RR: Crested Butte '04
The Crew: SkaredShtles, Morryjg, and the First Officer
I woke up around 4a.m. because the friggin' full moon was so bright I thought the sun was up. Luckily, the ground under the fir was so comfortable that I found it easy to get some more quality Zzzz's until the 6:00 *real* sunrise woke me.
We'd hatched the plan months before. A Big Ride somewhere. A "Man Day" worthy of making a trip deep into the mountains and leaving our families for a couple days. We'd done a similar ride the last 3 years, so it was becoming sort of a summer tradition.
We first tried to find something in Steamboat - but it appeared that long, gnarly rides were not that area's forte. So I suggested Crested Butte. There was interest. One mate had never been. It looked like the Butte was the target.
I'd ridden the Butte a bunch, but there were some "classics" I'd yet to hit. I saw this as a golden opportunity to link a few of those together and see the sights. We hit the maps, website, guides and settled: we'd try out a big loop: Camp->Town->Upper->Upper-Upper->409->Reno-Flag-Bear-Dead
Yeah. That sounds like a good ride. Should be a 50-miler, right? Definitely a good day of riding..........
So the Three Amigos loaded our bikes & crap into the Outback XT and headed for the Butte Friday evening. Everybody had a $hitty week, so we were looking forward to sleeping under the stars and getting an early start. We made excellent time into the Butte, had dinner at Donita's
, got a few last-minute rations, and headed out Cement Creek road to throw down the bags.
Out by 10. Up by 6. Camp was broken in about 10 minutes and we headed down to park the car at the Deadman's trailhead lot. It was cold. We suited up and I had liners, bike gloves, and fleece gloves over those. And my hands were *still* cold.
We did the requisite road-work into town. Luckily the 14 miles went quickly. We sat down for a gnosh-fest at the Paradise Cafe, then filled up with water and headed to the bus stop. The shuttle dropped us right near the trailhead for Upper. The ride was about to begin.
Upper and Upper-Upper are not too long. They're fun singletrack with some little rock gardens and a few steep, loose climbs to keep you honest. Of course, one of the rock gardens decided to show me who was boss and tossed me face-first into a boulder. I got off lightly, all things considered, with a small gash just below my lower lip, a small one above my upper lip, and a gouge on my left forearm. No trip to the emergency room this early in the ride.........
We finished off the first couple trails and did a bit of dirt road out to the start of Farris Creek/Strand Hill/409. The jeep road was pretty nice since it was still pretty cool, being early. A group of local Hammerheads blew past us on the way up, headed eventually to 402 for a big ride. They neglected to tell us what we were in for.
Apparently several years ago, due to private land issues, the 409 trail had to be re-routed. Right through the biggest talus field I think I've ever seen on a mountain. It went on for MILES. We alternated between quick patches of riding followed by impassible rock gardens. It took some perseverence, but we finally made it through and were treated with a hot meadow climb to some aspens followed by stellar rolling singletrack through trees and meadows. Then a banzai-fun screaming descent to Cement Creek Road. We all had grins at the bottom. And 30+ miles under our belts. And the big loop yet to come.
We grunted back to the car up Cement Creek. It was warm and we were suitably knackered from a morning of strenuous excercise. But a Big Sandwich did wonders for our spirits. Morryjg decided that we were Nuggin' Futs for thinking about doing the next loop, but was very supportive when we brought up the idea of having him shuttle us to the top of Reno Ridge, avoiding a 5+ mile, 2k vertical climb - basically eliminating the "Reno" from the Reno-Flag-Bear-Dead loop.
So we took the shuttle to the top of the pass and suited up once again - this time for an unbelievable loop in the high country. The first downhill was along a creek in a meadow - the moto's had created alot of whoop-de-do's, so it was fast, but kept us on our toes. A couple creek crossings and a little loose stuff and we were at the junction of the next climb up to Bear Creek. We were starting to feel the mileage now - luckily, alot of the climbing was in the trees, which saved us from direct sun for the most part.
We leapfrogged with another group of 5 up this climb, and when we got to the top of Bear Creek we found ourselves on a fantastic luge run down through the trees along the creek. This one was a bit steeper and faster than the Flag descent, and it was in a less damaged state moto-wise. This one was over *far* too soon for our taste and led to the final Deadman climb. This one was in full sun almost the whole way up valley. But what a beutiful valley - tons of wildflowers, beaver ponds, aspen groves on the hillsides..... it was heaven. Except for the last, steep, loose-a$$ climb to the saddle. Luckily most of the last bit was in the trees again.
So we found ourselves at the top of Deadman's switchbacks. Pretty much spent, but secure in the fact that the climbing was *OVER*! So down we went - plunging straight into the famous switchbacks. The motos again had caused some pretty severe damage to this part of the trail, but goldam! was it fun. At the bottom we congratulated each other on a good day's ride and soaked our dogs in the creek. Morryjg picked us up shortly after and we made our way back to Denver by way of Jan's restaurant in Buena Vista <burp> and the Likker Barn just down the street <burp><burp>
All in all, an out-of-control-great-day in the mountains on our bikes............
