Golden Gate State Park Mnt Biking

-
From 2012 Mobile Pics and vids

Kelly and Rach are in Moab, Leah is out with friends. Early morning existentialism waned as I got motivated to drive up Coal Creek Canyon to Gap Rd and Ryan Group Campground. Dropped down the Buffalo Trail for a mile or so to Hidden Valley, picked up the Mountain Lion trail heading up to Windy Peak. A tight, technical descent for 3 or 4 miles from there, criss crossing Deer Creek. Then rambling road and single track traversing though meadows with nice foothill views down to a parking area. Then the big climb back up to Hidden Valley mostly on nice single track, but steep in places. Cool pond and old ranch house at Hidden Valley. Buffalo trail back up to Gap Rd. Excellent loop! A bit of hike-a-bike on the steepest parts and down some technical drops but really worth while.

From 2012 Mobile Pics and vids

From 2012 Mobile Pics and vids

But wait!! That's too short a day! Hooked a left just before Gap Rd on Snowshoe Hare trail which winds up and around to the west for a few miles passing Dude Fishing Hole. Pretty gnarly in places, loose granity stuff. But doable with a couple of walking sections. The descent down to the fishing area is pretty loose too but fun. More climbing now up to Mule Deer trail which deceptively starts out as a really nice forest road. But that ends as Aspen Campground, not my destination. Instead, hood another left onto gnarly hiking trail towards Panorama Point. A mile or so of half walking half riding before bailing down through open woods to Gap Rd with a swooshing descent back to the van.

All in all really nice! Worked me hard, offered some good technical challenges, pretty views and beautiful woods all with hardly any people.

Popular posts from this blog

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route 2020 - Gear List

-
Image
The summer of covid, the summer of people avoidance. Thus we spent July riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) from Boulder to Helena, Montana. Here's the route we took: (view the route details on RideWithGPS) It was super fun to start from home and catch a bus up to Nederland to kick off the ride. From there, a big ride up Rollins Pass and a day of dirt roads heading west from Winter Park brought us to the GMBDR near Ute Pass. A mellow pace, 1,152 miles and 82,373ft of elevation gain got us to Helena over 28 days. We spotted bears, moose, golden and bald eagles, a couple of badgers and a couple dozen fellow GDMBR riders along the way (all heading the opposite direction, north to south). And loads of wildflowers everywhere! We're so very privileged to have so much open space and beautiful landscapes to explore - and the time and health to make it happen. Here's my gear list: Bike Salsa Fargo Apex 1, 2020 edition ( details ) 1x32 with 11-42 in rear for me and 1...
Read more

New bike: 2020 Salsa Fargo Apex 1

-
Image
With the world closed off by corona, it's a good year to stick to the Rocky Mountains and ride the Divide. So we bought a pair of matching Salsa Fargo's to handle the dirt riding. Should be a good replacement for the old Vaya for future world travels. Wish I would have had it for Patagonia. More specs at  https://www.salsacycles.com/bikes/2020_fargo_apex_1
Read more

Bikepacking gravel roads around the Cloud Peak Wilderness in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming

-
Image
Here's a 7-day gravel ride we rode in early August, 2021. Yet another fine escape from the crowds! Stout climbs, smooth gravel, diverse ecosystems, undeveloped camping for all but one night.  We started and ended in Shell, Wyoming, parking on a side street after getting the OK by the cook at the Trapper Creek Lodge to leave our van there. The route took us all the way around the Cloud Peak Wilderness in the Big Horn Mountains. This mountain range is surrounded by fairly dry, high desert sage country. We yo-yoed up and down, into and out of the dry sage to the piney alpine three times over the 250 odd miles. Big, stout climbs and long, steep descents!  75+% of the route is on hard-pack dirt and gravel. There's a short 6 miles or so of more rugged riding past Medicine Lodge Lake on Forest Service Road 344, which is more of a motorcycle/ATV trail. And a mile or so of sandy single track just before dropping into Medicine Lodge Archaeological State Park. Both of these stretches wer...
Read more