Dirt Treaders
http://dirttreaders.com/phpBB3/

colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
http://dirttreaders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=6906		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  dft [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:27 pm ]
Post subject:  colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
i've been in colorado for a week riding a bunch of stuff and will remain here for awhile longer.i've been mixing it up between DH and backcountry (got 2 bikes, based in winterpark area).

did my first what i would call epic backcountry ride (sorry camera broke, just words)

first off let me say i have been doing a ton of trail research (hiking books, internet, and locals). i've found rides that the locals (at least the ones i have talked to) have no idea about (from hiking books).

25 miles on a dirt road, very remote, faint trailhead, had to look around for it and drive around some. oh yea, the numbers, 3500 vert in 4.7 miles!!!(ute peak) trail went from 8800 to 12,300, well above treeline and tundra. i was solo, never saw a soul out there and ride was ~80% HAB, just the way i like it i start on the trail and bam, pure HAB! trail is begging to be ridden, pure forest/wooded singletrack, loamy, some steeps, rocks and tons of roots, ~16 inches wide. in the first 1/2 mile i come upon two BIG bears real close (~40-50 feet away) and i freeze alittle. luckily they take off super fast running, way bigger than whistler ones i have seen. so that puts me in a slightly higher observation mode for the remainder of the ride (i ditch the tunes so i can hear everything), higher up i see a wild horse take off. i'm grinding up the HAB and get to timberline above trees. here the trail really goes away, just sparse cairns to help you out. so i push straight up the tundra and get to the peak with 360 degree view(12,300).

i keep a mental note where the trail disappears knowing i have to get back down to this spot. so i drop seat and freeball the tundra section, frickin fun riding!! (steep, rocks, slight scree). i blaze too straight and go too low where i don't see the trail. i say to myself " don't panick, just traverse right and left horizontal and you will find it, so i do that and within a few hundred feet i find it (really had to find it, it was 3pm and temps drop like a rock out there). i start blazing the killer singletrack but then my back brake goes out, dam, so i can't really bomb the descent since some steep sections, it was a lesson of using no back brake, slid into a couple trees on turns, bam! (but still lots of flowy parts and i could let it loose).

colorado backcountry at its best!!
Author:  evdog [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
:useless:

Get a new camera, you cheap SOB!!! :lol:

Good to hear you're getting some awesome rides in.
Author:  sierragoldens [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
Cool TR.

My brother just sent me a TR on a ride he and his buddy did in Montana(Cabinet Range)....real raw stuff and very backwoods, talas, scree, barely discernable trail. Completing those kind of trips are the hightlight of their year.

If anyone is not crashing at least a couple of times on a ride like yours, then they are really not having "that much fun"! :D ......at least that is how I explain my going into the bushes on Bell Ridge multiple times.
Author:  QuietStorm [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
Damn it must be good shit if you wrote that many words! Sounds like you're in heaven out there; that's your kinda riding.
Author:  dft [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 6:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
evdog wrote:
Get a new camera, you cheap SOB!!! :lol:


yea i do need to buy another camera, when i get a job:) i'm planning on mt elbert(trail goes from 10,000 to 14,400), again mostly HAB, rocky descent.
i did a nice 3000 foot descent in grand junction, hit up ribbon to prenup to pucker factor. i'm hitting keystone tomorrow for the first time (winterpark is more "new school" riding, less steep, jump lines. keystone is true DH, steeps and chunk)
Author:  Brett aka Woody [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 7:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
Tom Let me guess you have some old used juicy 7s 4 brakes
Author:  Robo [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
Nice update Tom. Now go get some Formulas while you're out shopping. That Avid rear gave out at Baldy too!
Author:  dft [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
to reply on the brakes. before 3 weeks ago(badly ride) i have had zero issues with brakes in 5 years with juicys. on my stinky, i have bleed the brakes one time in 5 years and they still work perfect. i bought my rune brakes used from my friend nick, they have steel lines. it appears something is wrong with the rear line as i bled it one week ago, it was dripping fluid out the top today by the steel line.
Author:  ajdonner [ Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: colorado high alpine backcountry:12,000+, bears and steeps
Quote:
first off let me say i have been doing a ton of trail research (hiking books, internet, and locals). i've found rides that the locals (at least the ones i have talked to) have no idea about (from hiking books).
colorado backcountry at its best!!

Sounds like you're having an awesome time! I am jealous, having recently moved from the Front Range to SD. It's likely you were just talking to the wrong people... It's like everywhere else, I mean, there are 'secret', social trails within the Winter Park Resort. Keep asking around and you might find someone willing to share/show the way!
And like most others have mentioned, get a camera and post some pics! :useless:
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/