-S.S.-
P.S. Oh yeah - pictures here: http://home.comcast.net/~elan_mbx/Butte04/
The Crew: SkaredShtles, Morryjg, and the First Officer
I woke up around 4a.m. because the friggin' full moon was so bright I thought the sun was up. Luckily, the ground under the fir was so comfortable that I found it easy to get some more quality Zzzz's until the 6:00 *real* sunrise woke me.
We'd hatched the plan months before. A Big Ride somewhere. A "Man Day" worthy of making a trip deep into the mountains and leaving our families for a couple days. We'd done a similar ride the last 3 years, so it was becoming sort of a summer tradition.
We first tried to find something in Steamboat - but it appeared that long, gnarly rides were not that area's forte. So I suggested Crested Butte. There was interest. One mate had never been. It looked like the Butte was the target.
I'd ridden the Butte a bunch, but there were some "classics" I'd yet to hit. I saw this as a golden opportunity to link a few of those together and see the sights. We hit the maps, website, guides and settled: we'd try out a big loop: Camp->Town->Upper->Upper-Upper->409->Reno-Flag-Bear-Dead
Yeah. That sounds like a good ride. Should be a 50-miler, right? Definitely a good day of riding..........
So the Three Amigos loaded our bikes & crap into the Outback XT and headed for the Butte Friday evening. Everybody had a $hitty week, so we were looking forward to sleeping under the stars and getting an early start. We made excellent time into the Butte, had dinner at Donita's
, got a few last-minute rations, and headed out Cement Creek road to throw down the bags.Out by 10. Up by 6. Camp was broken in about 10 minutes and we headed down to park the car at the Deadman's trailhead lot. It was cold. We suited up and I had liners, bike gloves, and fleece gloves over those. And my hands were *still* cold.
We did the requisite road-work into town. Luckily the 14 miles went quickly. We sat down for a gnosh-fest at the Paradise Cafe, then filled up with water and headed to the bus stop. The shuttle dropped us right near the trailhead for Upper. The ride was about to begin.
Upper and Upper-Upper are not too long. They're fun singletrack with some little rock gardens and a few steep, loose climbs to keep you honest. Of course, one of the rock gardens decided to show me who was boss and tossed me face-first into a boulder. I got off lightly, all things considered, with a small gash just below my lower lip, a small one above my upper lip, and a gouge on my left forearm. No trip to the emergency room this early in the ride.........
We finished off the first couple trails and did a bit of dirt road out to the start of Farris Creek/Strand Hill/409. The jeep road was pretty nice since it was still pretty cool, being early. A group of local Hammerheads blew past us on the way up, headed eventually to 402 for a big ride. They neglected to tell us what we were in for.
Apparently several years ago, due to private land issues, the 409 trail had to be re-routed. Right through the biggest talus field I think I've ever seen on a mountain. It went on for MILES. We alternated between quick patches of riding followed by impassible rock gardens. It took some perseverence, but we finally made it through and were treated with a hot meadow climb to some aspens followed by stellar rolling singletrack through trees and meadows. Then a banzai-fun screaming descent to Cement Creek Road. We all had grins at the bottom. And 30+ miles under our belts. And the big loop yet to come.
We grunted back to the car up Cement Creek. It was warm and we were suitably knackered from a morning of strenuous excercise. But a Big Sandwich did wonders for our spirits. Morryjg decided that we were Nuggin' Futs for thinking about doing the next loop, but was very supportive when we brought up the idea of having him shuttle us to the top of Reno Ridge, avoiding a 5+ mile, 2k vertical climb - basically eliminating the "Reno" from the Reno-Flag-Bear-Dead loop.
So we took the shuttle to the top of the pass and suited up once again - this time for an unbelievable loop in the high country. The first downhill was along a creek in a meadow - the moto's had created alot of whoop-de-do's, so it was fast, but kept us on our toes. A couple creek crossings and a little loose stuff and we were at the junction of the next climb up to Bear Creek. We were starting to feel the mileage now - luckily, alot of the climbing was in the trees, which saved us from direct sun for the most part.
We leapfrogged with another group of 5 up this climb, and when we got to the top of Bear Creek we found ourselves on a fantastic luge run down through the trees along the creek. This one was a bit steeper and faster than the Flag descent, and it was in a less damaged state moto-wise. This one was over *far* too soon for our taste and led to the final Deadman climb. This one was in full sun almost the whole way up valley. But what a beutiful valley - tons of wildflowers, beaver ponds, aspen groves on the hillsides..... it was heaven. Except for the last, steep, loose-a$$ climb to the saddle. Luckily most of the last bit was in the trees again.
So we found ourselves at the top of Deadman's switchbacks. Pretty much spent, but secure in the fact that the climbing was *OVER*! So down we went - plunging straight into the famous switchbacks. The motos again had caused some pretty severe damage to this part of the trail, but goldam! was it fun. At the bottom we congratulated each other on a good day's ride and soaked our dogs in the creek. Morryjg picked us up shortly after and we made our way back to Denver by way of Jan's restaurant in Buena Vista <burp> and the Likker Barn just down the street <burp><burp>
All in all, an out-of-control-great-day in the mountains on our bikes............
-S.S.-
P.S. Oh yeah - pictures here: http://home.comcast.net/~elan_mbx/Butte04/
