johnsenpa

Has any body taken and would like to comment or have pictures from this trail rout from Marble to Crested Butte. I am curious at how hair raising the Devil's Punchbowl area is....

Mojo_Risin

never been there but here are a few resources for you - I'm sure someone here will chime in with personal experiences.

http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=45

http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showt...Schofield+Pass

john

tc

COTTORA is doing a run there this weekend. Most all the reports are not good about the trails being very passable though.

http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60374

Elvota

On one of our summer CO tours we drove from Crested Butte down to Marble.

This was in a '91 X-Cab pickup, snugtop, 33's , no lockers and a hitch rack with 4 bikes hanging off the back. If you are okay with exposure, technically it's not that hard. There are a few high center opportunities, fair amount of boulders and some very skinny trail with a couple short bridges.

However, this was a few years back and I could see how even just one rockslide could change the difficulty rating dramatically. Also, it's mostly downhill the direction we went... might be more challenging the other way.

One more thing. At the end (or start) of the trail, just before (or after) the road returns to easy 2WD dirt, there is the possibility of a snow bank lasting well into the hotter months. There was no way around it. It blocks the road. Can be difficult to cross even on bike. [Sidenote: one of the best pieces of CO singletrack starts at the crest just past this snowbank. If you MTB... you must, I repeat must do this trail] Coming from CB you are denied right away, so no big deal. Coming from Marble, you'd have to turn around and do the whole trail again to get out.

All in all a very scenic drive, with the ancient log house hanging off the cliff at the Marble end the highlight.

My worst nightmare the whole run was meeting someone and having to back up. There is almost no where to pull over or turn around. With all the bikes off the back, my visibility for reverse was terrible. We got lucky though and didn't see a soul until the very end. We ran it on a weekday.

Best of luck! [Don't forget to ride that MTB trail. 401 maybe? My memory sucks, but locals will be able to guide you]

Edit: I think my CO 4WD guidebook said 9 people died in a Suburban at the Punch Bowl so I was pretty freaked. Once there, you just have to be smart and go slow. A spotter can help, but as far as I can recall there are far worse obstacles out there in the world. I think a fullsize (Suburban) would have much more difficulty. That right there could be the most obvious statement ever made.

johnsenpa

HAHAHA that pretty brilliant. Yeah I was checking out there run for this weekend, bt I just have to be back early sunday. and they were running the lead king run from Marble on Sunday so I will figure something out. Yeah i was looking at all the reports from traildamage and the trail just looks absolutely beautiful. That was the on road I really knew I wanted to do before I even came out to CO andgot on Yotatech, cause I love the photo ops that are afforded y traversing these type roads and oing what we do. Not everyone gets to see this type off beauty. They only see what just happens to pass by them on there way to and fro, and that is nothing.

Jim_D

I've done it on a mountain bike; Crested Butte to Marble, then from Marble we took the Lead King loop back to Crystal (which we had already passed through on the way to Marble), and then back to Crested Butte. The Punch Bowl is extremely narrow and pretty rough in spots, but not particularly technical. When you cross the creek coming from Schofield Pass to start down the Punchbowl you can see pretty much all the way down to the bridge. If you see anybody coming up don't go any further, you'll need to wait until they get passed you. Anyone coming from Marble should stop at the bridge before proceeding to make sure no one is coming down. There's absolutely no place to pass in this particular stretch. Supposedly there's a slide blocking the Punchbowl at the current time, but it's possible that it's gone by now. I'd check before trying it. Here is picture of the Punchbowl just as you start down after crossing the creek coming from Schofield, and you can almost see where the bridge is (it's just beyond where the trail drops down in the distance):



Jim