on the Colorado Trail
Jul. 2nd, 2012 07:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanaramaIt's been pretty hot here in SW Colorado, so Britt and I decided that if we were going to go mountain biking (which we wanted to do) we'd have to gain some altitude to do it. So we drove up to Molas Pass to ride the Colorado Trail. Which was awesome.
The Colorado Trail is a 486-mile trail connecting Durango and Denver. Of course, we didn't ride the whole thing - just one short segment. We've actually biked or hiked bits of it before. But this part was new to us.
The first thing we noticed was that there were way more mountain bikers than hikers. The reason for this became quickly evident: it's a FANTASTIC mountain biking trail. While parts of it are steep, parts are technical, and parts are sustained, it's usually just one out of three, rarely two, and never all three difficulties at once. Probably 85% of the trail was 98% rideable (for strong intermediate riders) - we'd have to dismount briefly to go over a step, say, or stop to catch our breath and then walk to a flat spot to start again, but that was it. The other 15% was one longish section, narrow and rocky with a steep drop-off, where we walked our bikes perhaps a third of the time.
And we were smart to do so. About six miles in, someone had had a bad wreck and fallen down the cliff a ways into some rocks. His friends were obviously prepared, because when we passed them (outbound) they had a call into Search and Rescue, and the victim was wrapped in a space blanket and just hanging out. They said they thought he'd fractured something. We resolved to be extra careful.
It wasn't just the prospect of smashing ourselves on the rocks that slowed us down. The trailhead's about 10,860 and it only goes up from there. (Okay, it goes up and down, but after the initial ascent the low point is something around 11,380.) The altitude kept us cool but also made us work a lot harder - especially on the climbs, but I think just doing the technical bits was a bit harder at altitude, too. The highest point was just a bit more than 12,100 feet.
We rode for 9.25 miles, to where the Engineer Trail comes in past Jura Knob to join the Colorado Trail. We'd hiked that with a friend years ago as part of a big loop. Now we restocked our water supply from a pretty little creek, had some chocolate, and admired the wildflowers before heading back.
When we passed the wreck spot again, S&R was there and working to get the hurt guy on a litter. A bit more than a mile farther on (basically, the first flat spot!), we saw a post with flagging ribbons tied to it, and heard and saw the helicopter circling overhead, so we stopped for a snack and to watch it land. The pilot took a couple of passes and then hovered for probably 6-10 minutes, trying to find the proper spot and attitude such that he would be flat enough for take-off.
After it landed, the pilot came out and we chatted with him a little - he's a mountain biker, too, and has ridden this trail many times, he said. He told us they usually have one or two evacuations each summer. We rode back to the trailhead very, very carefully. Well, okay, not really - the last two miles were a screaming downhill on a fairly smooth dirt surface, and except for our sedate descents down the limestone steps we'd carried our bikes up, we zoomed.
It was fun! See, we are smiling!
Hee, you can really see the difference between my crappy cellphone photos and our Actual Camera photos, can't you. Also, the discerning eye will notice that my icon is me on my old bike. I should crop this last photo of me and make it my new biking icon.
The Colorado Trail is a 486-mile trail connecting Durango and Denver. Of course, we didn't ride the whole thing - just one short segment. We've actually biked or hiked bits of it before. But this part was new to us.
The first thing we noticed was that there were way more mountain bikers than hikers. The reason for this became quickly evident: it's a FANTASTIC mountain biking trail. While parts of it are steep, parts are technical, and parts are sustained, it's usually just one out of three, rarely two, and never all three difficulties at once. Probably 85% of the trail was 98% rideable (for strong intermediate riders) - we'd have to dismount briefly to go over a step, say, or stop to catch our breath and then walk to a flat spot to start again, but that was it. The other 15% was one longish section, narrow and rocky with a steep drop-off, where we walked our bikes perhaps a third of the time.
And we were smart to do so. About six miles in, someone had had a bad wreck and fallen down the cliff a ways into some rocks. His friends were obviously prepared, because when we passed them (outbound) they had a call into Search and Rescue, and the victim was wrapped in a space blanket and just hanging out. They said they thought he'd fractured something. We resolved to be extra careful.
It wasn't just the prospect of smashing ourselves on the rocks that slowed us down. The trailhead's about 10,860 and it only goes up from there. (Okay, it goes up and down, but after the initial ascent the low point is something around 11,380.) The altitude kept us cool but also made us work a lot harder - especially on the climbs, but I think just doing the technical bits was a bit harder at altitude, too. The highest point was just a bit more than 12,100 feet.
We rode for 9.25 miles, to where the Engineer Trail comes in past Jura Knob to join the Colorado Trail. We'd hiked that with a friend years ago as part of a big loop. Now we restocked our water supply from a pretty little creek, had some chocolate, and admired the wildflowers before heading back.
When we passed the wreck spot again, S&R was there and working to get the hurt guy on a litter. A bit more than a mile farther on (basically, the first flat spot!), we saw a post with flagging ribbons tied to it, and heard and saw the helicopter circling overhead, so we stopped for a snack and to watch it land. The pilot took a couple of passes and then hovered for probably 6-10 minutes, trying to find the proper spot and attitude such that he would be flat enough for take-off.
After it landed, the pilot came out and we chatted with him a little - he's a mountain biker, too, and has ridden this trail many times, he said. He told us they usually have one or two evacuations each summer. We rode back to the trailhead very, very carefully. Well, okay, not really - the last two miles were a screaming downhill on a fairly smooth dirt surface, and except for our sedate descents down the limestone steps we'd carried our bikes up, we zoomed.
It was fun! See, we are smiling!
Hee, you can really see the difference between my crappy cellphone photos and our Actual Camera photos, can't you. Also, the discerning eye will notice that my icon is me on my old bike. I should crop this last photo of me and make it my new biking icon.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-03 01:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-03 02:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-03 02:14 am (UTC)- Rebecca
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-03 02:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-03 04:35 pm (UTC)Great pix of fabulous scenery too!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-04 06:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-04 06:30 pm (UTC)What are the purple flowers? They look big like thistles, but not like thistles?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-04 06:47 pm (UTC)This area btw is about 3/4 of the way toward Silverton, which is where the tourist train I am recommending goes. The wildflowers will be gone when you are here, but there will hopefully be aspen and oak leaves in color, and snow on the mountain tops.
(I got your msg about dates and times, and they all look fine to me. EEE!)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 01:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-04 06:48 pm (UTC)