Stardate 2015.792

On Borrowed Time

Autumn greetings! I managed to play hooky several days ago to savor the beautiful fall weather that had settled in. The Black Pearl and I decided to go to Frisco, Colorado, to visit a difficult portion of the Colorado Trail (CT) that we have not been on. The aspen leaves in Frisco are at peak color and leaves of most of the aspen groves at higher elevations are gone. Nonetheless, a few holdouts may be found.



Segment 7 of the CT is only 12.8 miles in length. However, the route is rocky and loose and tops out in the clouds at 12,500 feet. In a nutshell, Segment 7 of the CT shares real estate with Gold Hill, Miners Creek and Wheeler trails.

From Frisco, my goal was to ride up the Peaks Trail to the Gold Hill Trail. Then I planned to continue up Gold Hill (I'm on the CT now) to an old, isolated, Miners Creek trailhead where I planned to ascend Miners Creek to high alpine riding along the ridgecrest of the northern Tenmile Range. After several miles of tundra riding, a westerly descent down the Wheeler Trail would deposit me at the Copper Mountain Ski Station, and I'd return to my car via the Tenmile Range bike path. Confused? So am I. Following are a handful of pics.

The ride up the Peaks Trail was not difficult, albeit loose in places. Views of 12,933-foot Tenmile Peak (left) and 12,805-foot Peak 1 seized my attention at every clearing. Yes, there are a lot of dead trees. This particular region has been hammered by beetle kill. I'll leave beetle kill alone for now, as I'm a bit opinionated on this infestation.



I only made about 4 of the 6.5 miles to the Wheeler Trail. The rumor mill had ground out information that this horrible (for bikes) portion of the CT was extremely steep, rocky and loose and not too enjoyable. QUITE CORRECT! Although, in hindsight, I enjoyed the day. This also may have been the most difficult day I've had on a mountain bike. I'm confident I pushed the Black Pearl as much as I rode, literally. Coming down was difficult as well, but somewhat ridable. The trail ascends the fall line – straight up! Oh well, it means I get to go back. However, I'll likely start in Copper Mountain when I do.




Entering the subalpine ecosystem of spruce forest




Nights are getting cool




Treeline and the east shoulder of 12,866-foot Peak 4




Note the small trees on Peak 3's eastern ramparts; they're small because they're trying to make a living in an avalanche run-out zone.



I had to be back in the Denver metro area by 6:00. Once I figured how slow the riding would be, I picked 2:00 as my turn around time. I missed my overall goal by about an hour. Although the trail was becoming more ridable, the altitude would begin take a toll on climbing. My altitude at turn-around was about 11,500 feet, 1,000 feet lower than my planned high point. An uneventful drive home put me back in town on time.




That's it for now. Thanks for perusing...

Adios

Stardate 2014.553

Another Day Up High

Hi, girls and boys! Snowcatcher and I put in another ride up Vail Pass Saturday. Little did we know the Courage Classic was taking place as well. In a roundabout way, we were part of another sanctioned ride, which was kind of fun. The Courage Classic is a 3-day, 155-mile charity ride through mountainous Summit, Lake and Eagle Counties, Colorado. The event benefits Children's Hospital in Denver.



The ride up the west side of Vail Pass into the hazy atmosphere was a grind as usual. I felt kind of guilty riding by riders who had 80 miles on their legs whilst I had a whopping 5. Nonetheless, good spirits filled the mountains. I always enjoy pedaling on the Pacific side of the Continental Divide through the subalpine and montane life zones. In this area, the lodgepole pine of the Atlantic side have given way to the lush spruce forests of the wetter Pacific side; everything is bushy, large and green.



Many, many moons ago, I learned about dictionaries and how to thumb through them for word info. For many, many moons, I've wondered if Vail had a definition. Well, after many, many moons, I finally opened a dictionary (it was tough at first) and perused the meaning of Vail. As it turns out, the former sheep ranch turned mega ski area and year-round resort has a meaning after all, "to be of use or profit." World War II skiers from the 10th Mountain Division brought lift skiing to Vail and Aspen. Hmmmm... in all honesty, I don't think these famed skiers of the 10th Mountain Division ever dreamed Vail and Aspen would become what they've become.

Close to the summit of Vail Pass, Snowcatcher and I parted ways and I continued on over the pass and down to Copper Mountain Resort, sharing the bike path with numerous bikes.



At Copper, I picked up a bike path and headed north toward Frisco. The day's haze never did lift and I think perhaps fire smoke from somewhere in the west was visiting us.



On a side note, along the way the path dissected an avalanche chute (actually a handful of them) that hadn't completely melted out. It was a good example of the dangers of backcountry ski travel and slides. Buried within it are rock and woody debris. People caught in slides often not only suffocate, but are beat to death by wood and rock debris picked up by the slide, as well as being bounced over undulating topography and tree stumps. As a backcountry skier, it's kind of spooky to think about.





Rounding the northern apex of the Tenmile Range, I headed east along the bike path that leads to Breckenridge Ski Resort. The path is lined with purple and red flowers while 12,933-foot Tenmile Peak and 12,805-foot Peak 1 loom above. My ride too quickly ends when I make the turn south and meet Snowcatcher at the Summit County High School.

Adios