Big Blue Stem Hike

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Our usual Sunday stroll in the backyard. This one with a set of 4 cracked ribs in Rach. Not that she knew that detail yet.

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Great Divide Mountain Bike Route 2020 - Gear List

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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...
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New bike: 2020 Salsa Fargo Apex 1

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

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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...
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