Lake Pueblo State Park

On Sunday, with arrangements made for mid-day care for Amos, we loaded the bikes and headed south for Lake Pueblo State Park, which I have previously and usually called "Pueblo Reservoir" but will now shorten to LPSP. The reservoir was created by a dam on the Arkansas River; sort of interesting from the perspective of a Wichitan. I made a deal the night before with the rest of scaq that if we could get out of the house before 8 a.m. we could stop at the Donut Maker. We did, and so we did, and then drove the 100 miles south to Pueblo.

10 a.m. Unloaded bikes, adjusted clothing, donned helmets and gloves, scarfed remaining donut holes, and set out into the maze of trails that is LPSP. Conduit to The Duke, up Rodeo to Arkansas Point, down Rock Canyon to Creekside, up Waterfall to Inner Limits, and then it was past lunchtime so Pedro's Point down Waterfall (some of us detouring through Rock Drop) and Creekside then South Shore back to the picnic area to eat. Or just click here for the Garmin log. Pics not necessarily in the order of occurrance:

Coming up Rodeo through the fields of dehydrated cholla and prickly pear cacti, just after the first technical climb that most of scaq can't quite ride. Chunks of crumbling sedimentary rocks clinking beneath tires.

Crossing the bridge where Creekside joins Watefall. You're supposed to ride up there, right?

Pedaling up Waterfall, which was mostly dry but coated with a thin packed snow in a few inconvenient and shady places. 

A little fun on Log Drop.

After our first 10 miles it was time for lunch. Civilized we are, and therefore based our adventures from the otherwise empty picnic area rather than at the crowded trailhead parking lot. Or does that mean we're uncivilized? Unsociable? Not likely! Regardless, it was PB&J for lunch, with habanero grape jelly provided by our Mercer Island relatives. Definitely delicious with peanut butter, although the jalapeno raspberry was even better. Lemonade, too. And Abbey's high elevation chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

After lunch, Quinn requested some down time, so Abbey and I took another spin through the maze of trails while Cindy and Quinn hung out at the picnic table. This time we came down some of the freakishly steep rock drops in Skull Canyon. Very fun, but Abbey moved too fast and I didn't get any pictures of her on the new Nickel. This loop is the last 3.5 miles on the Garmin log.

And then Cindy and Quinn took a turn around the same loop. Cindy got picture of Quinn just after he came down a short rock pile.

Finally, to wrap up the day, I logged a few fast miles on my own just to make sure I'd completely burned out my legs. Past 4 p.m., the sun low on the horizon, and the wind blowing hard, the stark landscape vivid.

A good day.