Good-bye Rockies

As I slept that night the rain moved in. Let me clarify, it was rain in Frisco at my campsite. It was snow above 11,000 ft. We made an attempt to hike Quandary. It was actually really awesome to hike in the snow ice and clouds. Eventually it just got to cold and little bit dangerous to go on. Most of these pictures came from the way back down. I just have no words, such a great experience. 

Denise from High School, We hadn't see each other in 15 years! Crazy!

After that we went down to the Breckenridge Brewery for lunch and refreshments. It was a fun morning with Denise and the two other fun folks we met on the trail. 

Not summiting the mountain wasn't too disappointing, but I felt like there was more to the day.  An afternoon bike ride was appropriate, especially since the sun came out. I chose the peaks trail which went from Frisco to Breckenridge through the backcountry. It started as a tough climb and then quickly became fast and technical all the way to Breck. I did most of the ride with this older guy from Jackson, WY. Between him and Noah who we met in Moab, it's confirmed, next year I'm riding in Jackson. It was a great ride and good conversation. We took a little detour on the way back and found a pretty sweet little trail. 

The next day I took off and headed east. Camped out at a place called Truman Lake. The bike trails there were featured in a magazine article about a year and a half ago... I can't remember what they said, but I was not impressed... especially the day after riding in Breck. After riding there I went to ride closer to St. Louis which was awesome! Then spent the night at my Ol'e Buddy Johns place. It was a good evening with Mr. and Mrs Jones and their family.

The rest of my trip will be visiting old friends from college and a wedding in Columbus, OH on Saturday. I'll be back in WV Sunday afternoon and hopefully Chris and I will have a video posted by the middle of next week. We have about 8gig of Go Pro to sort through.

Steep Trails!

A few weeks ago I was reading a daily update on the Breck Epic from Dirt Rag's web site. It was written by one of the riders who came in to town from the east coast. (Dirt Rag Magazine is out of Pittsburgh) The recurring theme each day was how steep and rocky the trails were. This guy talked about running up the hills just to keep ahead of the friendly competition. I actually forgot about these articles until I was on my second walk in the first 15 minutes of my ride. There were some steep, rocky, hard to breath trails! The town of Breckenridge is at 9,600'. I forgot to bring my ipod so all I had were my thoughts... yeah sounds dangerous!

Anyway, I combined a few trails from people I talked to around here... got lost... backtracked... then intentionally climbed a hill just to turn around and come down it. Then I stumbled on a terrain park, crazy! It was an awesome day that had surprises around every corner. The old mines were just amazing, check the pics. If the weather holds out I'm going to make an attempt to hike Mt Quandary in the morning, it'll be my first 14er (Over 14,000').

Breckenridge Ski Resort in the background

Ahh Aspens

Tri-fecta of activities

I'm pretty sure it was close to 20 degrees last night, good thing I have a new sleeping bag that is awesome! After Breakfast I packed everything thing up with no real plan. On my way to town I got the urge to take a trail run. Within a few minutes I found a perfect trail! Not to steep or rocky, but enough people to keep the motivation up. It was a refreshing 40 minutes and then made my coffee taste that much better. I walked the streets of Steamboat just long enough to realize that all these towns are the same. Same tourist stuff different town. But before leaving town it stopped by the local hot springs for a refreshing dip... and some laps in their lap pool, then of coarse a much needed shower.

I totally forgot to mention the haze and smoke that is all over the state. The wildfires in Idaho and Wyoming are making so much smoke that is has been hazy from Moab to Steamboat. You will notice that my pictures aren't that clear. It's crazy to think that the smoke is traveling that far!

