When all else fails...go to Durango!

Spring fun and camping begin when we make our annual trip to Durango.  This year we headed down Mother's Day weekend, leaving around 1 on Friday.  It was a short trip - almost too short for the harrowing drive over Red Mountain Pass, but it was worth it.  We biked the Telegraph Trail System - the southern end, and stayed at the Junction Creek Campground.  The Telegraph trails are awesome - lots of nice rolling singletrack.  No brutal climbs, nothing super technical... there is a trail head behind the Sonic in town, then about 2 miles further south on Hwy 3 is the Carbon Junction trailhead, then a mile or so further down, behind Wal-Mart on a frontage road (turn off 550 onto Dominguez - left) is Big Canyon Trail head, and finally, at the very end of this frontage road, is the Sale Barn trail head.  That's where we started.

This is a very bad picture of one of the sign post maps on the trail.  Our Saturday route is in orange and Sunday's route is in turquoise.  Both were ridden counter-clockwise.

To get to the campground:  From the north end of town (like you're coming in from Silverton), go south on 550 to 25th street.  There is a sign pointing you towards the Colorado Trail and Junction Creek Campground.  Turn right.  Continue until you reach the campground - about 3 miles.

View of the upper part of the Sale Barn trail

View of the Big Canyon trail

Me on the Cowboy trail Sunday

Our campsite

Taking what Mother Nature (and old age) give us

Last Monday the weather for this weekend looked awesome:  predicted sun and temps in the 60s.  By Thursday the forecast had changed to a 40% chance of rain on Saturday and a 50% chance on Sunday.  So Friday afternoon I headed out for an after-work ride to make sure that Ellie the bike and I got some one-on-one time together before the rain hit.  We were a mile into our ride when Ellie started to make a bizarre noise.  It took me a few minutes of checking derailleurs, cranks, chains, etc., before discovering this:

Ellie's stay broke away right where the seam was welded.

After a long hike back to the car and some sadness on my part for the loss of a wonderful bike frame to old age, I felt ok.  I'd called a super awesome friend, A, who was going to let me borrow her bike for the weekend, so all was going to be alright.  Until we woke up to this sort of weather:

Hwy 65 headed back towards Mesa, CO

Oh okay Mother Nature.  That's how you want to play this.  It's Easter weekend!  I had plans to bike!  Today was not a planned lie-around-the-house day!  No!  I have to do something...we have to go do something!  (I tend to freak a tad bit when my plans get messed up for reasons beyond my control).  Soon though, we realized that rain here most likely meant snow at the closed-for-the-season ski resort.  Which meant...untracked creamy spring snow!


We gathered backpacks and snacks, beer and ski skins, and pulled out the ski wear (mine hadn't been used in a month almost).  Peanut butter and honey sandwiches fueled us as we headed up a run with the most consistent fall line:  Wonderbump.

It was warm, but super snowy the whole day! This is Voodoo biker on his way up.

The snow was great.  The crust underneath was soft, and the 4 or 5 inches on top were creamy.  Great skiing!

It just goes to show that sometimes you have to take the good with the bad...sure Ellie was broken and I had to shell out some $$$ for a new bike frame, sure it rained all day down here (and looks to do the same today), but we had the entire ski resort to ourselves.  Yes, the slog up to the top was painful, but half-way down I was screaming, "This is so much fun!!!!"

New trails bring humility

It never fails...you think you're a super awesome rider until you tackle a trail you've never ridden before.  Then you remember...oh, maybe I'm just average after all.  Yesterday we tackled Troy Built, a trail out near the Mack exit that is technically part of the Loma/Kokopelli system.  Voodoo Biker has ridden it several times and knew it would be less crowded than the more popular Mary's/Horsethief Loops.  We rode it as an out-and-back; the highlighted  (blue) portion here shows our route. 

The section from the start to the Kokopelli cut off is the toughest, technically.

The first portions of the trail (about the first 1/2 mile especially) can be tricky if you've never seen the trail before.  Random rocks in the way, narrow gaps to navigate...then there is a long descent down to the Kokopelli junction before a short exposed uphill.  After this the trail gets really fun, with some technical stuff, some awesome rolling singletrack, and a few portages thrown in just to keep you on your guard.  We stopped where Troy Built meets the hill up to Lion's Loop and turned back.  The ride back was just as fun and actually seemed easier (except for the long uphill that was a fun downhill on the way out...).  I'd definitely ride this one again, especially during high bike tourist season.  We only saw about 12 or 13 other people, as opposed to the 40 or so we'd have seen on Mary's or Horsethief.

View from the parking area for Troy Built

Crazy slickrock portion towards the beginning of the ride.  Super fun going down it at the end!

