Regarding the trail conditions, most all of them are actually county roads which are maintained throughout the summer. The county has a Cat D6R six way that they run all the trails over to the Hinsdale county line. Silverton and Lake City make much of their summer revenue from us so they keep them in good shape. Get a FunTreks map for a good hardcopy of them. Lots of good info on it (distances, difficulty, etc.).
For those who have studied the system before we go, My intention for first day out is to leave Silverton, maybe take a side trail up to a mine, go by Gladstone, up over Hurricane Pass, down to Lake Como, up over California Pass, down to Animas Forks, back to Picayune which leads over to CR 2 which has numerous takeoffs we can run depending remaining daylight. This will give get everyone's legs under them and give us an idea of how the group runs for doing the Alpine Loop later. So much to do, so little time! I have a working map in my head that I keep running through to make this as great of a ride for everyone as I can.
Wife and I and our friends coming with us in their 500 may try to run up Kendall Mountain Sunday afternoon if we arrive in time.
