July 2017

On day 15 we hoped to make it to Durango and finish the CT, but weather again conspired against us.  We got as far as Indian Trail Ridge. We started on the side of Hermosa Peak. Blackhawk Mountain We had a bunch of climbing to do past Blackhawk Mountain. Indian Trail Ridge Up to this […]

Wildflowers, wildflowers, wildflowers.  The downside of doing the CT in July is the predictable clouds that gather every afternoon and become major thunderstorms which leave the trail a muddy mess. But the big upside is that wildflowers are abundant, particularly at the highest elevations.  Today we ended at Hermosa Peak in a stunning wildflower meadow.

The pièce de résistance of the CT is the San Juan mountains, and we got deep into them on day 13. The views were simply stunning, one after another. Physically, it was a tough day. We had to make up time lost from weather on the prior day, and 20 miles of the riding was bouncing

After a nice break in Gunnison, we started the day on the Spring Creek trailhead off highway 149 with the goal to get to Carson Saddle and the high point for the Colorado Trail at 13,271 ft.  But weather became a problem as a huge thunderstorm hit just as we were to climb a big

The 11th day of the CT would also be short. Our primary mission was to get to highway 114, where Cris would be waiting with burgers, fries and sodas to shuttle us into Gunnison for a two day break. She’s so good to us! We awoke on Sargents Mesa to a spectacular sunrise.   On the

As much as day 8 was “meh”, day 9 up to Marshall Pass was the exact opposite.  We had an huge climb (5200 ft over 24 miles), experienced a crazy small-world situation on the trail in the middle of the forest, rode along the Monarch Crest at 12,000 ft as a huge thunderstorm grew and

After a few days rest from Day 7 we got back onto the trail on Sunday the 16th in the middle of the Collegiate Peaks with the goal of getting to Highway 50. We got close, camping below Mt Shavano.  By the time we quit we had climbed 5000 ft over 28 miles. It wasn’t

Day 7 was much better than the prior day.  We woke early with the mission to make up lost time and get to Buena Vista, where Cris would pick us up for a few days of downtime. We got on the road around 7am and headed out of Leadville toward the mountains. It was cold

As great as was day 5 up and over Searle Pass, day 6 into Leadville was a downer. The morning started ok, although we had to shake down everything as it had rained hard all night. Since we cannot go through the Mt Massive Wilderness on bike, we had to get onto the road and