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One question.....is there a well marked trail from the road down the hill to Phandom Curve. Every time I have tried hiking down the going got so steep and rough that I gave up. But obviously it's doable because I have seen folks there.
If there is one, I haven't found it. The view down from above is steep and intimidating. I'm sure it CAN be done, but I'll pass unless I find the "magic" route, and I've climbed half of Colorado's 14,000' peaks, so I'm hardly afraid of a bit of a route-finding adventure.
The last time I hiked out to Rock Tunnel (last summer, from Osier) I met two couples who'd decided to scramble down to the tunnel from above. They made it and stumbled onto the grade just a few hundred yards from the tunnel, but...
Well, they were bruised, scratched, exhausted and basically told me "...don't try this.".
I think I'd already figured that out. :-)
Scott