop. At Wager Gulch/Carson Ghost Town a little bit east of Cinnamon Pass, you go south to hit those trails, and they go all the way south to the Rio Grande Reservoir Road and back to Lake City.

Off the top of my head this is the single track that I'm aware of in the area. I have not ridden any of this so I really can't comment as to the difficulty level. I have heard that the Alpine Trail has an absurd amount of switchbacks. There are Youtube videos of Calico.

Single Track Near Lake City
Cannibal Plateau / Brush Creek
Jarosa Mesa (comes out near the La Garita Stock driveway)
You could go from Lake City to Creede using the following trails
Jarosa Mesa, La Garita, Miner's Creek.
You already mentioned the Alpine Trail single track by Owl Creek Pass

Between Cinnamon Pass and Road Canyon/Stony Pass
West Lost Trail, Lost Trail, Wager Gulch, East Fork Pole Creek
There is single Track that connects these (Continental Divide Trail/Colorado Trail)

Single Track Near Telluride
Wilson Mesa
Calico (near Rico)

I have a website with an accumulation of 4WD roads (mostly from TrailDamage) in Google Earth KML format (Some GPX). If you have the Google Earth Plugin installed you can view the files directly from my web page. Otherwise you will have to download the KML files and open in Google Earth. The plugin is not available for Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 9. If you use Windows 7, download Google Chrome and the Google Earth Plugin will work with that. My website is below and you will find some Single Track that I discussed above in the 4WD Trails Map and the Ridgeway Single Track (Alpine and Nate Creek).
https://sites.google.com/site/fooswolf/home

This website has some information in the area also.
Dual Sport Maps and GPS Resources

This website has Colorado Trails
Rick's Home Page

IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog
This guy is fantastically ridiculous with Google/GPS for Utah and Colorado
Colorado GPS Tracks | IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Dan

Wilson Mesa over west of Telluride is a good one, but that's a long haul to either ride from the LC area on the bike or move camp. However, if it's really singletrack you want, there is probably more ST off of hwy 145 between Dolores and Telluride than anywhere else in the area. Some of it is just kind of fun challenging and some of it will curl your hair.:D

This is my first trip out. We are basing out of Lake City and won't be moving camp. I don't plan on doing single track everyday, I do want to do alot of the passes, but I do want to spend a couple days checking out the single track. I am going with a guy that has been going for years, he knows a lot of it and will be a great guide.

That helps a tremendous amount! Its much easier to figure the trails out using the Forest Service map if you have the FR#.

So I have been doing a bunch of trip planning and looking at ADVrider for assistance in doing so and have not really found what I need. Its appears the locals or riders that have been to the area all call the trails by names, but on the maps I have been looking at they are all listed by numbers. Is there already a thread or post here or another site that has the names and numbers listed together? I believe a lot of the pieces to that are already out there in several different post and I will do the work to create my own list if needed, just thought I would ask before I put the leg work in.

Landon, what specifically do you need to know? I may know every trail or 2-track you list or know enough about them to steer you right. If you have a question, ask it here. I'd rather keep it in the open post as others might also have insight about your questions, and others might be thinking about a similar trip.

The Dual Sport Maps has a tab at the top that has the MVUM Overlays that you can display over the map (I think you need to be logged in to use). As you probably already know the MVUM will have the single track trail numbers. The web page also has GPX files but I don't think you will find much single track there.
"http://www.dualsportmaps.com" Dual Sport Maps and GPS Resources

The Colorado Delorme Gazetter map displays both the fire road and firetrails with some names of the firetrails.

I have GIS Shapefiles of the roads, forest trails, hiking trails etc for Colorado in my copy of AutoCAD MAP, so If you point out an area that you are interested in, I may be able to correlate between Fire road/Firetrail name and number.

Below are some HTML links to the files I listed above. Note they are mainly 4WD fire roads and not single track. You can display them in Google Earth by pasting the HTML code into a Google Earth Network Link. Take a look. If you give us some Lat/Lon possitions that you are interested in, perhaps we can get you some information.

Thad, I don't know if you use Google Earth, but I would appreciate it if you can get these links to work. Let me know either way. Thanks.