The drive to Summit County was pretty spectacular, much like the entire state though. I found a camp site in a small National Forest right on Lake Dillon. After browsing the map I recall a trail that Chris and I flopped on last year. Miners Creek was it's name. I had to complete it. Conveniently I can get there from here by bicycle, there's actually a trail next to my site that takes me there. It was hard, but totally worth it. On the way back down I heard live music... so what would someone do... but follow it! I made my way to the Marina where the band just went on an intermission. After hanging around for a little bit I headed back to camp for some dinner. Service is great here so I'll try to post some photos.
Try this link to my stats (no promises)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/225758708#.UF5zUJ8uX_g.blogger
or this one
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/225758708#.UF59GsBl-Kk.gmail
or this one
<iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='http://app.strava.com/runs/22846114/embed/586eae2cdbeca12a5d7e6090842b00e21a0278c6'></iframe>

View from my camp near Steamboat

Smokey view of Steamboat resort from my ride

Today's ride from Frisco

The descent back to town

 Here's some photo's from earlier in the trip
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The Crested Butte side of Cottonwood Pass

Amazing

Our Campsite outside Crested Butte

On our way up Schofield Pass

High point on the 401 trail - 11,340' 

How exactly am I supposed to watch the trail
 when there's a view  like this? 

We may have missed the prime time for wildflowers,
 but it was still awesome

That's an Aspen at it's best

Fruita, youtube the Zippity Do Da... It's sick!

Great sunset in the desert

Some of the trail near Rabbit Run, Fruita, USA

The Slickrock Trail

Ya know, the slick rock isn't really slick - right?
Our tires stick to it like glue, it's crazy

The beginning of the Whole Enchilada - La Sal mtns 11,120' 

I need a grove of Aspens in my yard

Alpine lake in the LaSal's

We came from way back there
and we are only half way down

Porcupine rim, looking back at the LaSal's

Porcupine Rim trail ends down by the Colorado River.
Spectacular views

That's the trail... little technical, ya think?

Day one! Waterton Canyon. 9/11/12

hope you enjoy

The Whole Enchilada by GMoore78 at Garmin Connect - Details

The Whole Enchilada by GMoore78 at Garmin Connect - Details

This is a test...hopefully this link works... If it opens my map you can then browse my other tracks

I'm here!

So we didn't post as much on this years trip as we did last year. When I say we, I mean Chris. He's the one who kept up with our digital log, mostly while I was driving or talking to myself.

This year was a little different, we rode a lot more, had better weather and spent a lot of time with Chris's old friend Matt and his wife Katie. With that being said, I'm not sure where we (Chris) left you. We spent night number 2 at Matt's Firehouse in Nederland, Co while he was on an overtime shift. From there we headed south/west. We took Cottonwood Pass (dirt road) into Crested Butte, Co. On our way there we realized that the Aspens we changing color and were completely breathtaking. First priority, bike ride. We did a quick ride on the upper loop and the upper upper loop (pretty sure that's right). It was a quick ride, but fun.We were still getting acclimated. We then restocked and found a campsite at the Trailhead for the 401 trail. I say Trailhead, but It's actually where the 401 ends. In the morning we took that trail by the reigns... it was a tough climb to the top of Schofield Pass (10,707') where the actual Trailhead is. We weren't at the top yet. We climbed even more to top out at 11,340'. Then we balmmed down. It was amazing, absolutely spectacular. Grassy flower covered fields right into groves of aspens with views of 12, 13, and 14 thousand foot mountains all around us. Here's a link to our stats CLICK HERE . I figured that we drove 7,000 miles to ride this trail. It was my 'must do' last year but it was to wet to ride.

Moving on... That afternoon we walked around Crested Butte then took Kebler Pass out of town. Kebler pass is a dirt road but not completely out of the way. Plus along that road are some of the largest groves of aspens in the USA. It was beautiful!

Heading to the Desert! Fruita, Colorado! We set up camp on top of a Mesa off I-70 at a place called Rabbit Valley. It was at Exit 2 in CO, right at the UT line... it was dark but I managed to wake up for the amazing sunrise. That morning we headed back to Fruita. We picked up some supplies which included stopping by two of the local bike shops. Over the Edge Sports is actually ranked as one of the best bike shops in America... yeah that means souvenir time for us tourists. We finally made it to an area called 18 road. All the streets in Fruita and Grand Junction are in a grid system, regardless of our rural they are. We were probably 10 miles out of town, 5 of which were dirt. It was hot there. We did a quick ride on Chutes and ladders then met up with Matt and Katie at the camp site. They had other folks joins us for a ride and then cooked dinner. It was fun. The next day Matt and Katie had a trail for us... We didn't know what we were getting into. It was pretty epic. Over 31 miles of riding through the desert, up mesa's, down them, through the desert again, along the Colorado river and back to camp. It was a big loop, we all ran out of water, but it was amazing! We have (had) the chapped lips and sunburn to prove it! CLICK HERE for the stats

Moab bound the next morning. We needed a rest day, so we drug our feet and him-hauled around until around 2:30 or 3. Then we rode the entire 'Slickrock' Trail, 12 mile rest day... good thinking. Actually it was amazing! As the sun was setting the rock was changing from tan or brown to red to purple then back again. So neat! Our camp was directly across the street from the trailhead at the Sand Flats camping area. Pretty neat location.

