Colorado Trail Recap: Day 5

The last day of a ride can be bittersweet. This trip had been awesome, and I didn't want it to end. We were wrapping up with a last day with a pretty big climb up to Wheeler Pass (I think). This was a progressively deteriorating dirt road, then some fun single track, and then a long descent.

Final packing up outside the hotel

We decided not to take the Colorado Trail right out of Breck. It is long, steep, and tons of hiking. Instead, we took the Peak 9 trail, which was really pretty cool as we climbed out of the valley. 

Heading out from Breckenridge

This road took us by several hours and buildings on the mountain, and we were passed by a few jeeps even.

Getting higher above the resort

Once we got above treeline, the views were amazing! We could see all the way to Dillon from the top. 

The last bits of the road

Double shot of isaac

Looking back into the valley from this road was really neat, you could see the whole resort, the town, and down into Lake Dillon.

Wheeler Trail intersection

Where we stopped for lunch was right where the Peak 9 trail splits to the Wheeler trail (and eventually the CO Trail). I had my second or third PB&J of the trip here, and I have to say they were amazing. I'll be packing those in the future for sure.

Quick stop for lunch

Looking back onto the valley

The Wheeler trail connected the Peak 9 road to the CO Trail, and it was pretty techy. There was a fair bit of exposure and it was narrow - wouldn't want to fall downhill here.

Traversing the valley

The last of the climb led us to the saddle and then down into the Copper Mountain valley. From here we could see the resort and our eventual finish.

Last climb over!

As happened with the rest of the descents on this ride, I got very few pictures. It was a fun descent though, and we ended up about 200 yards from the cars

Coming down

What an amazing ride - I'm really looking forward to completing more of this trail. The last part is Silverthorne to Durango which is only about 3 days. It's a good sign that I'm looking for time to do another section.

All Smiles at the end

Packing up the cars

Map

Elevation

 

Stats

Colorado Trail Recap: Day 4

We were a little slow moving on morning 3 after a few evening beers and a lot of food. We had a solid breakfast, got the campsite cleaned up, refilled with water, sent Reid on his way in the car, and we were on the trail!

Campsite

The ride from the campground was awesome, it was through some really dense forest with some fun, technical climbing, made more difficult by the bikes loaded with gear. That kind of riding really distracts you from the work - I'd take a tech climb over a dirt road every day.

Walking over logs

Cool old trail sign

This day had us riding over two passes: Georgia Pass and one other unnamed pass. On paper, these looked pretty intimidating, but in reality they were awesome. It helped that the views were great and the trail was really engaging. It also helps that you're just chatting with your friends the whole time. I could see this being a slog if it were dark and you were alone. 

Approaching Georgia Pass

The approach to this pass was great, you could see up the valley and the weather was perfect. Coming up to Georgia Pass we saw more hikers than anywhere else, and a dog.

At the top of Georgia Pass

Pass dog

Georgia Pass also offered great views of Mt Guyot in the background. Next we dropped back into the trees, and the top of the unnamed pass was almost imperceptible. It wasn't as tall, and we didn't even get above treeline. I had planned for a bailout along here in case things were going horrible, but it was totally unnecessary. We stopped for lunch and could look back on the south side of Keystone resport. 

Jesse's Charcuterie

We got a little rain up here, but nothing like the days before.

A fork leading down to Dillon

The last bit down to the highway and Breckenridge was the least interesting. You could tell this trail gets a lot of use and wasn't really engineered for bikes. Tight switchbacks, loose descents, and pretty exposed. but we hit the bike path, and then the hotel, and finally another dip in the creek!

River and beers

We decided to grab a bite to eat, another beer, and even some milkshakes. It was fun to be back in a town and just wander around on tired legs. 

Dinner

We also stopped at Breckenridge distillery to sample some of the whisky, which was tasty!

Aperitif

And finally headed to the hot tub!

Style

The next day was going to be a lot of climbing, but overall very short, so we could cut loose a bit tonight and have some fun. I'm talking about the trip after we were done, I bet we could have pushed pretty far today, especially with the ride around we ended up taking on day 5. It was a load of fun to hang out in Breck though!

Map

Elevation

Stats

Colorado Trail Recap: Day 3

"Ok fellas, you can't camp here." is what we woke up to on Day 3. A friendly park ranger woke us up about 6 to shoo us out of the picnic shelter. The guy was really nice about it, and understood that we were only three because of the rain. We got up and moving pretty fast, said goodbye to the campground eagle, and were on the road by 8. 

Good morning, officer

America (some assembly required)

 The day started with about 8 miles up Tarryall Road which was paved. This was a gentle climg and a great warm up to start a day of riding. We passed the Stagestop Saloon, which was unsurprisingly closed at 8 in the morning. Had our schedule worked out differently, this would have been a cool place to hang out.

Tarryall Raod

A bit past the Saloon, we turned north onto some jeep trails that would eventually rejoin the CO Trail. This got us off the pavement and onto some dirt from miles 9 to 16. This was a really cool area with some aspens as we climbed higher and higher.

Nice Jeep trail

From up high on this trail we could see Southpark to the SouthWest of us. We were going to circle around the valley on the North side and end up on the nearly opposite side by the end of the day.

One of many beautiful views into Southpark

We were really happy once we got back on the CO Trail because it means singletrack instead of dirt roads. This trail was really great, and got us into some neat terrain as we approached Kenosha Pass.

All Smiles, despite some more rain

Awesome views from here

The trail here had a few obstacles, but everything was very rideable. (almost everything)

Isaac hopping a fallen tree

The Aspen groves were incredible to ride through. WE didn't see anyone for a long time on these trails. 

It was awesome to come over Kenosha pass. It was the first people we'd seen all day. Lots of hikers were setting out on the trail in both directions. 

Another CO Trail trailhead sign

We took advantage of a water pump thing at the campground right at the pass. Here is where Jesse also found some reasonable flip flops. 

Cold, beautiful water

We rode for another short bit and then took a break to have lunch and the views were amazing. Here we're looking back south east into the same valley, having ridden all the way across the north side.

Table for two

So, anyone who talked to me for the week before this ride knows I was on the hunt for small packets of relish for this tuna roll-up I planned on having. I procured some from Wal-Mart, and it was delicious. 

An amazing lunch

This part was some really fun songletrack riding, nothing too challenging. There was a hill on the profile that ended up not being a big deal at all.

Lets goooo

We got to the campground and were able to relax a bit. I think we could have ridden another hour or two on this day, but it was nice to have a table and some fresh water and relax. There was also  a creek where we all hopped in to soak the legs and clean up a bit. 

Smile

This night we had Reid meet us with a resupply and a fun dinner. No fires, but we sat around and had a really great evening. 

Cheers

Faux fire

The campground was right next to the CO Trail, so we were confident in an early start in the morning, despite a few evening beers.