Little Scraggy Burn

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in Colorado. Some cool air blew in last night, creating lighting and wind, but with a sunny sky and a temperature of around 40 F this morning, I should be out on a trail instead of sitting at my kitchen table in front of a computer. Alas, I have to take the lawn mower I rented back to the Big Tool Box at 9 a.m., so I'm sort of stuck. It is a nice opportunity to slowly work my way through some coffee.

Yesterday morning I rode a really nice section of the Colorado Trail, starting at the Little Scraggy Trailhead, and this morning I was anxious to review my photos from the adventure. It was an especially nice trail, and, in contrast to some of the trails I've ridden recently, it did not begin with a huge climb. Instead, it began with a gentle winding descent. There were no really long hard climbs on this ride, but plenty of moderate ups and downs. As with all of the Buffalo Creek area trails, the surface of the trail was gravelly, making it a little soft and slippery in places. The little balls of gravel-sized granite, if that's what it is, roll underneath tires and hence don't provide great traction; cornering requires extra caution. This trail was much less rocky than the trails in the parks closer to Denver, but plenty of exposed roots added interest to the ride and made me appreciate my double squishy bike. It was not a difficult trail, and will be another one we can do with the kids. I'm sure that Quinn and I could ride the whole thing on our Big Black Tandem.

I left our Garmin Forerunner in Michigan with Cindy so she could use it to track her runs. I didn't remember to bring our other GPS unit back to Colorado with me, so I installed a GPS app on my phone that sort of allowed me to track my route, but there does not appear to be any way to access the data using the via the internet. Consequently, I don't have a GPS log to show this time, so I've inserted a link to maps that include the trails I rode today. It also has some of the trails I've written about previously: Click here to see the FRMBP maps.

This section of the Colorado Trail winds through a nice pine forest for most of it's length. In places there are great views across the valley, but I found the many protruding lumps of rock most interesting. Some of those lumps just beckon to be scrambled upon. We'll have to find some opportunities for boulder scrambling once the Cindy and the kids are here.

I followed the Colorado Trail west for several miles and then made a loop to the south on Green Mountain Trail.  There was a little more sustained climbing there, but it was well rewarded by a speedy descent. The photo below was taken near the apex of the Green Mountain Trail. The trail in picture doesn't look all that steep, but my 43-year-old heart had to turn over 200 beats per minute on the ascent to supply my equally old legs with sufficient oxygen.

With the Green Mountain loop one on the west end, this ride was what we'd call a "lollipop" route. On the outgoing portion of my ride, perhaps six miles of trail, I saw only five other riders and one walker. That was mostly because I beat the crowds to the trailhead. Once I'd completed the loop and was heading back east on the Colorado Trail, I encountered many more cyclists, a few hikers, and one large group of horses, dogs, and ponies (after which there were lots of additional obstacles in the trail to avoid). There were also a few climbers out on the rocks:

This is a not-so-spectacular example of some of the boulder piles that are scattered about the area. Many of these are near the trailhead, and probably make great substrate for family picnicking and play.

The lollipop route added 17.5 miles to my Nickel's odometer, but I finished before noon, and the lack of hard climbs left my legs with plenty of energy to burn. After a little snack on my truck's tailgate, I rode the Buffalo Burn Trail, which also begins at the Little Scraggy Trailhead. This little loop zips gently downhill, winding through the open forest until it reaches an overview of an area burned in the 1996 Buffalo Creek fire. The trail is quite narrow, obviously a newer trail that receives limited use, and was clearly designed by mountain bikers to be a fun bit of twisty single-track. I will ride it again!

With no standing live trees (16 years after the fire!), there are some really great views across the valley. The exposed rock and skeletons of old trees make for spectacular, even apocalyptic, scenery.

The photo below is most definitely my favorite from the ride. And look at that big chunk of white crystal! What is that?

The Buffalo Burn Trail brought my total distance for the morning to just over 20 miles. I was tempted to stay out in the Buffalo Creek area and continue riding through the afternoon, but there were chores to do back home. I'm really looking forward to getting Cindy and the kids out to this area. It's about 50 miles from our house, and will be a great place to spend a couple of days and nights riding and camping, and exploring those boulder piles!