Trailhead Trouble

Trailhead condition requests, questions, alerts, etc.
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ker0uac
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by ker0uac »

dwoodward13 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:17 am I was so worried about marmots chewing my wires at the Grizzly Gulch TH, that I wrapped my car in a tarp (layed out the tarp, drove over it, folded up and secured with rope). After getting back from Redcloud/Sunshine the next day, I opened my trunk and discovered a half eaten banana and a chewed up canvas cooler among other chewed up things. I started taking everything out of my trunk and found a mouse. I didn't want to drive back into town as I was doing Handies the next day, so I removed all food and hung it from a tree.....a bear hang to protect it from a mouse. I also attempted to kill him with a bagel soaked in stove fuel, which I now realize would have probably just killed him and left to rot deep inside the car! After Handies, being a Sunday after Labor Day there was nothing open in Lake City. Luckily I got the last pack of them at the grocery store. I set them out with a whole lot of PB on them while I was gone for two days backpacking in to the Wetterhorn/Uncomp. I got back...no mouse. He must have scurried out. I again set the traps out while I hiked Pikes two days later and what do you know, I got one. No idea if it was the same mouse, or if he left and another had found its way in.

I now carry mouse traps in my car every time I go hiking and keep all food in a rubber tub.
haha you wrapped your car in tarp?! How did the critter get into your trunk? do you a drive pick up truck? Have you thought about getting the car detailed? I know people who cook inside their vehicles or off the tailgate, and that certainly attracts the critters.
Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves and half in love with oblivion
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dwoodward13
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by dwoodward13 »

ker0uac wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:58 am
dwoodward13 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:17 am I was so worried about marmots chewing my wires at the Grizzly Gulch TH, that I wrapped my car in a tarp (layed out the tarp, drove over it, folded up and secured with rope). After getting back from Redcloud/Sunshine the next day, I opened my trunk and discovered a half eaten banana and a chewed up canvas cooler among other chewed up things. I started taking everything out of my trunk and found a mouse. I didn't want to drive back into town as I was doing Handies the next day, so I removed all food and hung it from a tree.....a bear hang to protect it from a mouse. I also attempted to kill him with a bagel soaked in stove fuel, which I now realize would have probably just killed him and left to rot deep inside the car! After Handies, being a Sunday after Labor Day there was nothing open in Lake City. Luckily I got the last pack of them at the grocery store. I set them out with a whole lot of PB on them while I was gone for two days backpacking in to the Wetterhorn/Uncomp. I got back...no mouse. He must have scurried out. I again set the traps out while I hiked Pikes two days later and what do you know, I got one. No idea if it was the same mouse, or if he left and another had found its way in.

I now carry mouse traps in my car every time I go hiking and keep all food in a rubber tub.
haha you wrapped your car in tarp?! How did the critter get into your trunk? do you a drive pick up truck? Have you thought about getting the car detailed? I know people who cook inside their vehicles or off the tailgate, and that certainly attracts the critters.
A Camry. Best guess is while I was setting everything up, I left a door open and he hopped right in. This was 3 or 4 years ago now and haven't had any issues with any sort of critter since. I've also switched to mothballs/coyote urine....the tarp was a PITA :lol:
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HikerGuy
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by HikerGuy »

dwoodward13 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:17 am ...and keep all food in a rubber tub.
Yep. I bring two coolers, one for cold stuff and one for the rest of my food. You learn that lesson quick after your first mouse.
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HikerGuy
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by HikerGuy »

dwoodward13 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:05 am I've also switched to mothballs/coyote urine....the tarp was a PITA :lol:
Pro tip, do NOT get coyote urine on your hands. That is some powerful stuff!
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Gene913
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by Gene913 »

Preparing to start a hike at the Hagerman Tunnel trailhead. Doors of the rental car were open with the engine running. While I was finishing my prep a "helpful" friend who was ready to go went around closing all the doors and locking up the car. He did not notice the car was running and I did not notice what he was doing until right before he swung the last door closed. So there we were. Locked car with engine running and the only set of keys inside the car. The friend and I stuck around while the rest of the group set out on the planned hike. After spending multiple hours using assorted methods to push the button on the door to the unlock position we finally succeeded before the car ran out of gas and right after the rest of the group got back from the hike. With apologies to Seinfeld and the soup Nazi, no hike for you! Not my favorite day.
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12ersRule
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by 12ersRule »

Wanted to bag Mt Gunnison from near Beaver Reservoir once. Drove all the way out from Fort Collins. Picked up my hiking partner in Carbondale, and we drove to Paonia and then about 10 miles down this endless dirt road. Car camped at the trailhead. Next morning, for some reason, I started up the vehicle and it wouldn't turn over at all. There were a few hunters and absolutely no hikers at the TH. I had to ask one of the hunters to jumpstart my car. Decided that since we were so remote, it would be a bad idea to go hiking. So after all that effort to get there, we didn't hike a single step towards Mt Gunnison. Instead, I returned my hiking partner to his vehicle in Carbondale, and went to an auto parts store in Basalt. Borrowed a few of their wrenches and replaced the battery (stupidly dropped one of the wrenches in the bowels of my vehicle somewhere and took a while to fish it out). Ended up stopping at Independence Pass and bagging a 13er and a 12er to the south of the pass.
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greenonion
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by greenonion »

