Waterton to Indian Creek Loop

The previous post was way too long, so I'm really going to keep this one short. Today I got an early start and rode a big loop.

I used a Google Android app called My Tracks to log my route. Here's a line to a map with my GPS log: Click Here!

Here are some stats:

Total Distance: 32.6 miles

Total Time: 5 hrs 17 min

Moving Time: 4 hrs 5 min

Elevation Range: 5365 to 7821 ft.

Below is a graph I made in R showing my speed and elevation. My Tracks did not give me a measure of distance in the tabular data output, so I used time on the x-axis, but would have preferred distance. There's probably a way to calculate that from the coordinates, but I didn't take the time to figure it out.

The road that goes up Waterton Canyon, alongside the Platte River, is closed to public motor vehicle traffic. It's about 6.5 miles of smooth gravel, and apparently is very popular with runners in the morning and with families of bicyclists in the afternoon. It's really quite beautiful, and the canyon is home to many bighorn sheep, which I did not see. This is the road along the Platte River:

At the end of the road is the dam that holds back Strontia Springs Reservoir, one of the major sources of water for Denver area residents. There are some big pipes that cut through the mountains to move the water from the reservoir to the city. I only wished there was a way to see the reservoir. The dam, while impressive, hardly seemed like a suitable destination for a mountain walk or ride.

I was feeling overly ambitious, anxious to take on more than I could handle perhaps, so I planned this big loop that linked together several trails for an epic adventure. After riding up Waterton Canyon, I followed  a short segment of the Colorado Trail, and then took Indian Creek Loop Trail into the western edge of Roxborough State Park, where it turned south and climbed and climbed and climbed.

Eventually, after about 3 hours, I reached the Indian Creek Trailhead and took a short break at the vacant equestrian campground (pic below). At this point, after more than 3 hours of riding, I'd finally crested the high point of the ride. I was incredibly tired, and if it hadn't been mostly downhill from there, I never would have made it. What was I thinking?

It was a very pretty ride, and the thick vegetation was such a contrast to what I had seen in Grand Junction the weekend before. Also, by getting out for such a big loop, I saw few other riders until I was near the end of the ride. In fact, from the time I started up the Colorado Trail, at less than one hour, until I was nearly to Indian Creek Campground, which was more than an hour later, I saw only two other riders and one runner on the trail. That has to be rare for riding in the Front Range on a Sunday.

I would definitely be up for doing this one again, but I don't think I'll put this on the list of family rides we'll do this summer. However, the road up Waterton Canyon to the dam will definitely go on the list, since it's smooth and quite gradual.