GC820ZD CMC Ski Trail
Type: Traditional | Size: Micro | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: jrj1980 @ | Hide Date: 01/02/2019 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 04.753 W105° 33.165 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
           

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Please Note - This cache is WINTER ONLY per National Forest designation.

The CMC Ski Trail is a WINTER ONLY cross country ski trail located near Brainard Lake in the Arapahoe/Roosevelt National Forest.  Note that the trail is SKIS ONLY and no pets are allowed.  The trail is typically skiable from about mid November until late April.

The trail itself, which is rated as "easy" is about 2.2 miles in length and gains approximately 300 feet in elevation as it climbs to Brainard Lake.

The cache is a small, red metal tube hanging about 6 feet off the ground on the backside of a large tree on the uphill side of the trail.  The cache is located in a small clearing that affords views of the high peaks in the Indian Peaks Wilderness.

Click the link below for more information on the Brainard Lake area, including a helpful winter map.

Brainard Lake

Additional Waypoints

P0820ZD - PARK
N 40° 04.793 W 105° 31.949
Gateway TH (also the winter TH)

12/23/2019 By jrj1980
The ski conditions up at Brainard Lake are fantastic right now. And the cache is in place and ready to be found. Strap those skis on and get it!

07/27/2019 By WingsAndTales
Found while enjoying a weekend in the mountains with friends. My GPS was bouncing around a lot but thankfully Kerewin0430 spotted it. TFTC

07/27/2019 By Kerewin0430
Found on a wonderful weekend of hiking and caching with friends! Thanks for placing this cache. Pretty area back here!

07/18/2019 By COpackrat
Didn't try using the ski trail to get to this, as it would have been like trying to do the Iditarod in the summer... Cache is in good shape, thanks for placing it!

01/13/2019 By icezebra11
Whoa! There's a lot of snow in the Brainard Lake area right now!! I traveled down to the area today with three primary target caches, all three with no finds so far, including this one. After arriving at the trailhead and getting set, I headed up the Lefthand Reservoir Rd thinking I'd do Whoa! What Remarkable Views first and if I still had any time I'd try for the other two. Well, I was way off in my projection of the difficulty of the plan. I went in about 1.5 miles to a point I decided to turn left and head for the ridge. I only got about 100 yards from the road before deciding that I was biting off more than I could chew. I was sinking to my knees and deeper in the deep powder while trying to climb the ridge. Because I was solo and had no one to help trench, and because I am pretty out of shape right now, I knew I'd never make it and aborted that plan. So because it was still early I decided to try for the other two caches.

After finding Little Raven Trail cache I pulled up this cache in the GPS. Wow, 3/4 of a mile more to go through this very deep powder! The last 1/4 mile took nearly 1/2 hour. Getting to this cache was going to be very slow and tiring!! Well, it most certainly was! That 3/4 mile took me 1 hr 30 min to traverse and it was mostly downhill!! Eventually I made it to GZ and fortunately it was a quick find. Signed the log in the {FTF} position. After putting things back I still had more wallowing to do to get to the snowshoe trail. Fortunately it wasn't too far and I was extremely happy to have reached it! Once there I took a much needed break, downing a Clif Bar and a good bit of my one quart Nalgene of water. After that I headed back for the parking lot.

Thanks jrj1980 for placing this cache!!! I definitely earned the terrain stars today!

01/02/2019 By BlueRajah
Published