Gene913 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:14 am Preparing to start a hike at the Hagerman Tunnel trailhead. Doors of the rental car were open with the engine running. While I was finishing my prep a "helpful" friend who was ready to go went around closing all the doors and locking up the car. He did not notice the car was running and I did not notice what he was doing until right before he swung the last door closed. So there we were. Locked car with engine running and the only set of keys inside the car. The friend and I stuck around while the rest of the group set out on the planned hike. After spending multiple hours using assorted methods to push the button on the door to the unlock position we finally succeeded before the car ran out of gas and right after the rest of the group got back from the hike. With apologies to Seinfeld and the soup Nazi, no hike for you! Not my favorite day.
That one really sucks. Somewhat reminds me of when we returned to the car on the north rim of the Grand Canyon after having backpacked down to the Thunder River area to find the car battery dead. One of us accidentally hit the dome light inside the car and turned it on. I now look for this before locking up. Hopefully this might help others do the same. Only had to run a couple of miles to another of our vehicles to resolve things. At least we got our hike in!
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Rollie Free
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by Rollie Free »

dwoodward13 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:17 am I was so worried about marmots chewing my wires at the Grizzly Gulch TH, that I wrapped my car in a tarp (layed out the tarp, drove over it, folded up and secured with rope). After getting back from Redcloud/Sunshine the next day, I opened my trunk and discovered a half eaten banana and a chewed up canvas cooler among other chewed up things. I started taking everything out of my trunk and found a mouse. I didn't want to drive back into town as I was doing Handies the next day, so I removed all food and hung it from a tree.....a bear hang to protect it from a mouse. I also attempted to kill him with a bagel soaked in stove fuel, which I now realize would have probably just killed him and left to rot deep inside the car! After Handies, being a Sunday after Labor Day there was nothing open in Lake City. Luckily I got the last pack of them at the grocery store. I set them out with a whole lot of PB on them while I was gone for two days backpacking in to the Wetterhorn/Uncomp. I got back...no mouse. He must have scurried out. I again set the traps out while I hiked Pikes two days later and what do you know, I got one. No idea if it was the same mouse, or if he left and another had found its way in.

I now carry mouse traps in my car every time I go hiking and keep all food in a rubber tub.
That's not a bad idea. I slept in my car at a trail head and heard noises all night (no one else around) and convinced myself marmots were taking apart the engine piece by piece. Finally woke up for the 50th time and seen the culprit. He was in the front area so I threw my shoe at him (I had to try). He kept coming out and I kept harassing him the best I could until he quit appearing and I talked myself into believing he was gone. Started out on my hike in the morning and came back in the afternoon, all was fine. I was driving up towards the Denver area on the way back and in a treacherous driving area the little b-stard about dropped me when he showed up and thought it a good time to run across my feet. It was a rental so....
"Quicker than I can tell it, my hands failed to hold, my feet slipped, and down I went with almost an arrow’s rapidity. An eternity of thought, of life, of death, wife, and home concentrated on my mind in those two seconds. Fortunately for me, I threw my right arm around a projecting boulder which stood above the icy plain some two or three feet." Rev. Elijah Lamb
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Trotter
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by Trotter »

dwoodward13 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:17 am I was so worried about marmots chewing my wires at the Grizzly Gulch TH, that I wrapped my car in a tarp (layed out the tarp, drove over it, folded up and secured with rope). After getting back from Redcloud/Sunshine the next day, I opened my trunk and discovered a half eaten banana and a chewed up canvas cooler among other chewed up things. I started taking everything out of my trunk and found a mouse. I didn't want to drive back into town as I was doing Handies the next day, so I removed all food and hung it from a tree.....a bear hang to protect it from a mouse. I also attempted to kill him with a bagel soaked in stove fuel, which I now realize would have probably just killed him and left to rot deep inside the car! After Handies, being a Sunday after Labor Day there was nothing open in Lake City. Luckily I got the last pack of them at the grocery store. I set them out with a whole lot of PB on them while I was gone for two days backpacking in to the Wetterhorn/Uncomp. I got back...no mouse. He must have scurried out. I again set the traps out while I hiked Pikes two days later and what do you know, I got one. No idea if it was the same mouse, or if he left and another had found its way in.

I now carry mouse traps in my car every time I go hiking and keep all food in a rubber tub.
I had a mouse get into my vehicle on a 3 day camping trip. Chewed up a bunch of napkins that must have smelled like food. Left little mouse turds all over my seat. But apparently left after that. My post hiking food was in a cooler.


I was also worried he didn't find his way out, and a dead rotting mouse would appear, but I got lucky.
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lafiurcm
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by lafiurcm »

I drove to around 10K on Lake Como Rd and scraped the bottom of my Jeep (Renegade) pretty bad a few times. Right before I left for the lake I decided to check underneath and noticed it was leaking fluids. Normally, I'd deal with it after the hike but I wasn’t sure if a tow company would even be able to get to the vehicle. So I made the decision to drive down quickly and b-line it to a mechanic in Denver. It was stressful and I stared at my oil gauge in panic waiting for my car to overheat and the engine to explode.

...it was water from my air conditioner.
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highpilgrim
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by highpilgrim »

In the days of yore, the driver of a vehicle I was in (a member of this site) used mothballs to keep critters away from the vehicle while we were hiking.

Assholes (sorry to be harsh) who didn’t like mothballs, put them into the air intakes near the windshield base, proving how “green” they were while gassing peeps in said car.

That’s TH trouble.
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ker0uac
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Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by ker0uac »

Where should one put the mothballs? I have never had any problems with critters boarding my car, knock on wood.
Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves and half in love with oblivion
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