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Monarch Crest & St. Elmo pics.

Heidi

Der hund ist laut und braun
Aug 22, 2001
10,184
797
Bend, Oregon
The first part of my vacation is in another thread. http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128591

PART 2:

The next day we went back up to the top of Monarch Crest to ride the trail in it’s entirety. This involves more than 30 miles of singletrack with something over 4000’ of climbing and a lot of tech sections and great views.

Brian and Derek check out the views from on top of the world.




You are surrounded by 14,000 foot peaks!!


Here was Derek’s attempt at adding a little artistic flare to my riding.


Here I am climbing just before the turn off to Agate Creek Trial.


Derek climbs through the same area.


Have I mentioned before that the views were great?



This dude was TOTALLY digging our cliff bars.



Here is the beginning of the Silver Creek descent.



Once we’d descended quite a bit we came out in a valley of Aspen trees and wildflowers with the river running alongside.




Brian decided to take a nap in the creek.


After descending through a lot of loose rocks and boulders, we came to Rainbow trail. The character of the trail changed as we got lower in elevation…more desert like almost.



We rode Rainbow all the way out to the highway and then rode down another 5 miles to our car. Long day, awesome riding. We headed out for a night on the town.

Here is Brian’s date.


The three of us split 4 pizza’s, two pitchers of Rex’s Red beer, and two ice cream sundaes. NICE!

Here is the view of Salida from Tenderfoot Mtn. just to the West of the city.



The next day we headed up to the ghost town of St. Elmo high up in the mtn range and did a great 19 mile loop. Well, great except for the extreme hiking we did in a couple sections. My knee was NOT liking that and it was slow going.

Here we are at the ghost town.




The trail starts with a gradual climb for something like 7 miles as you pass abandoned mines.






We eventually turned up the Alpine Tunnel Trail and were climbing an old railroad grade. The railroad was built back in the late 1800’s but the thing collapsed as the men were in it and both the entrances are blocked now.






We basically got no pictures of the top of the pass where the trail is just a field of boulders with very little line at all to follow. It was tough picking through and carrying momentum when you were tired. This is further down when it opens a bit more into meadow.


It was tough because just when you thought you were going to get a huge descent, you would climb again. It’s hard to tell in this picture, but the hills just rolled forever. Keep in mind we were up above 10,000 the whole day.





You can kind of see all the rocks in this picture…that’s the trail!






That was it for the pics. Hope you enjoyed it.
 

Heidi

Der hund ist laut und braun
Aug 22, 2001
10,184
797
Bend, Oregon
The Toninator said:
that bike riding stuff looks cool!
hehe - yah, it's alright. :) Seriously though - if you are looking for some high country riding, it was awesome. The alititude surprisingly had very little effect on me.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,379
12,533
In a van.... down by the river
Heidi said:
hehe - yah, it's alright. :) Seriously though - if you are looking for some high country riding, it was awesome. The alititude surprisingly had very little effect on me.
That's 'cause you're in killer shape. That and you probably *belong* at high altitude. Some of us are just *meant* to be at 10K feet. :D
 

Squeak

Get your pork here.
Sep 26, 2001
1,546
0
COlo style
Woot woot more pictures! :) I really need to post mine....Tonight I will.

I look like crap in those pictures. The wreck one is good, too bad they missed the bigger crash where my face ended up in the water. :)
 

Heidi

Der hund ist laut und braun
Aug 22, 2001
10,184
797
Bend, Oregon
Squeak said:
Woot woot more pictures! :) I really need to post mine....Tonight I will.

I look like crap in those pictures. The wreck one is good, too bad they missed the bigger crash where my face ended up in the water. :)
You date was pretty hot though. :)
 

Squeak

Get your pork here.
Sep 26, 2001
1,546
0
COlo style
Ok I have a few more pictures. It was a great time, and Heidi and Derek are great to travel and ride with!

Heidi on the Tip, Winter Park



Derek same spot!



Sort of a funny moment on this trail. Heidi says "Boy you guys don't really have mosquitoes up here huh"? I of course say that yeah we dont have many. 5 Min later we are being eaten alive by the beaver pond. :)

Monarch crest is a very very cool trail. Great views and nice singletrack!



Heidi Bombing one of the nice Downhills



I think this photo sums up the trail. Kick Azz



Cool photo of a bridge on the ride from St. Elmos



And lastly, Im not the only one who had a lil wreck. ;)




What a great trip! I am glad to have spent it with good friends. Thanks Heidi, Derek, Jojo and Josh!
 

pixelninja

Turbo Monkey
Jun 14, 2003
2,131
0
Denver, CO
Fan-freakin-tastic.

It doesn't look like Monarch Crest is in the cards for me this year. Hopefully I'll make it down there next year.
 

Lady Litton

Chimp
Oct 25, 2001
21
0
Bend
DAAAAANG!!!!! The rocks look like so much fun! Thanks for the pics and write-up. I'm feeling the need for some adventure riding this week.