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.

More Traveling

I covered a lot of ground in the last week. I just got back from a quick trip to Newark, NJ, for a conference on contaminated sediments, something of which New Jersey has plenty. Perhaps the highlight of that trip was the sunset cruise on New York Harbor. It was the first time I'd actually seen New York City.

But to dwell on that adventure would take us off the central theme of this blog. Now, the Friday before the trip to NJ, I had traveled across the mountains to Grand Junction for some more of the usual two-wheeled, non-motorized adventuring.

The first notable event of my weekend adventure was the snow storm and closure of Interstate 70 just to the east of Vail Pass. Presumably as a result of the snow storm, an accident in the vicinity of Vail Pass forced the closure of the highway for at least an hour. I sat in my truck in one spot for about 45 minutes while I waited for the road to clear. The line of cars must have been miles long.

The next morning after a delicious breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs at C&H's kitchen, we packed up the bikes and headed to Fruita, CO. Cailan sat this one out, so H&C were able to get out on their big red tandem. We got a great start on Mary's Loop, just outside of Fruita. I say a great start because we'd had a great breakfast, the sun was shining, the scenery was spectaculous, and we were out riding on a dusty rocky desert trail. It was, as usual, exceptional. We made it around the south and west side of Mary's and turned off on Steve's Trail when the rear tire on the big red tandem started going thump, thump, thump. It looked like this:

That big bubble showed up on the rear tire, and that ended the ride for the tandem. Chris tossed me his keys and sent me after his truck.

So I headed off alone on my bicycle in the desert with only a vague idea of where I was going. Actually, I wasn't the least bit worried, because I knew the river was generally to my southwest and the highway was roughly parallel to the river to my northeast (although at the time I would have said west and east, respectively). Regardless, there was no way I could get lost, even if I made a wrong turn or two.

I made no wrong turns as such, but the most painful event of the weekend did occur only a few minutes after leaving H&C with their bulging tire. I attempted to ride down a challenging trail feature without adequately slowing down to prepare. The feature is simply a series of maybe five or six large squarish rocks that have been lined up to make a smooth (almost) ramp down what would otherwise be about a three-foot drop. I'd ridden down it once before quite easily. I'd even considered trying to ride up it (but decided against it) on our way in that morning. Several other riders traveling in the opposite direction were carrying their bikes up the steep ledge when I reached it. I had already decided I would ride down the rocks, but I did not slow down as I approached the line, and much to my surprise, something went awry. I had not even reached the series of rocks that comprise the ramp when my front tire unexpectedly came to an abrupt halt and I found myself tumbling and rolling down the steep drop. I distinctly remember seeing my feet and my wheels above me with sky in the background, before I came bouncing to a halt among the rocks. After a few seconds, I stood. The other riders seemed genuinely concerned that I might have been broken. I had landed on my Camelbak, which cushioned my fall (how many times has that water pillow on my back been there to catch me?). I was mostly uninjured, and my bike was mostly undamaged, but we did leave some skin and paint on the trail. Payment in flesh for our passage. A little shaken, and very dusty, I continued down the trail to the white Nissan, which I drove to another trailhead to find H&C. My worst injury was a significant bruising of my arm. A photo from the following day.

Since the bulging tire had put an early end to our ride, and my crash had left me dazed, we decided to stop for pizza at the Hot Tomato in Fruita. It's wonderful pizza, made for mountain bikers by mountain bikers. I don't think that's their slogan, but it could be. And a pint of beer to go with  it.

After getting home a while later, and spending a little time recovering, Chris and I made the short trek down the street in Grand Junction to the Lunch Loops. Heather's hand was still sore from a crash a couple weeks before, so she graciously sent us off. But the sun was hot and the air was warm, and pizza and beer were not the ideal fuel. I felt like a slug trying to pedal a bike uphill on hot day. We climbed a great piece of trail that I would love to do again on a cool morning with a belly full of granola and coffee. It was sort of like riding up a creek bed. Loose rock, and rock ledges, continuous with no breaks, a long slow challenging climb, but we made it to the mushroom:

The view from the mushroom was quite nice.

After a little snack and a rest at the mushroom, we started heading down. Whether it was the speed, the wind chill effect, the rest, the snack, or the mushroom, I don't know, but I began to feel better. Among others, we took the Holy Cross Trail down, which I'd ridden before with Chris. It's a tricky, techy, trail with lots of challenging rock obstacles. In the photo below, Chris is going down an obstacle that actually isn't all that hard, but when you approach it, the rock appears to disappear as though you were facing a 10-foot fall, and it is very important to pick the right path to avoid the steeper slopes to either side.

Chris caught this video of me riding down another tricky spot. Chris and I worked this obstacle out together last time we'd ridden this trail, so it didn't seem quite so scary this time.

Sunday morning we got out for one more round of rides before I had to get on the road to get back to Denver. We went to the 18-Road trails near Fruita and rode Prime Cut, Joe's, Kessel's Run, and the new PBR. Chris and Cailan rode the big yellow tandem, although not on PBR, which rather like a downhill roller coaster. We had other riders with us, including another couple on a tandem, in the background of the picture below.

Joe's is a little spooky as it runs along the tops of a few tall steep ridges. Running off the trail would result in a long slide down through the desert scrub. If you look really hard in the photo below, you can see the big yellow tandem team part way through Joe's Trail. Cailan seemed to enjoy the adventure, and even got his push bike out for a little bit of trail riding.