Junction of Salt Creek and the Colorado River

Our stopping point: The junctions of Lions and Troy Buit.  Lion's continues up the hill and involves several switchbacks.

View from the top of the big hill just before the descent to the Kokopelli junction (on the way out).

A Week of Little Rest and lots of fun!

View back down Prime Cut from Chutes and Ladders

This has been a week of fitness if ever there was one for me.  Sunday I biked (and blogged about it) Mary's and Wrangler out in Loma.  Monday I took off from working out.  It's my usual rest day.  Tuesday I walked the Riverfront trail (3 miles of it) with my friend K from work, on our lunch break.  Wednesday I walked with K and R at Sherwood Park, again, 3 miles, then biked after work with my friend A.  We did a short ride out at 18 Road:  Prime Cut/Kessel. 


Thursday I walked again with R and then jogged an extra mile. Friday Voodoo Biker and I headed up Mary's to the Wrangler trailhead and biked that in about an hour.

View of the Colorado River from Wrangler

This morning we fueled up on French Toast and turkey sausage and headed out to Lunch Loop for a quick Clunker, Miramonte Canyon, Ali-Ali, Holy Bucket loop.  We even saw a coyote!  Tomorrow we've yet to determine where we're biking, but since we both have the day off you can be it will be a 2-3 hour ride! 

View of Mt. Garfield and Grand Junction from Lunch Loop

Out and Back awesomeness

Sunday I was intent on riding at Loma.  The Loma trails are my favorites around here--partly for their views, and partly for the variety of terrain: double track, single, technical, rolling--it's all there!  I started up Mary's Loop and thought maybe I'd ride Horsethief.  My wrist had been bugging me though and I wasn't sure the large amount of portaging required was a good idea.  I decided to do Mary's.  I made it out to Pizza Point (where Steve's intersects with Mary's) after about 40 minutes.  I was pleased with what I'd been able to ride, but really didn't feel like riding Steve's or heading towards the frontage road for a boring 3 mile return to the car.  I decided to turn around--why not?  So I rode Mary's backwards until I got to Wrangler.  Wrangler is a great little trail that gets very little love from other riders.  I don't know why.  It allows you to ride more single-track while sort of paralleling Mary's.  You get some awesome technical downhill, and still bomb down the Mary's hill at the end.  This was a great 2-hour ride!  Not too difficult, but difficult enough to make me nap later ;)

Three Days, Three Resorts? No problem!

This past weekend the BF and I embarked on a trip over Vail Pass to ski three awesome Summit County resorts:  Copper Mountain, Arapahoe (A) Basin, and Breckenridge.  Three days of skiing?  No problem!  That's why you make sure to fortify yourself with lots of meat and beer.  (Hence the reason I haven't eaten meat since Sunday afternoon).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top of the Sierra Lift, Copper Mountain

                       

On Friday morning, we left Glenwood Springs (our half-way point Thursday evening) around 8:00 and headed to Copper Mountain.  We got a really good deal on lift tickets from Liftopia.  It hadn't snowed in a while, and it was super windy on top, so the snow conditions could have been better.  Still, after a steep, extremely bumpy run on Far East, we settled into a nice groove of blue groomers for the rest of the day.  I highly recommend checking out Jack's bar for lunch.  It's at the bottom of the American Eagle lift and it's almost like a food court inside.  Everything from gyros to curry to brats!

View from the Montezuma Bowl at A-Basin.  Keystone resort is in the background

Saturday was spent at A-Basin.  This is a super old resort, and I really wish I'd gotten a picture of the AFrame building at the base.  The crazy thing about A-Basin is that the whole top-half of the mountain is above treeline.  It's an odd experience for someone who's used to looking for runs between sets of trees.  Skiing there was trying for me at first, because I just couldn't get over this weird anxiety that I had at being so high up.  Perhaps it was a little altitude issue as well.  Who knows?  We spent some time on some blues from the L lift (I can't remember the whole name) and then headed into the Montezuma Bowl.  THAT was super cool.  By the end, I was a happy girl!

We spent our last day skiing six inches of new snow at Breckenridge.  We have friends who live close to there and ski there quite often, so we had a guide.  Our buddy A took us over into the Contest Bowl for a few runs.  MAN was it steep!

Me skiing the contest bowl

We then skied a few runs off of Peak 10 before picking up the Four O'Clock run and heading into town to the car.  What a great weekend!  I highly recommend Breck for people new to skiing or who don't get to ski very often.  It's got a lot of good intermediate terrain. 

Ski History

Interested in finding out about Colorado's ski history?  Looking for lost resorts and possible back country options?  Colorado Ski History is a great place to get started!