On June 8th a small group of Trailridge Runners went up to Castle Gulch Ridge to install signs. This connector road goes from Castle Gulch over to the Lefthand Canyon area. The Castle Gulch Ridge Road, FDR 287.1B, is a little difficult past the old mine that has been sealed. The road is a single vehicle wide ledge road to the saddle into the Lefthand Canyon 4WD road area.

From the saddle the ledge road continues until it reaches the big obstacle past five points on the main Lefthand Canyon 4WD road. The connection is very tough due to the fact that the Castle Gulch Ridge 4WD road is above the Lefthand Canyon 4WD road and the drop off is steep and at a 45 degree angle to the Castle Gulch Ridge 4WD road. It has the very real opportunity to roll your vehicle.

We only went as far as the saddle and signed the two intersections. Beyond the saddle there is no turn around, and you are forced to drive down the connection.

Because this was a short project, the group went on up to the Middle St. Vrain 4WD road and ran the road out to Beaver Reservoir. Normally we do not check the condition of the Middle St. Vrain and Coney Creek until the end of June, but due to the low snow level, it was very likely that the road was in a condition to allow vehicular travel. As it turned out, once the downed trees were cut, we were able to open the Middle St. Vrain and Coney Creek 4WD roads.