Last weekend, it was that time of year again. The time to head to the west side of the Rockies for some Fruita fun.
The drive over Vail pass was a wee bit snowy. Chains were required for all commercial vehicles, but overall it wasn't bad. Just slow. It ended up taking me 5.5 hours to get to Fruita.
Things started to clear up after passing Avon and the rest of the drive was smooth sailing.
I met up with my friends who arrived the night before and we headed over to 18 Mile Road. Chutes and Ladders was the trail we decided on.
Here's Charlie powering up a little slab.
While Nate's technique looks impressive, it was not very effective.
Young Ryan just chillin, waiting for everyone else to catch up.
Me, enjoying the beautiful Fruita singletrack.
Some sucky Fruita scenery.
Since I arrived later than anticipated, we didn't have time to do much more, but Charlie and I decided to have a go down Joe's Ridge. Here's Charlie swooping down.
Me in the distance, swoopin, whoopin & hollerin.
Charlie coming down the same section, taken from below.
Afterwards, enjoying a Stella.
We camped at the James Cobb campground in town. Looking east you had nice views of McDonalds and La Quinta. Looking west you had slightly better views.
The next day we headed east to Grand Junction and hit the Tabequache area. Our plan was to do Andy's Loop but instead we found ourselves on a newer trail called Eagles Wing. Awesome trail with lots of great technical features.
Jon had big plans on cleaning Widowmaker, but he didn't quite get there.
Widowmaker. That sh*t is steep.
Me on a step-down that was much harder than it looks
Ryan, approaching a little technical spot.
Me approaching the same spot.
Looking down from a high spot on Eagles Wing. It's hard to tell, but the lower right of the photo shows the edge of the cliff, and the gray strip next to that is the floor of the canyon below.
Nate and Charlie winding through the rocks.
For our afternoon ride, we headed west to Horsethief Bench for a quick loop.
I gave the entrance a couple tries and made it over halfway down, but that was all I could do. Maybe I'll do better next year.
Young Ryan found a nice spot for a huck.
Me navigating some small drops. What isn't shown in this photos is the 20 ft drop immediately to my left.
I was not responsible for this.
Saturday night was lovely.
We tried to get in one last ride on Sunday, and we thought we'd hit a trail called Roller Coaster, north of GJ. Turns out, its mainly an atv/motocross area. We found a little bit of singletrack, but after suffering multiple mechanical issues, we all gave up and headed home.
The drive over Vail pass was a wee bit snowy. Chains were required for all commercial vehicles, but overall it wasn't bad. Just slow. It ended up taking me 5.5 hours to get to Fruita.
Things started to clear up after passing Avon and the rest of the drive was smooth sailing.
I met up with my friends who arrived the night before and we headed over to 18 Mile Road. Chutes and Ladders was the trail we decided on.
Here's Charlie powering up a little slab.
While Nate's technique looks impressive, it was not very effective.
Young Ryan just chillin, waiting for everyone else to catch up.
Me, enjoying the beautiful Fruita singletrack.
Some sucky Fruita scenery.
Since I arrived later than anticipated, we didn't have time to do much more, but Charlie and I decided to have a go down Joe's Ridge. Here's Charlie swooping down.
Me in the distance, swoopin, whoopin & hollerin.
Charlie coming down the same section, taken from below.
Afterwards, enjoying a Stella.
We camped at the James Cobb campground in town. Looking east you had nice views of McDonalds and La Quinta. Looking west you had slightly better views.
The next day we headed east to Grand Junction and hit the Tabequache area. Our plan was to do Andy's Loop but instead we found ourselves on a newer trail called Eagles Wing. Awesome trail with lots of great technical features.
Jon had big plans on cleaning Widowmaker, but he didn't quite get there.
Widowmaker. That sh*t is steep.
Me on a step-down that was much harder than it looks
Ryan, approaching a little technical spot.
Me approaching the same spot.
Looking down from a high spot on Eagles Wing. It's hard to tell, but the lower right of the photo shows the edge of the cliff, and the gray strip next to that is the floor of the canyon below.
Nate and Charlie winding through the rocks.
For our afternoon ride, we headed west to Horsethief Bench for a quick loop.
I gave the entrance a couple tries and made it over halfway down, but that was all I could do. Maybe I'll do better next year.
Young Ryan found a nice spot for a huck.
Me navigating some small drops. What isn't shown in this photos is the 20 ft drop immediately to my left.
I was not responsible for this.
Saturday night was lovely.
We tried to get in one last ride on Sunday, and we thought we'd hit a trail called Roller Coaster, north of GJ. Turns out, its mainly an atv/motocross area. We found a little bit of singletrack, but after suffering multiple mechanical issues, we all gave up and headed home.