Colorado Motorcycle & 4WD Roads.kmz
"https://sites.google.com/site/fooswolf/home/colorado-google-kml-files/Colorado%20Motorcycle%20%26%204WD%20Roads.kmz?attr edirects=0&d=1"

Hartman Rocks - Gunnison
"https://sites.google.com/site/fooswolf/home/colorado-google-kml-files/HartmanRocks.kmz?attredirects=0&d=1"

Ridgeway SingleTrack
"https://sites.google.com/site/fooswolf/home/colorado-google-kml-files/Ridgeway%20SingleTrack.kmz?attredirects=0&d=1"

Dan

Dan, I'm not much of a computer/GPS guy. I'm a map guy who only uses a GPS when the map and actual trail/track features on the scene don't jive. I don't use GPS tracks. I do use Google Earth quite a bit when I'm at home planning a trip and when I'm back home following up on an area in question. I am old school for the most part, but I know many of the particulars in these areas over many years of traveling in them. I have many, many maps with FR, FT, and county road numbers. And you're right, if a person could have only one source of off road info, the Gazetteer has an amazing amount of correct trail and backcountry info. I've done many remote off road sections using nothing but a page out of the Gaz...and my handheld GPS loaded with topos as backup. The Gaz doesn't always distinguish well enough between a major hiking trail vs. a dual-use motorized trail, however.

That is very true. As I said in my post above I have some GIS Shapefiles from the forrest service as well as Colorado Roads that I have downloaded. With a lot of effort I can turn these into KML files and then to GPX files.

As far as testing the links it is really easy. You just open Google Earth, and in the Add menu item select the Network Link item and then just paste one of the HTML links in between the parenthesis. I just want to see if it works for others besides myself.

I have copied pages out of my Gazetteer for trail maps. Pretty good maps, and no biggie if you ruin it. My buddy, TNC steered me towards the Latitude 40 maps. I just got my new Colorado front range map in the mail from them last week. Very nice maps. Can't wait to put it to use next week :D Latitude 40 Maps
Dan

Oh...I see where you're headed with that, foos. I will try to plug that in and report. And Dan...the other Dan:D...those Lat 40 maps are the best for off roading compared to anything out there IMO. They just don't cover everything of importance in CO. I like how they differentiate between the different trails of all kinds. Motorized singletrack is even broken down to those that allow ATVs and those that don't. Excellent maps.

I got what I needed. When looking at different post it seemed everyone called the trails by names such as Lost Creek Trail. You gave me a general idea of that location when you posted but as you noted the Forest maps only list numbers. I was trying to find something that would connect the name such as Lost Creek Trail to the FS#. Lost Creek = 821 for example. I finally stumbled across these couple of links that provided that information:

Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison Trails

Rio Grande Trails

I then took my Forest Service maps and these websites and created a nice list of Trails in the Lake City Area that has the trail name, number, and length on the list.

I still need help locating McKenzie Stock Driveway and Jarosa Mesa that you guys mentioned.

I tried attaching my list but it says the Excel file is invalid.

McKenzie is reached by taking FR532 east off of hwy 149 a few miles south of LC. McKenzie is FT804. That side trip to Bristol Head peak is awesome.

On Jarosa Mesa, at Spring Creek Pass on hwy 149...just south of LC...you take FR547 to the east and go to a short singletrack FT3322 to the north. You can either take FR473 back to hwy 149 or keep going north to hit hwy 149 further up.

Beware looking at some maps that show a trail but don't explain if the trail is motorized or not. It may look like you can keep going to make a connection down some of these trails, but they become hiking trails only. The routes I've explained on these posts were motorized the last I saw them and still show to be on my maps. The forest service will sometimes change things quickly, however.

The first image shows the location of the McKenzie Stock Driveway
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This image shows the Jarosa Mesa and the LaGarita Stock Driveay. I think the part of Jarosa Mesa that is closest to Lake City is a road called Sawmill RD.
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Thad are you referring to the Continental Divide Trail and or the Colorado Trail which I believe both go through the area from Lost Creek Trail all the way through the Lagarita Stock Driveway.

Here is a photo of Bristol Head from Road Canyon.
http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/u...o%202011/A.jpg


Dan

Is McKenzie an out and back then? Or does it connect by taking FR532 off 149 near LC to McKenzie and come out near Creede?

Is Bristol Head an out and back off McKenzie???

I am not seeing FT804 on the Forest map.:confused:

Yes, they're both out-and-back. People have different feelings about out-and-back trails, but frankly out in the boondocks like this, these trails usually give you a whole different flavor going both ways. Plus, the forest service has often killed many of the loop aspects of many of these great trails for some reason.

Ok, I found it. But can you confirm if its open the dirt bikes?

This link leads me to think its not...

McKenzie Trail 804

I am ok with out and backs. I figured I could do Jarosa Mesa to La Garita to Miners Creek into Creed and was just wondering if I could use McKenzie to make a loop and take me back towards LC. Does not sound like thats the case and I don't even know if its possible to cover that much ground in one day.

