Category Archives: Logistics

One would think that Leadville and Buena Vista would be more or less the same. They both used to depend on mining: Leadville was created for miners; Buena Vista was a railroad town serving mines. Both have plenty of outdoor activities nearby, including numerous 14ers. Neither has any apparent local industry other than outdoor tourism. Strangely, at least to my superficial eye, they have developed very different vibes.

Buena Vista has a mixture of Good Healthy Family types playing with their kids in the park, and dirtbags bouldering and working as guides, mostly on the river. It has preserved its downtown, and taken a lot of state lottery money to build trails, kayaking stuff, and a small bouldering area.

Coming to Leadville, I was surprised by the redneck vibe. Even the coffee place has a bar and plays bluegrass. Coming into town, you pass a sprawling trailer park and a barn-like liquor/bait/wood emporium. Stray from the highway in town, and you will see plenty of run-down houses with jacked-up trucks (actually useful here, though). Leaving town, you pass the new growth: a large supermarket and gas station. There seem to be athletes who live here to train, but not as many migrant outdoor types (e.g. I haven’t seen many bike racks).

Anyways, here are some places I have found helpful on my way through:

• Family Dollar (both)
  This seems to be a Colorado-specific store. It’s kind of like a mini-Walmart, with clothes and such on one side and groceries on the other. While it has no produce and limited baked goods, it has an awesome, and awesomely cheap, selection of non-perishables. Of personal interest, it has the best selection of canned fish I have seen anywhere, better even than Trader Joe’s, most for $1 or less. 4-packs of saltines are also $1, and canned vegetables are mostly in the $0.60-$0.80 range. Shop and thrive.

• Leadville Hostel (Leadville)
  5 blocks east of the highway and one block north of the stoplight, the Leadville Hostel has a homey atmosphere and a friendly proprietress. Bunks are the usual $20/night. More importantly, you can take a clean shower for $3, and do your laundry for only $2.50 (quite a bit less than the laundromat). They also have wireless for $1.

• Proven Grounds (Leadville)
  Just south of the stoplight, Proven Grounds carries a variety of coffees and teas, and bakes their own breads and pastries. It’s all a bit overpriced, but the breads and teas are good (not so much the soup and coffee, and they charge for refills). They also have free wireless.

• Fish Hatchery (Leadville)
  Potable water spigots seem to be less common here than in California, where they are found at most developed trailheads. The hatchery, just south of town, has a spigot outside that is free to use.

• Community Center (Buena Vista)
  Head through downtown on Main Street and, where it turns to dirt, you will find the newly-built community center. It has acceptable showers ($1 for 3 min.) and a small bouldering area to play around. The problems seemed hard, but I suck at climbing now.

• Buena Vista Roastery (Buena Vista)
  Buena Vista Roastery on Main Street seems to be a sometimes gathering place for outdoorsy types. They know their coffee, and sell it both by the cup and by the pound. They also have free wireless.

Americans tend to accept both empty parked cars and occupied moving cars nearly everywhere, but disapprove of occupied parked cars, especially when the occupants are asleep. Therefore if you plan to sleep in your car, and do not need the facilities provided by a campground, you need to think about where to sleep without being ticketed or harassed.

The best place to sleep is obviously one where no one will come by and see you. For example, many of Colorado’s dirt roads are rarely patrolled or even used, especially during the week, so you can simply pull off the road and nod off. If such a place is not available, the next-best bet is to sleep where no one will notice you. If yours is just one among many cars, you avoid window condensation, and you don’t stay in the same place too long, no one will notice your transgression. The overnight shuttle parking lot in Aspen is one such place. Finally, you can choose a place where no one cares if you are sleeping in your car. Most Eastern Sierra trailheads qualify, even the crowded Whitney Portal.

By far the easiest place to rest in peace is National Forest land. Thanks to shrinking budgets and massive scale, there are few rangers patrolling them for miscreants. Also, the “multiple abuse” land management policy means cars are allowed to drive and park in more (and more out-of-the-way) places.

