Would anyone be down for a Rampart Cleanup?

[gnihcraes]

The wife is working and I must be on call - within 30 mins response... so I won't be able to make it... wish I could. stinks.

kc-lakewood

[XJ]

Does this mean there won't be any "official" cleanup on a weekend?

[Sixgun]

I'm in if things work out to be off work.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

I spoke with Ranger Rick Ellsworth from the WP Ranger Station. Here's the plan:

We are going to conduct a cleanup of the Rampart Shooting Range on 13 March 2009 at 0900 - 1200 hours.

I am still waiting on a confirmation regarding a dumpster, but this is still not an issue since many of us have trucks. Although this is intended to be a community service project from the "Avenger" A Troop, 1-6 Cavalry from Fort Carson, it is open to any willing and able to participate. Our unit returned from a 15 month tour in Iraq a few months ago, so it may be a good opportunity to come out and talk with some veterans and hear a few war stories. As stated before, there will be some shooting and possibly a BBQ following the cleanup.

We intentionally planned this to be on a weekday instead of a weekend to minimize the impact it would have on the recreational shooters that fill the place up on weekends. If you are unable to attend on a Friday morning, there is a tentative cleanup planned for next month. As I understand it, the Front Range Shooters Association (or something like that) is planning a cleanup on 22 April 2009 (Wednesday) as an Earth Day event.

I will update as I get more information.

[Fal Grunt]

I might be able to come out and help if you guys tell me where.

Like... directions, or GPS.

Any shooting, or just clean up and BBQ?

-myers

[Chief_of_Scouts]

Any shooting, or just clean up and BBQ?

Cleanup followed by shooting and BBQ. The BBQ is in doubt due to the possibility of some cold and cloudy weather (snow?). But as it stands, we will be cleaning and since we are making the trip, we plan on shooting afterward.

To get there:
Take Hwy 24 West out of Colorado Springs,
Take the Manitou Springs exit, stay to the right, go under the bridge,
Make the the first right (Buena Vista Rd.)
Go to the stop sign and make another right (El Paso Blvd.),
Take the next left (Garden Dr.)
Stay on Garden Dr. past the rocks and parking lot,
Take the first dirt road to the left (Rampart Range Road)
Go up the mountain on the dirt road until you see the dirt parking and ranges on the left (approximately 5.8 miles).

This is still on and the USFS should be posting signs announcing the range closure for that morning. Trash hauling will be done by my unit.

Hope to see everyone there!

[Chief_of_Scouts]

Oh, and if you need the coordinates:

38°53'51.30"N

104°54'42.56"W

[Fal Grunt]

I think I drove up there once. You go into the garden of the gods, up the dirt road on the right, a couple switch backs and past the commo tower? Steel benches etc?

I didn't get to shoot last time I was there. Just scouted and picked up some brass. 300-400 pieces of .223, about 50 pieces each of 7mm and 8mm mauser once fired commercial brass, about 100 pieces of .30-06', and a 1/2 gallon ziplock of other types.

One of my favorite ranges and I haven't even shot there yet!

-myers

[theGinsue]

Fal - I recommend that you always have someone else there with you if/when you do decide to go. Typically there are some spooky individuals that go there (no range etiquette, openly staring too long at your firearms, etc).

Chief - you and your unit are the greatest for getting this thing coordinated and especially for the hauling part.

I'm going to try to be there but in case I can't can someone else who plans to be there GPS the coordinates for the place and pass it on in this thread?

For those who plan to go and have never been there, be advised that the road up there is almost always washboarded. No attempting to mix TNT during the drive and I recommend that you watch your speed on the turns as the washboarding can push you across the road fairly quickly - often with someone coming towards you driving down the middle of the road.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

Good advice about the washboard Thomas. The last time I was up there, I watched two guys in a SUV doing 40+ mph t-bone a guy in a car with his kids coming the other direction at the curve by the 25m range.

There is a possibility of wintery weather Thursday night and Friday morning. I am going to make a weather Go/No-Go decision tomorrow. If we postpone, I will post the next scheduled time for a cleanup in a new post. I don't want to postpone, but there is no point trying to clean the range in snow and freezing rain as is predicted.