Best non-technical 6,000'+ peaks for winter?

[pcg]

Pueblo Mountain- VERY wild and uncrowded year round. Might have a great trip in the winter, with relatively little snow.

Yes, but let me take this opportunity to issue a warning. Hike up from the base on the east side. You can park a 4x4 on the road near some historic mining activity (on topo map). Don't be tempted to drive to Ten Cent Meadows (which is a great place to camp). If you continue up the road towards Ten Cent Meadows you will find yourself gradually becoming trapped (because no room to turn around and trying to back down would make a grown man cry) into continuing on a road that gets progressively narrower, slippier (loose crumbly rock) and slopes more and more outwards towards a precipice just inches from your tires. It is doable if you're in a quad, but I was forced to scrape the body of my F250 on a rock wall while hugging the mountain side in order to keep from tumbling off. My wife refused to ride and got out and walked. I've been 4-wheeling for over 50 years and this was my scariest moment, next to driving back down the damn thing.

[Chip Down]

Charley's pic of Diamond Peak is so enticing!

Regarding PCG's driving advice:
And that's why I don't take chances anymore. If a road starts to look a little sketchy, I'll park and walk, do some scouting, look online, etc. It's terrible to get on a road that just keeps getting worse, and you pray for a turnaround opportunity.

[Charley]

Yes, but let me take this opportunity to issue a warning. Hike up from the base on the east side. You can park a 4x4 on the road near some historic mining activity (on topo map). Don't be tempted to drive to Ten Cent Meadows (which is a great place to camp). If you continue up the road towards Ten Cent Meadows you will find yourself gradually becoming trapped (because no room to turn around and trying to back down would make a grown man cry) into continuing on a road that gets progressively narrower, slippier (loose crumbly rock) and slopes more and more outwards towards a precipice just inches from your tires. It is doable if you're in a quad, but I was forced to scrape the body of my F250 on a rock wall while hugging the mountain side in order to keep from tumbling off. My wife refused to ride and got out and walked. I've been 4-wheeling for over 50 years and this was my scariest moment, next to driving back down the damn thing.

Totally. This road, right?

Arizona Creek Road

I drove up this road a few years ago and camped where the road crosses Arizona Creek. It's an ok road up to that point, and that'd be a fine place to start a summit hike of Pueblo Mountain. (I was up there to climb the peak some people call "West Pueblo Ridge"; I rode my bike up to Ten Cent and hike from there. It IS a beautiful place to camp!

Aspen groves near Ten Cent Meadows

[adamschneider]

I drove up this road a few years ago and camped where the road crosses Arizona Creek. It's an ok road up to that point, and that'd be a fine place to start a summit hike of Pueblo Mountain.

Would that road (below the creek crossing) be OK for a low-clearance passenger car?

[Charley]

I think so. I drove up there in my old Tacoma, but I've driven several roads quite like it in this region in my old Honda Civic (such as Domingo Pass Road nearby). This crossing of Arizona Creek is the "trailhead" suggested by Barbara Bond in her 75 Scrambles book.

[adamschneider]

I think so. I drove up there in my old Tacoma, but I've driven several roads quite like it in this region in my old Honda Civic (such as Domingo Pass Road nearby). This crossing of Arizona Creek is the "trailhead" suggested by Barbara Bond in her 75 Scrambles book.

Cool. I like the idea of parking there and taking a bike up farther.

[pcg]

Yes, that's the road. So enticing at that point...

[Water]

Yes, that's the road. So enticing at that point...

From when you first posted this and I saw that picture I've felt a challenge!

Do you think the width of your vehicle contributed to most of the pucker or did the road really get terrible shape? Or it's the loose rock on a perpendicular incline that's the hazard/difficulty?

[jessbee]

Yes, that's the road. So enticing at that point...

From when you first posted this and I saw that picture I've felt a challenge!

Do you think the width of your vehicle contributed to most of the pucker or did the road really get terrible shape? Or it's the loose rock on a perpendicular incline that's the hazard/difficulty?

I took my husband's brand new Subaru on that road and I was scared sh*tless half the time. My friend coached me through a few sections. Extremely narrow, lots of big rocks and ruts, sloping, definitely nowhere to bail.

I was so glad he had no idea how I'd just christened his new vehicle just a secret between my friend and I.

[pcg]

Yes, that's the road. So enticing at that point...

From when you first posted this and I saw that picture I've felt a challenge!

Do you think the width of your vehicle contributed to most of the pucker or did the road really get terrible shape? Or it's the loose rock on a perpendicular incline that's the hazard/difficulty?

Both. A small jeep would have felt much better. I have a pop-up camper on my truck which makes it feel more scary. The loose rock isn't that much of a problem. It's the narrowness and the fact that the road slopes outward at times that adds to the pucker factor. Obviously you just take it slow and you can always get out and move rock around. I do that occasionally.