Epi/Prologue

Hey there, I'm Matt, and in August and September of 2008, a group of 3 hardy and ballsy mountain bikers decided to through ride the Colorado Trail. I took notes every day on trail, so here's how this is going to work - I'll post my notes on this here blog, and you can follow our progress in retrospect. This is sort of both an intro to the blog and an end, as we obviously didn't die on trail. Each entry will have a location, and when I feel like it, I'll add placemarks and trip stats so you can have some idea of what we were up to. If the other two guys want to make some posts, they might appear here too. The posts have been timestamped for when I actually wrote the entry in my notebook, so if you want to follow from the very beginning, go back to August 23 and read up. Anyways, here goes.

Pictures from the trip

If you are interested in just viewing the pictures from the trip, Isaac posted them on Picasa. Enjoy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/idinner/20080907ColoradoTrailPublic

Holiday Inn, Durango

We left the Colorado Trail at about 3:45 PM yesterday. It was just a bit too far to be able to make it the full length of the trail today and have enough time to pack up our bikes. It sort of feels like losing in the World Series, sure, we made it to the end, but we couldn't seal the deal.

I had a really shitty day when I needed to be sharp, and that was the last straw. The night up at Molas Pass was really cold and I don't think I got a good night of sleep. I woke up feeling about as physically tired as I did when I went to sleep. The trail was gorgeous and mostly rideable, but I wasn't up to task and spent a lot of time hiking.

At Bolam Pass, we made the decision to take the Hermosa Creek trail to cut short the trip. We started on that trail at about 5 PM and figured we'd be in Durango by 9ish. Unfortunately for us, the trail was a little longer and tougher than expected. My seatpost rack with the shitty clamp finally gave out around 7 PM as the bolt that holds the clamp together completely sheared off. Eventually the sun set and we were hiking in the dark. Unsure of our remaining distance, we set up camp on trail.

In the morning, we got up and headed out of the park. We were probably 2-3 miles from the trailhead. Upon arrival in town, we hit up the diner for a much needed breakfast and then scoped out the bike stores for boxes. It is kind of a bittersweet end to the trip, but I'm glad to be finally off my bike and my ass is glad too.

Isaac up near Bolam Pass

Location: Durango, CO
Distance Covered: somewhere north of 500 miles
Elevation: 6500 feet

A few miles past Molas Pass

We made it up the big climb today in about 5 hours. First, we got out out the door around 8:30, stopped by a store to pick up snacks, and got going up the pass around 9. About an hour in, my body was ready for some stretching, and Brian was ready for his morning BM. There is a lot of private property out on the road that borders the public lands. As soon as we left private property and got on public land, it was time to find a spot to stretch and poop. We found a suitable little pull-off, I did some stretching, and Brian did some back-country fertilizing. Satisfied with our break, we took off, and not 10 yards down the road was a public bathroom. Damn.

The climb started off fairly gradual, but once we reached American Basin, the road took a steep pitch upwards that required a little bit of hiking. We topped out at 12,640 feet at about 2 pm. The descent was windy and rocky, and on the way down we passed through a ghost town called Animas Forks. Apparently it was an old mining town where they built the largest, most expensive mill in Colorado. It lasted something like seven years. They had a lot of foresight back in the day.

Upon arrival in Silverton, we had a late lunch at the Silverton Brewery. After lunch, we looked around town for a spare bike tube. We stopped at the local outdoors store, where we were directed to go to Ron's house around the corner. It was just described as the brown A-frame house. The visit to Ron's house was ... interesting. Ron is an older guy, looked like he could have been about 80, though I wouldn't have been surprised if he were just a really grizzled 70. He had a plethora of bike parts in a trailer behind his house. Opening the door to the trailer, we could see piles and piles of deraileurs, cassettes, and chains for all sorts of bikes. First we looked through a pile of used bike tubes outside, then he pulled another pile from inside the trail. No luck. He also didn't have any new bike tubes that fit our bikes. We thanked him for his time and rode off, kind of confused by our Ron experience.

On our way out of town, we restocked on food one last time, and headed up the pass. Tomorrow we will be facing the decision of whether or not we can finish the full Colorado Trail, or if we will have to take a faster route into Durango.

Matt ponders how much climbing is left

Isaac at the top of Cinnamon Pass

Descending down to the ghost town

Sunset from Molas Pass

Location: A few miles past Molas Pass
Distance Covered: about 450 miles
Elevation: 11,100 feet

[Post ride note - this was another good picture day, check out pictures 102 to 128 in the gallery for the day's photos]

Wheel Wagon Cabins in Lake City

We slogged through the tougher-than-expected detour to Lake City tonight. The descent from Slumgullion Pass down to Lake City, though on road, was pretty damn awesome and completely unexpected. Brian had the elevation of the pass at 8800 feet, but that is about the same elevation as it is here in Lake City. We figure we lost about 2000 feet in 7 miles, definitely exceeding the posted speed limit of 35 MPH. Not to shabby on weighed down mountain bikes with big, knobby tires.

