Colorado Trail to Shinglemill Trail Loop

We finally made an all-scaq trip to the Buffalo Creek Recreation Area. I had ridden some of the Buffalo Creek trails before Cindy and the kids made the move, and have been looking forward to coming back again with the whole of scaq. This area is a little over 50 miles from our house, which makes a day trip out there a bit of fat carbon footprint adventure, but it's a pretty easy drive so it doesn't take too terribly long. I am, of course, always thinking about the carbon footprint of our mountain adventures. That's why we live close to my office and I bicycle to work most of the time. I save it during the week so we can burn on the weekend.

Getting back to the adventure: On the way out of town we stopped at a local bakery and picked up some yummy baked goods to supplement our breakfast. What a great idea that was!

After an hour or so on the road, we parked at the Little Scraggy Trailhead, paid our fee so we could make guilt-free use of the restroom, used it guilt-free, and then pedaled west on the Colorado Trail. Since this was going to be a longer trek, Quinn and I decided to share the effort and ride the Fandango, our big black tandem. It's almost as tall as Quinn!

Click here to see our Garmin log for this ride.

The ride west on the Colorado Trail was great. It was gently up and down, flowing side to side, along a smooth, gravelly trail. Perfect for the big black tandem! There were some more challenging sections, too, but only one that we couldn't quite clean on the tandem. And the scenery and smells were awesome! It smelled and looked just like Colorado: Grasses and gravel, granite and pines.


After about eight miles on the Colorado Trail, we turned back towards the northeast on Buffalo Creek Road, and rode dowhill on a gravelly two-track that's mostly closed to vehicles. The Garmin log shows a an increase in our average speed between miles 8 and 12. Much of this trail went through old burned areas and was wide open, sunny and warm. In other spots it was nestled in a tight valley beside Buffalo Creek.

Once we'd descended to the junction with Shinglemill Trail, we turned up and south to return to the Colorado Trail. Shortly after, we figured out that I had made a rather significant error in planning our route. I did not look closely enough at the Shinglemill Trail that connects Buffalo Creek Road with the Colorado Trail. I thought that it was mostly downhill, and promised our group that it would be fun and easy, but I was wrong! I mistakenly thought the trail climbed moderately up to a high point in the center between two valleys, and then descended toward the Colorado Trail. Nope. It was an honest mistake, but Shinglemill climbed and climbed all the way to the Colorado Trail. It was long and slow, and it was getting to be after lunch time. We had traveled more than 12 miles, and we, especially Abbey, were getting hungry. I'm not sure if it hurt or helped, but we had some remnants of those baked yummies waiting back in the truck, and that seemed to be all that Abbey could think about.

Climbing or not, the scenery on the Shinglemill Trail was just outstanding. The area was part of very large bun that occurred in 1996. The trail twisted and turned through a stark, treeless, exposed, and windy landscape. We could see for miles in all directions. We climbed just under 1000 feet in 3 1/2 miles, which isn't really terribly steep for a mountain trail, but it was a challenge because we we'd been riding for three hours and it was definitely lunchtime. Nonetheless, Cindy and Abbey pushed through, stayed strong and pretended to be happy, so I was very proud of them! They didn't exactly have a choice.

Quinn was my reserve engine on this ride. I'm sure I provide the bulk of the power most of the time when we're on the tandem; I am, after all, the bulk of the bulk. I currently weigh a little more than twice Quinn's weight. But there were a few instances toward the end the ride when Quinn and I were approaching a climb, when I could see it coming and was dreading it because I was getting tired, when suddenly Quinn kicked in a powered us up the hill. I literally didn't have to increase my power output at all! He just cranked it up and pushed us up the hill! It was awesome, and such a relief! I almost felt guilty!

The rocks on the Shinglemill Trail are rounded and fat. I don't know how they got that way, but I love them! The trail wound amongst them and sometimes over them. Look at Abbey climb them rocks!

Her Momma, too.

Once back on the Colorado Trail, the grade eased off and the flow returned. We buzzed back to the trailhead as quickly as we could. Our total ride distance coming in at about 17 miles. Abbey was first to arrive at the truck, and I think she was chomping down those baked yummies before Quinn and I had gotten out of our pedals!