Good thing we had a rest day because Matt and Katie talked us into another Epic ride. I picked up a rental bike and we caught a shuttle into the LaSal mountains. We rode a trail called the Whole Enchilada. It was just that, google it, it's sick. We only had to climb 2,000 ft of elevation but we dropped 8600. It was completely crazy! We went from Alpine to above treeline, to Alpine, through the Aspens, into fields, through scrub then down to the Porcupine Rim which overlooks Moab on one side and Arches NP in the distance on the other. Some of my info may be off because this was the sickest most awesome day I have ever had on a bicycle. CLICK HERE for the stats. I wasn't even on my own bike! I rented a 2013 yes 13 Trek Fuel EX 8. Pretty sweet bike. I might need to buy one, (oops, do I really need another bike?). That afternoon Matt and Katie headed home and we went to get beers with the French guy and the English dude we picked up on the trail and rode with for a few hours.

So, for real, we could use a rest. After laundry and supplies and a hair cut we went out of town to the Bar B the next day and logged over 1,000 ft of elevation and 10+ miles. Pretty technical trails but still fun. A Good Challenge,  ya know.

 We stayed at Sand Flats one more night then I took Chris to the Grand Junction Airport in the morning. Finally an actual rest day. I drove out to Steamboat Springs, CO. Why Steamboat? Well, I've never been here before. After stopping at the bike shop for a map and meeting a girl who dated a dude from Woodstown, NJ (my home town, weird) I headed up to Dry Lake Camp on Buffalo Pass. Rode some cool stuff today but I am acquiring some left knee pain. Not sure what tomorrow is going to bring. The sun is setting through the aspens here on Buffalo Pass. I barely have any cell service so the pics will have to wait till tomorrow. Maybe I'll hit up a coffee shop and be a tourist before heading to Breck!

Good night
Greg

Time To Catch Up

It's been a few days since we posted something so I'm going to hit you with a few bullets to get you up to speed.

Driving over Cottonwood Pass

-Wednesday we drove to my buddy Matt's firehouse in Nederland, CO.  He works for a small fire department in the front range that runs more wildfires than they do structure fires. It was rainy and cold but his Chief let him off work to ride, so we rode some trails in town.  We snaked through National Forest land by several abandoned (but still technically active) gold mines.  It was a perfect first ride at higher altitudes to acclimate us.  Nederland sits at about 9000 feet above sea level.


Bear-proof trash cans at a local gas station in Crested Butte

-Afterward we went back to his firehouse so he could finish out his OT shift and we had dinner, did house duties, and slept in empty bunks.  The Nederland Fire Protection District employs one shift commander everyday for a total of one FF/EMT-P on duty everyday.  We were the only three in the station.
-Thursday morning we drove to Crested Butte, a beautiful city near epic mountain biking in the heart of the Rockies.  We got there in late afternoon but the weather was beautiful..  We did a short loop on the backside of the ski resort and celebrated with a Dale's Deviant Ale (only $14.50 for a four-pack of pint cans).
-Set up camp at Gothic campground on the road to Schofield Pass just outside of town.
-Next morning weather was beautiful again!  We rode one of the trails we have been talking about since our last trip.
-The 401 trail is possibly the most famous and photographed MTB trails in CO.  It starts at the top of Schofield Pass and skirts through groves of Aspens and fields of colorful wildflowers for several miles.  Google it, you'll see.