Tomorrow we tackle a really difficult climb - Cinnamon Pass. We are down at about 8600 feet in Lake City; the pass is at 12,600 feet. Hopefully, tonight's fried chicken, chicken fried steak, hush puppies, and pie will fuel us up the 4000 foot climb in the morning. We are beginning to wonder if we will be able to make it to Durango on bike.

Location: Wagon Wheel Cabins in Lake City
Distance Covered: about 400 miles
Elevation: 8600 feet

[Post trip note - we found out that Slumgullion Pass tops out at 11,530 feet, making the descent closer to 2700 feet. Wow!]

Near McDonough Reservoir on Cty Rd KK14

It got below freezing some time last night as we awoke to a frost covered campsite. We got out as fast as possible, which ended up taking as long as normal because it was so damn cold. The climb out was a nice warmup for a couple of miles, then had a short hike-a-bike section. After that, we've been on unpaved road. The weather is very pleasant today, sunny but not too warm. We hope to make it to Lake City for dinner tonight. Lunchtime today is pitas with mashed potatoes and salmon. Delicious.

Starting the La Garita Detour

Location: Near McDonough Reservoir on the La Garita Detour
Distance Covered: About 360 miles
Elevation: 9600 feet

A couple of miles into segment 18

Today was mostly miserable. The segments were loose rocks that climbed up and down a lot. I fucking hated most of it. I hiked at least as much as I biked, probably more. Today really tested me and I kind of feel like I failed. I spent a lot of the day pissed off at being on trail, and cursing the fucking trail for being a piece of shit.

The day was somewhat redeemed by the kindness of strangers. As we had wrapped up the shit segment, we had at most 40 oz of water between the three of us. We bumped into a friendly couple from Colorado Springs who had just finished up their weekend trip. They had several gallons of water left over that they let us use. At this point it was getting pretty dark outside. I don't know what we would have done without that. Then, about a mile into the next segment, someone left a cooler full of soda on the trail. I took a root beer. We rode another mile up, in the dark at this point, to the campsite.

A little backtracking now - Last night it started to rain as we made our way to camp, and continued through most of the night. The tent was water-proof enough, but my shoes got fairly soaked. It was cold this morning and the trail was wet and muddy. Not exactly a great way to start the morning. We also bumped into a group of through hikers headed north, two girls and a guy probably about our age. Tomorrow we do some trail and then get on the road for a long detour.

Matt prepares some beef teriyaki for dinner

Location: Somewhere early on segment 18
Distance Covered: about 345 miles
Elevation: about 9650 feet

Lean-to on trail just beyond the pass

It looks like the rain has wrapped up. I think we'll be able to make it down to camp tonight.

Lean-to on trail just beyond the pass

We're caught in a rainstorm up on the ridge. Fortunately, there is a small shelter up here that seems to be pretty waterproof. Also caught up here are Carol and Wayne, who are out hiking with two llamas, named Pahlone and Obllama. The climb out after lunch started off OK, and got progressively steeper. Towards the top, the trail was almost unhikeable, absolutely the steepest section of trail we've encountered. We are waiting out the storm, hoping to get to the end of the section tonight.

Isaac at the top of the pass as the weather rolls in

Matt hikes up the impossibly steep last section

Location: Greens Shelter Lean-to by the pass
Distance covered: about 305 miles
Elevation: 11,500 feet

On trail by Fooses Creek

We started off a little late this morning, making it to the trail around 9:30. Before heading out, a woman at the campground gave us some delicious brownies. We wrapped up the shitty shitty segment, and celebrated by eating the aforementioned brownies. The next segment climbs up to the Continental Divide, and the trail has been quite enjoyable so far. It is mostly hard packed dirt with a few semi-submerged rocks and roots. The trail is very rideable with just a little hiking. We've gained about 1500 feet on this section so far, and it hasn't been too bad.

Brian and Matt grab some lunch by the creek

Location: By Fooses Creek
Distance Covered: about 300 miles
Elevation: about 10,000 feet

Angel of Shavano Campground

Today's trail thoroughly sucked. A lot. Worst trail so far. There was a ton of hike-a-bike; it almost seemed like we spent as much time off our bikes as we did on them. There were a lot of short unrideable ups and downs. Horse traffic has really damaged this section of trail, as it was excessively rocky and covered in horseshit. I am very glad to be off the bike for now. Today we met a through hiker heading north (the first one going in that direction). He was traveling very light, it looked like his pack wasn't much larger than mine and that is all he was carrying. We also met another northbound through hiker at the camp ground. His name is Chris and he claims both Durango and Charlottesville, VA as home. He tells us that he once played Magic the Gathering professionally. Tomorrow's going to be damn tough too. Two last things - it was pretty funny when the cows blocked the trail today, and the stars are absolutely incredible tonight.

Matt does some hiking

Location: Angel of Shavano Campground
Distance Covered: 290 miles
Elevation: 9200 feet