Dinosaur National Monument Social Trip!!!

April 25th-27th

This is our big social trip for the semester!!! No limit on the number of attendees. We will be camping on the Utah side of the Dinosaur National Monument and exploring its awesome desert landscape. PARTY AT NIGHT!!

  • Led by all the officers

  • Cap: NONE

  • Departure @ 5:00 pm on Friday

  • 6 hr drive

  • We will be camping and hiking!

  • Sign up goes live Monday 4/21 at 7 pm

Sign up here

THE PLAN

We will be meeting in the northwest corner of the Morgan Library Parking Lot at 4:30PM on Friday, April 25th. We are aiming to leave by 5:00 PM and we will be driving ~ 5 hours to our campground on BLM land just outside the monument on the Utah Side. This is a hard deadline and we will leave without you if you aren't there. At the parking lot we will arrange a carpool to ensure all members and their gear have a ride. There will be a Mandatory Checkpoint in Steamboat, CO that all cars must stop at. The first half of the drive has no cell, and the second half through Craig, CO has spotty coverage. We stop at the checkpoint to guarantee that all cars are making it safely and not lost. PLEASE don't take any detours or stops between campus and the checkpoint, officers have to wait at the checkpoint until all cars pass through, PLEASE DON'T WASTE THEIR TIME!!! The tail end of the drive up to camp involves some rough terrain, like a bumpy ass gravel road, so proceed slowly (We promise it isn't NEARLY as bad as Crested Butte, for one it isn't vertical lol). 

  • We will be camping 2 nights and returning to campus on Sunday. Members are free to do anything they like on Saturday, they just Must return to camp by 8PM!  

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES are you allowed to share information on the location of the checkpoint or the coordinates for the campsite with anyone who doesn't make the signup, who isn't an OC member, or who isn't a CSU Student. This is for all our safety. DONT SHARE THE LOCATIONS WITH ANYONE!!!

SATURDAY RULES AND SUNDAY DEPARTURE

On Saturday, you and your car are welcome to explore the monument in any way you like! There is a lot of cool stuff to do there. Officers will certainly be taking people with them for what they plan to do, but don't feel obligated to go with them if you don't want to. Drivers, DO NOT leave your passengers behind on Saturday unless you organize another ride for them

  • MANDATORY BACK TO CAMP TIME OF 8 PM!!! This is purely for safety. Don't act like this is a loose rule, it's not. If your ass rolls back in to camp at 9 or 10 we are going to be mad at you. So what are you gonna do? Say it out loud rn. IM GONNA BE BACK TO CAMP BY 8 PM ON SATURDAY.

  • It's springtime in the high desert, so it gets chilllyyyyyy at night. We'd recommend a 20 degree bag (nothing rated for warmer temps for sure). Pack clothes for cold nights and cool days (60s and 70s). 

One of the many things we use your dues for is to buy club firewood. We are going to have a fire pit that will be maintained by the officer team. It will be plenty to satisfy your pyromania, dw. YOU MAY NOT LIGHT YOUR OWN CAMPFIRES. 

  • Furthermore, HARVESTING WOOD IN A NATIONAL MONUMENT IS ILLEGAL. Do not chop anything down. Do not pull anything off a tree. Do not burn anything you find on the ground. If you are going to go to federal prison, let it be for a cool crime like grand theft auto.

AMPLIFIED MUSIC-

  • You will not be allowed to play music off speakers on this trip. Music at the campfires both nights will be chill and run by the officer team. Now if you wanted to bring an acoustic guitar? That would be sick. As a matter of fact you should do that.

WHAT TO BRING

backpack/something to hold your shiiiiii

  • sleeping bag (20 degree or lower)

  • sleeping pad

  • food for the whole weekend

  • water for like 80 days (jk but bring more than ya think: ~2 gallons)

  • warm/appropriate clothing for what you wanna do out there

  • shoes for the activities you wanna do

  • headlamp/flashlight

  • Camp chair

  • cooking stove/supplies

  • hat & sunglasses

  • sunscreen

  • rain jacket

  • swimsuit if you're planning on getting in the Green or Yampa rivers

Activity ideas

  1. Go see petroglyphs 

  2. Paddleboard and/or swim on green and yampa (be careful of permit areas)

  3. Box canyon hike

  4. Moonshine Arch

  5. Bouldering

  6. Desert voices trail

  7. Dinosaur fossil quarry (some hikes from the quarry)

  8. Jones hole trail

  9. Josie morris cabin

  10. Hog canyon trail

  11. Outlaw arch 

  12. Echo park is closed

WHERE TO GET GEAR

Bring your own. Rent. The outdoor program at the Rec Center rents a variety of camping gear to students. The rental desk is located in the Rec adjacent to the climbing wall when you first walk in. It costs 25 dollars a semester to rent unlimited gear. You can keep rental gear for 5 days. Gear will go VERY fast, try to be the first to get there if you are depending on rental equipment. For best results, get there when they open at 1PM on Thursday. For more information, go to this link:

https://csurec.colostate.edu/outdoor-programs/outdoor-gear-rental/

The Outdoor Club is huge and many people have equipment they are willing to lend or share. Talk to a friend, come to the meeting on Wednesday and ask some people, or jump on the telegram group chat and see if anyone can give you a hand. Buy used. Everyone knows new gear is pricey. Fort Collins has great, locally owned second-hand outdoor stores. Check out Second Wind Sports or Gearage and you may get the thrift find of the century!