***Updated*** Family Overland Trip to Crystal Mill Colorado

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überlander

Rank VI
Launch Member

Influencer I

3,842
Colorado Springs, CO, USA
First Name
James
Last Name
Kultala
Member #

1606

Service Branch
Retired Army
Good afternoon all!

Me, my wife, my sons, and our dogs are going on a trip to Crystal Mill for the weekend, the altitude will be about 2,000ft above what we are accustomed to so we are bringing plenty more than what we normally would and I wanted to share our list. I may have forgot a few items but this should be a good run down and I thought some of you would like having the amazon links to see some of the great things you can order online with no hassle, the ones without links we picked up locally. Also I plan on updating this when we return, add some pictures, let ya'll know what was good what was bad, maybe a few reviews of the new equipment we got, what we wished we had while we were out etc. I'm just SOOOO excited for us to be going out like this as a family for 3 days up in the mountains, dreams do come true haha.

***Everything a family would need in an XL Kelty Ruck Sack***

-Giant wool blanket

-Large sleeping bag (fits 2)

-Air up sleeping pad (came with built in and top pillows)

-All utensils (knifes, forks, spoons, 4x metal plates) in a small zip up holder

-Small folding style pots, they fit together and pack down great

-LED Fan that hangs from the inside top of the tent

-2x Large foldup chairs, 2x Small foldup chairs (they weigh almost nothing)

-Huge 6 person tent with a screened in porch area in the front (heaviest item I have)

-Collapsible sink/cutting board

-2x Jetboils, 4 small gas canisters, 2 large gas canisters

-Kids sleeping bags

-Folding spatula

***Things we will carry***
-Camelbacks for the whole fam, they also have room for a change of clothes in each of them
each of the boys will be carrying their little foldup chair
-Merrell waterproof boots and hiking socks for the whole fam

***Stuff I always bring in the Jeep***
-Hammock with bug netting
-Small foldout chair
-2x waterproof jackets
-Large First Aid Kit
-Air Compressor
-Spices and Seasonings
-Large solar battery charger
-Solar battery pack
-LED Light w/ small Solar panel
-1x Man tent
-Jumper cables + recovery equipment
-Food and drinks in an ICER cooler
-Food and water for the doggos
-There's more but you get the idea

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
***UPDATE***
The Mill 4.jpg
We just returned home from our trip, 2 days 2 nights and a morning, it was AMAZING, the entire drive there was just beautiful views and a lot of history. When we arrived after our 5 hour drive, we had about 40 minutes of daylight maybe, which we used to set up our tent, cook some dinner, and get all our bedding set up in the tent (blankets, sleeping bags, etc.) Our spot, #24, was ON the river, we got to sleep to the babbling brook every night and I got to do some fishing with my kiddos.

We woke up, cooked some breakfast (bacon and eggs on the Jetboils we brought which was a learning experience for us, we had them too high at first but quickly learned to turn them down) and then headed into Marble in the Jeep. It is a tiny, very cute town, and using a very simple map (since cell service cuts off around Redstone) we were able to find our way through the 2 Lakes (Beaver Lake and Lizard Lake) and up the very tiny trail into Crystal City (an old ghost town). The route took about 2 hours as it had just rained and there were plenty wash outs. My Jeep as it is, stock suspension has about 8 inches of clearance (2" lift kit is being shipped and should be here soon!) and this along with proper approach angles was plenty to make it through the trail. If I were to guess I'd rate the trail about a 7 or 8 due to some of the extremely tight spots high in the mountains, steep drop offs, no guard rails, and no alternative routes (most off-roading trails have little switch offs where you can skip an obstacle that you don't want to brave it through, this one has ONE route, and one route only, you must go through anything, whether it be a huge transmission killing stone spike in the middle of the road, or a washed out drop off you'd rather not be teetering on)

I recommend leaving for the Mill early in the morning, we didn't have to play bumper cars with anyone on the way in, on the way out it was mayhem, SO many ATV's, hikers, other 4x4s, and you had to be good at backing up into the tightest of spots to allow the other person to pass, or you'd get lucky and they'd back up into a small spot and allow you to pass, it added a Lot of time on our way out and only got worse the closer we got to the end. Warning to anyone going to these mountains, do Not use your horn at any time, could cause an avalanche, and the locals will be Quick to call you out for it, I saw this happen to one of the other vehicles when he honked to let someone know they could pass him.

Overall I recommend this trip to anyone that enjoys amazing mountain views and some time away from cell phone service, it was so peaceful and we are looking forward to our next trip already! Great Success!

Also what we came up with for improvements at the end of our journey..
-Bring more water for cooking (I'm going to look into those Rotopax things, one for fuel one for water) We had plenty of water for the kids and us in our camelbacks, but our dedicated water supply for doing dishes and cooking ran out pretty quickly day 2.
-The dehydrated meals we brought were amazingly good, we didn't eat all the fresh food we brought so we may downsize the size of cooler we bring next time and just pack mostly premade dehydrated meals.
-Need to remember my rubber mallet for the tent spikes, pushing them in with my boots bent a few but it's my fault for forgetting my hammer.

Things we did well..
-Our preplanning was really well done, everything we brought with us was put to use, and nothing was a regret
-The simple downloaded map of the area was great and without it there would have been a lot more guesswork involved
-The large tent we brought was a huge winner, it fit all 6 of us with No issues, the dogs did great in it, and for $186 it can't be beat

That's all I have for now! Please send me any questions you have!
 

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