National parks present more of a challenge. They are better-funded and smaller, and cars are restricted to small, well-developed areas, so it’s hard to find a place to park out of sight. As always, arriving late and starting early helps. Parking in the long-term backpacker lot is best, but you can often poach a campsite if you get an early start. A late (after 9PM or so) arrival also avoids park entry fees, even at major parks like the Grand Canyon.

When sleeping on the highway, it’s best to do what long-haul truckers do: they sleep on the road more than you do, so they know what they’re doing. On rural interstates, you can just pull off at a local road exit and park on the side of the road. Many rest stops are also good places to sleep — look for rows of parked trucks at night. On smaller highways, pulling well off the highway on a dirt Forest Service road usually works. Finally, you can always simply park on the side of the highway. While your rest may be disturbed, no policeman will ticket you if you say you were worried about falling asleep at the wheel.

It is best not to sleep in town, but sometimes it can’t be avoided. If you are forced to do this, a motel parking lot is often a safe place to spend a single night. Just don’t park in front of someone’s room or near the front desk. Sleeping in a residential area is usually a bad idea, but if you must, choose a safe area where street parking is normal and few people are out late at night. Wealthy or upper-middle-class suburbs usually qualify, since everyone will be inside watching TV or sleeping, and the houses are far enough apart that an unfamiliar car will probably go unnoticed for a single night. Finally, remember that you are not breaking any laws by parking on a public street. The worst the police can do is ask you to move on.

Leave no trace!

Remember to follow the same practices and courtesies you would in the backcountry. Park a discrete distance from other people, pack out your trash, and don’t leave any human waste (or, if you are far from civilization, dig a cathole like you would in the wilderness). If you leave no trace, most people won’t mind that you stayed the night.

Dirtbagging in the winter presents a challenge, requiring more discipline and attention to detail than during the summer. Here are a few observations from my trip to Colorado last month.

Wet water

Keeping enough liquid water can be a challenge when the ambient temperature is always below freezing. Solar heating will keep the inside of your car well above freezing during the day, but you will need liquid water in the morning, after a night of outdoor temperatures. Melting ice in the morning will cost a lot of time, since water has a high specific heat, so it is best to keep enough water from freezing overnight.

A full and fully-melted gallon container will be partially liquid after a single night where the temperature stays above zero, but a smaller container, like a mug or your pack’s water bladder, will freeze solid. Try to thaw your larger water bottles as much as possible during the day, e.g. by placing them in the sun covered with a black plastic bag. If you want a smaller container of water, keep it inside your sleeping bag. Note that canned carbonated beverages can explode when they freeze — careful with your energy drinks! Keeping them in a cooler may help, but only if they start out reasonably warm.

Condensation

Window condensation from your breath, always an issue, becomes a real problem in the winter, when it will form a thick layer of frost. This frost will then melt during the day and drip onto your clothes and upholstery, causing both short-term (frozen clothes) and long-term (mildew) problems. It’s better to crack your windows more and suffer with cold temperatures and breezes than crack them too little and deal with interior frost.

Dry clothes

Drying wet clothes is a constant battle. Since you are wearing more clothes than during the summer, you need more space to spread them out, and since winter clothes are more expensive than t-shirts, you have to wear the few you own more often.

On long days you will have few warm, dry hours in which to dry clothes, so it’s important to make the most of your drying time. Immediately remove wet clothes when you get to the car. Drying your inner layers is most important, so place them in the sun or near a heater vent. Putting on damp or frozen outer layers is unpleasant, but better than sleeping in damp thermals. Take the insoles out of your boots, but don’t put the boots in front of the heater, as doing so may damage the material.

Trail nutrition

Since it’s difficult and time-consuming to eat food that requires bare hands or utensils, or food that can freeze, your trail meals may be limited to nutritionless, monotonous, concentrated energy sources like granola bars, pop-tarts, and trail mix. Focus on eating protein, fatty acids, and vegetables for dinner, likely your only meal with real variety.