2016 Colorado Rally - White Star GC (Twin Lakes)

[kitphantom]

The polling on the Rally site closed this morning, and White Star received the most votes (3 out of 7, counting a commentary vote in a related thread). Here is the link to recreation.gov for reservations: http://www.recreation.gov/camping/white-star/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70791

There will be an official Rally thread when PopUpSteve establishes it.

The Rally is July 11-17, people are welcome to attend and participate for as much or little as they wish. DH and I will actually arrive on Saturday the 9th; this is one of his vacation weeks, and there is plenty of hiking in the area to keep him busy.

 

[kitphantom]

I'm hoping the official Rally board is up soon. Reservations can be made beginning next week:

2016 - July - Colorado Rally - 7th Annual

White Star Campground (near Twin Lakes, PSICC – Pike and San Isabel National Forests...), Leadville and Buena Vista are both about ½ hour away.
July 11-17

GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude):
39.09, -106.36556
39°5'24"N, 106°21'56"W

From Leadville, travel 15 miles south on Highway 24 to Highway 82. Turn right and go west 5.5 miles on Highway 82, turn left into the White Star Campground.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/39%C2%B005'24.0%22N+106%C2%B021'56.0%22W/@39.090128,-106.3674414,15.25z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

Reservations, $20/night; can be made beginning 6 months in advance.
http://www.recreation.gov/camping/white-star/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70791

There is one loop that is FCFS only, I don't know when it tends to fill. The reservation system now states that this campground tends to fill quickly.

 

[kitphantom]

BTW, we're hoping to reserve site Sage 17. This is in what I call the "lower loop", it seems to be a bit newer than the other two. Valley is the other loop with reservable sites - it is sort of on the hill. Sage is the southernmost loop, Valley is the northernmost and the FCFS loop (name escapes me) is sort of between the two, it is on the hill with Valley.

Site 17 is fairly large, and worked well for the potluck for the '13 Rally.

site 17 by Andrea Vaughan, on Flickr

 

[kitphantom]

OK, we'll be in site Sage 17; I made reservations today since we'll be there beginning the 9th.

I'd forgotten that most, if not all, of the reservable sites are ADA accessible, at least in Sage loop (I've not tried to reserve in Valley). Therefore, at one of the later steps in the reservation process, a notice pops up about it, and says not to reserve it unless needed or it's the only available site. Since they are all ADA, we just go ahead and reserve.

 

[bearman512]

We will be there on the 13th and will let you know what site we will be in.

 

[kitphantom]

We're glad you're coming. See you then.

 

[kitphantom]

I'm waiting for PopUpSteve to get our official Rally page up and running. At the moment, we will have the potluck on the usual night, Saturday night. The suggestion was made to do meet and greet earlier in the week. Closer to the Rally, maybe even just before, I'll see when everyone is arriving and figure out a reasonable evening for the meet and greet. We've not done one before, so I'm assuming it is just a casual stop and chat with whoever shows up at a given time. If arrivals are staggered enough, maybe we'll do a couple meet and greet sessions.

I am also planning on having an information board at our site. What types of information would you guys like to see there?

 

[bearman512]

We are now booked for site 7 arriving Wed 13th and leaving Sun 17th. See ya all there.

 

[kitphantom]

Thanks for letting me know. I'm starting the list, and will add info to the official page when it's created.

 

[kitphantom]

Just a bump, since the 6-month window is now open for the entire Rally time. I know that not everyone makes reservations as early as we do, but for those so inclined - go for it.

 

[kitphantom]

Since getting an official thread started hasn't happened yet, we'll use this as the Rally Thread until an official one is started (those allow a table with participants, etc. to be displayed).

So far:
kitphantom : that would be me (+ DH) - Wagon Master. We'll be in site 17 from Saturday 7/9- Sunday 11/17, this trip is one of our vacation weeks. The meet & greet(s) and pot luck will be in this site, it is large and flat.

bearman512 : site 7; Wed. 7/13 - Sunday 7/17

I'll be happy to try to answer any questions, either ask here or PM me.

 

[NM_Alien]

If we aren't planning to be there the entire time, is it better to be there near the end of the week? I was thinking of maybe 13th- 17th. I'm assuming the Saturday night potluck would be on the 16th.

 

[kitphantom]

Hi Marc,
Yes, the potluck is Saturday night. If people are able to attend just a part of the Rally, it seems it is usually for the weekend end.
Once I see when people are arriving, I'll put a meet and greet or two on the calendar, too.
Andrea

 

[NM_Alien]

I have booked Sage 19 for 7/13 - 7/17. I know it's an ADA site. My hope is it will be flat and gentle enough for Danise to keep her back and neck from having problems.

 

[kitphantom]

They redid Sage a few years back and a good portion of the sites are ADA. 19 is very flat. IIRC, it's about as flat as possible without being paved. 17 is our usual one.
So glad you're coming.

 

[Firehawk068]

We could possibly come the 14th-17th, but it appears that all of the reserve-able sites are already reserved for those dates.

 

[kitphantom]

@Firehawk068
Apparently White Star has become more popular than the last time we had a Rally there. I know there is one loop FCFS only, or at least I think that's what the reservation site indicated. (I'm on my iPad, slow connection, returning home from our first trip of the year.)
Maybe cancellations will open up sites.

 

[Firehawk068]

@Firehawk068
Apparently White Star has become more popular than the last time we had a Rally there. I know there is one loop FCFS only, or at least I think that's what the reservation site indicated. (I'm on my iPad, slow connection, returning home from our first trip of the year.)
Maybe cancellations will open up sites.

We could always try our luck with the FCFS sites. It does show the one loop as non-reserveable, but the earliest I could get in there would be Thursday the 14th.
Not sure if that would be early enough, or if it would be full already, being summer vacation time for everyone.
I do know there is other spots in that general area as well, so we'll see.

 

[kitphantom]

When I get a chance, I'll post some of the alternatives for the area. We've only stayed at White Star, and have never tried the FCFS loop. It must have gotten more popular in the years we've been going (like many other campgrounds), I have been known to get reservations less than a month out.

We'll need input for next year's Rally site, maybe back to North Fork in the Flat Tops? That seems off the beaten path, most of the nights we were there had 1 or 2 sites that were not Rally folks.

 

[sleach]

Saw where KitPhantom wanted a list of CGs near White Star. Here goes-

In same valley, near White Star, in order of distance from White Star

Lakeview- about 2 miles NE, up on the ridge, pretty nice

Dexter Point- about 3 miles E, down on the flats near the dam

Parry Peak- several miles W, an older CG, tight sites

Twin Peaks- farther W than Parry Peak, another older, tight sites CG

Halfmoon Creek group, not far as the crow flies, but quite a ways by road as you have to go N toward Leadville, then back SW up the creek. Beautiful area!

Halfmoon E

Halfmoon W

Elbert Creek

Turquoise Lake Group, all clustered together at the E end of Turquoise Lake, just W of Leadville. All heavily used.

Baby Doe, Belle of Colorado, Father Dyer, Molly Brown, Silver Dollar, Tabor.

Hope this helps.

We have a reservation for Site 14 at White Star, for Sun 7/10 - Wed 7/14. Hope to see you there.