Aspens on the 401

-We started a 1000' climb up a gravel road to the pass, and then another 1000' of climbing up the singletrack.  After that it was mostly fast downhill.  Total stats: 14.2 miles, about three and a half hours, highest elevation: 11,340 feet above sea level!  Definitely the highest I have ever travelled under my own power and I was feeling it.
-After we rolled into town and checked out a local distillery that sells it's own rum made right there in Crested Butte.  We then drove to Fruita right on the Utah border where we will meet Matt and his wife tomorrow for several days of riding more epic trails.
-We have a ton of GoPro HD video but it is too big for this simple blogger to handle so we will have to find an alternative means to get it online for you.

First Ride

We made the Denver area in about 30 hours and had plans to meet my buddy Collin at his house in Littleton.  Since it was morning when we arrived we had plenty of time to kill before he got off work so we hit up one of the mountain biking apps on the bat phone and found some trails nearby.

Do Not Approach The Sheep!

Waterton Canyon is a popular recreational area about a mile outside the Littleton city limits, right on the edge of the Front Range.  It's a nice steady gravel road climb along the river up to the Strontia Springs  Reservoir.  From there we shot up some singletrack to a portion of the Colorado Trail and then looped back to the reservoir via the Indian Creek Loop, about a 17 mile ride total.  Lots of wildlife sightings, including a herd of Bighorn Mountain Sheep.
This was our first experiment with the GoPro HD camera and the footage came out pretty well.  Greg whipped up a short video for you guys to give you a taste of the trails.  Extended version coming soon.

Afterward we headed to Collin's for a few brews and a well-needed rest.  We awoke to pouring rain.  We're told that the Denver area hasn't seen rain like this since last June.  Just like last year we may be putting up with some wet weather in the Rockies.

The Sun Always Sets In The West....

Parrot Buddy representing

We all know that old wive's tale, right?  Turns out when you point your vehicle due westbound for 30+ hours you're eventually going to find yourself staring straight into 385 billion billion jiggaWatts of setting sun.  And on the plains of Illinois there are no features to shade you from it's power.  And apparently when Ford made their F-250 in 2002 they decided to forgo decent visors for raw loud power and towing capacity. Next time I'm driving the sunset shift I'm bringing welding goggles.
I wrote a Haiku about it:

Brilliant orb in sky
blinding, retinas burning
visor doesn't help

14 hours into the drive and we're nearing St. Louis.  All is well.
Toodles.

We're Back Bitches!!!

2012 is here and we're doing it again.  Same guys, same plan, new bikes, different truck.  We leave tomorrow morning bright and early an make a beeline for the front range with one minor stop in Ohio. That's right I said Ohio!  We're dropping off a suit.  Don't ask, it's Greg's thing.
Our first planned stop is my buddy Collin's place in Littleton, CO. A quick refresh after the long drive and then it's south to Gunnison, Salida, Leadville, Crested Butte,( I'm probably out of order here) Fruita, Moab, canyon country, Fruita again, & eventually making it to Grand Junction, CO by next Thursday to fly me home.  Sign up to follow and we'll keep you posted of all the zany shenanigans we get into.
spoiler alert: this time we're bike shop supported and we have a HD camera.
smiley face emoticon!!!!!!

We're Home!

We left Matt's early in the morning and proceeded to drive straight until St. Louis.  We crashed at John's place at about midnight, just as he was getting off work.  After a few cockttails we hit the sack and got up again early again.  We drove strong most of the day but by the time we made it to the Appalachians in Ohio we were getting tired and weird.  The people in Ohio seem to be a little stranger than the rest of the country; must be the water.  At one fuel stop there I saw the scariest-looking grizzled mountain man come in and proceed straight to the bathroom.  He must have been a regular because by the time he was done, the cashier had already made him a huge banana split from the ice cream counter.  His face lit up when he saw it. He must have an account there or something because he didn't even pay for it, just walked outside grinning like a 8-year-old Dennis the Menace and dribbling chocolate sauce down his beard.

In the mountains the sun was setting and hard rains moved in.  We blasted out the last 450 miles up and down mountain passes like we were on the run from a posse.  We made Greg';s place by about 11 pm Eastern Time Friday night, and I was home in Leesburg by midnight.  In all we traveled 4,766 miles in 13 days for a total of 94 hours engine time on the truck.  After defumigating everything including myself, I will post another entry listing some detailed stats and thoughts on the trip.  Greg and I didn't always agree these past two weeks, but we can agree on one thing: this was the best road trip ever.  Next year is gonna be be legendary!