It appears that you are correct about McKenzie, but I wont tell if you don't.
I would think you would be able to make it from Lake City to Creede by lunch if you got up early. I know the roads up on Bristol Head are easy and you only have to what out for pot holes. I haven't been on the other roads, but I haven't heard any horror stories either.

Along highway 149 it is approximately 50 miles and typically takes 1 hour between Lake City and Creede.

I don't know if you found this web page with all of your searching but you can download some US Forrest Service Roads and Trails in Google Earth format.
US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region - GIS Library


This is the information I got from Jarosa Mesa track.
It is funny that it says it is open for a Bus but it is not maintained for a passenger car.

NAME: Jarosa Mesa
OPER_MAINT: 2 - HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES
SURFACE_TY: NAT - NATIVE MATERIAL
SYSTEM: NFSR - NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM ROAD
SEASONAL: seasonal
PASSENGER_: open
HIGH_CLEAR: open
TRUCK: open
BUS: open
MOTOR_HOME: open
WHEELED_OH: open
TRACKED_OH: open
OTHER_OHV_: open
ATV: open
MOTORCYCLE: open
OTHER_WHEE: open
TRACKED__1: open
OTHER_OHV1: open
TIKMARK:
ADMIN_ORG: 020904
SECURITY_I: 0209
M1:
M1_1:
CREATED_BY: FSDBA
CREATED_IN: 0
MODIFIED_B:
ERROR_FLAG: 0
FIELD_ID:
SBS_SYMBOL: Road, Not Maintained for Passenger Car

Wow, what a wealth of info, right where I am headed August 1. There is a DS ride that weekend & I should be getting the gpx tracks for that.

Landon, did you put together a excel file & have any gpx tracks? It would be great to share, I'll pm my email.

I plan on being in this area till about Aug 14th, sounds like you may be gone by then. I would love to get your input on the trails. I'll be riding mostly alone, so a heads up on death trails would be good too.

Ok. After much advise that I probably don't need to rejet, I still think I am going to. Lake City is at 8,500' and I live at about 700'. My bike is still a 250 and I run the pilot stock at 35. My main is a 125 (keihen) and I think I am a bit rich here at home.

So. I think I am taking the main down to 110 (about 10%).

Should I leave the KDX snorkle in or go back to stock? I can always take the KDX snorkel and switch it if needed. I also plan to take jets incase I need them.

my 02, if your using the 300 needle drop it all the way down to #1 clip position. been there done that had to tear into the carb on the trail.

I use the stock needle.

Do whatever Rimbender suggests...he's much more familiar with jetting than I am.

I will say I took my rich-running (at 2500 ft) 331cc, no snorkle, with a DJ 132 main and 40 pilot down to a DJ 128 with a 35 Pilot, since I'm now at 5000 ft, and it's MUCH better. I can probably go leaner. Since it appears my Pilot got a speck of something in it, I have to go back in (waiting on a bowl gasket, as my old one has a bad spot in it), and I just might drop down to the DJ 124.

Putting the snorkle in will make it run richer, so, if I were advising you, I'd jet it as lean as I dare for the altitude WITHOUT the snorkle. If it turns out I got it too lean, all I'd have to do is pop the snorkle in. It's a lot quicker than re-jetting. In fact, that makes sense for me to go ahead and try the 124 main...if it's too lean, I'll put a KDX200 snorkle on top of the box...that will quieten it down a bit, too.

Again, do what Rimbender suggests. I'm just shooting in the dark with the little bit of experience I have...no specific scientific measurements to back it up.

Landon, I don't know if you are still planning on going to Lake City to Creede using single-track as discussed in this thread. A similar discussion on Advrider Rockies Region determined and I quote: "I wouldn't recommend that ride by yourself. The east end of Snow Mesa and the top of Miner's Creek is difficult and remote."

Below is a link to the thread if you are interested.
Lake City-Creede

Grub has a link somewhere on ADV to a ride report of that trail. It's very detailed with lots of pics and info. It looks doable but probably not solo. I wish I had that link. I'm going to check it out on my trip out there in August. I may join Grub if he's available, but I will still probably poke around on it even if alone. A lot of the scenery on that ride was awesome.

Thanks for the link of Lake City to Creede. There are 6 of us going out, not all of them will want to do that route, but I bet at least 2 or 3 will so I won't be solo.

I asked Grub over on ADV for a link to the ride report.