Argentine and McClellan, August 9, 2019

[open_circuit]

Good turnout and great weather for today's run up Argentine and McClellan. We had 6 rigs in the group today. Everyone who went on the run was at the meetup spot by 9:30, but Silverback did not arrive by our planned departure of 10:00. With no notice indicating whether they would arrive late, we left shortly after 10 to begin the run. The group consisted of Happy Camper, FatKids, GreenXJ, coleman07, speedkills, and open_circuit.

Sean led the group up Guanella pass and into the trail. We took the lower trail section (with the creek crossings) uphill to the mine. At the mine, we briefly stopped, then ascended Argentine peak. The trail is completely clear of snow, and we made the ascent with no issues. At the top, we saw a group of several (7 to 10?) mountain goats. After a break at the top, we returned to the mine where we broke for lunch. The views from the top were stunning, as usual.

After lunch, we ascended McClellan. Note that the fun steep climb from the mine up the lower section of McClellan has been blocked off with fences. It appears this is not a legal route now. We took alternate (marked) routes up McClellan, and reached the summit without issue. After a short break at the top to admire the views, we attempted to take the northern spur that overlooks I-70. We encountered deep snow on the north face of this trail and were turned back. We delicately turned around on the narrow shelf road, and returned to the main trail.

From the main trail, we quickly descended to the trail head, and stopped to air up and reconnect at the first pull-off on Guanella Pass just downhill from the trail.

Great day on the trail, and thanks to all for joining.

[Fatkids]

It was a good run, and can't think of a better way to put it than "delicately"

[coleman07]

How do I add all my photos?

[open_circuit]

Fatkids previously posted:

[open_circuit]

coleman07 previously posted:

[speedkills]

I got a few decent pics considering I was mostly just hanging my phone out the window. I was lazy and used iCloud which means these pics will not be available after two months so if you see anything you like download it now. I was most impressed with the no look pictures I took of people behind me, just stuck my phone out the window pointing backwards and had some success. https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0g532ODWwNl6E

[Tom]

coleman07 previously posted:

[Jim]

Thx for the pix!

The creek looked to be reasonably deep.

So the snowfield was around the north side and it wasn't visible before entering that slope road?

[Jim]

open_circuit previously posted:

[goSlo]

What a let down they've fenced off that fun hill to McClellan. Guess I should be thankful I got to climb it once at least.

[open_circuit]

Jim previously posted:

[open_circuit]

Jim previously posted:

[open_circuit]

goSlo previously posted:

[coleman07]

I am interested to see if people can follow this link to see my photos I finally posted. https://www.facebook.com/sean.colema...17138719853201

Sean

[open_circuit]

coleman07 previously posted:

[Jim]

`worked for me too - not logged in with any FB account.

Nice pix! Thx!