And that was it. Back to Denver I went.

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!

Back in CO

I have returned once again to Denver. After a week of music and company and love and comfort with my family back in Michigan, an uneventful flight has returned me to an empty and lonely house in a big city beside the mountains.

It was an interesting week in Okemos. The would-be offer on our house appears to have turned into a won't-be. We have no information or explanation. Maybe it will come back. Maybe it won't. Just a few more weeks of trying to sell, and then we'll just give the old house back to the bank. This is our version of the American dream. 

During my week in Michigan, I finally had the opportunity to hear one of A's jazz bands play, an opportunity I was fearful I might miss entirely. I also made it to one of her lacrosse games and to one of Q's a soccer games. Each of them, Q & A, played goalie for a portion of their game. Fearless defenders of crease and box, they are. We are so lucky to have such wonderful kids. 

On Friday, I spent a nice day in the emergency room with C, an unexpected outing that apparently didn't need to take place. Sharp pain in one's chest does not necessarily indicate any sort of detectable heart or lung problem, but a trip to the emergency room is a good way to be sure. It was a great opportunity for us to spend a quiet day together. This was our first trip to the ER since we moved to Michigan several years ago. I've always wanted to see her EKG. We are so lucky to have good health insurance.

After she worked all day Saturday, Cindy and I found time for quick dinner out together in the evening while the kids made themselves some sort of gooey noodles and applesauce at home. We finished off the evening back home with the kids and had strawberry rhubarb pie, vanilla ice cream, and Megamind.

Delicious cinnamon and walnut waffles for breakfast this morning, a little bicycle maintenance, and suddenly I'm back Colorado. You know what? I can see the mountains from my toilet seat!

Wild Hare Day

Today was a big day for members of our crew remaining in Michigan. And since this is about that, perhaps this entry should go on the old scaqabout blog, but that's not what I'm going to do. Besides, this is about rabbits.

Speaking of rabbits (which we are), we have quite a few rabbits living in our yard, and yesterday I saw a little baby one. I guess that's why there are so many. Just wait 'till Amos gets here!

Abbey's eighth grade jazz band performed at Quinn's school today. I guess that went fine, but I didn't get much of a report about it. Quinn said it was good.

Quinn finished his second card in mileage club today, which means he's spending a portion of his recess running laps for mileage credit. For each lap, his card gets punched, and after some number of laps, his card is full and he starts another. He's consciously maintaining a good balance of running laps for half his recess and playing soccer for the rest of it so he stays on top of both. Today he ran two miles; yesterday nearly three. Watch out, Heather.  

Abbey played goalie for the first half of her lacrosse game this afternoon. She blocked a shot with her face. It was fired from just a few feet away. It's a good thing she wears a mask. And it's a good thing she's fearless. Abbey had to leave the game early so she could get her clothes changed and make it to her evening jazz festival concert. 

Quinn had a soccer practice this evening but he also had to leave early so he could get to Abbey's evening jazz concert.

Abbey has been playing in both the 7th and 8th grade jazz bands. This evening she had a solo in "Yesterday," that well-known song by some famous band. What was their name? The Rabbits? I wish I'd been there to hear it. The DVD should be out soon. Of course I'm bragging about her, she's my daughter.

Oh, and it was Wild Hare Day at Quinn's school, which probably made the Cornell Elementary mascot happy. He's a cougar.

I can't believe that Cindy can stay on top of all this and still manage to go to work just about every day. She's probably tearing her hair out. 

Sunday Ride 2: Mt. Falcon Trail

After riding six very enjoyable miles down from the Bunny's Lair, I was really in the mood for more. It was still early in the day, the sun was shining, and I only felt a little tired. Mount Falcon Park wasn't far away and was directly on my route back home from the Bear Creek Trail. 

Each of the trails I had ridden this weekend was in a Jefferson County Open Space Park. Information is available on each at the Jefferson County website. Here's a link to the Mount Falcon Park description. 

The parking area for Mount Falcon was already overflowing when I arrived sometime around 10:30 a.m. Of course, it's not a really large parking lot, so it didn't strike me as being so crowded that there would be no space for me on the trail. It was a bit of zoo, though, with all the hikers and bikers and cars going up and down the entry road. I guess lots of people wanted to go for an Easter Sunday stroll or roll through the mountains. I was able to park in a line of cars along the side of the entry road. I took my time getting ready to ride, taking a few photos and spending some time on the phone with Cindy and the kids. 

There was more of that awesome tilted sandstone down near the entry to Mount Falcon Park. 

I hadn't given much thought to which trail I was going to ride, I just picked this park based on the existence of a trail and it's proximity to my first ride of the day. The fact that it climbs 1400 ft in less than three miles according to my guide book never really crossed my mind. The trail starts out in the meadow you can see in the picture above. A very well used and somewhat entrenched trail zigzags through small hills of very red dirt. Water bars, each constructed with a log or thick board cut into and perpendicular to the trail are positioned at very high frequency, maybe every 50 feet in places, giving evidence of the high usage and high maintenance requirements of this trail.

OK, so I really kind of enjoy crossing logs and climbing water bars. My Santa Cruz Nickel seems very well balanced for this sort of thing, and I look forward to climbing up just about anything that will clear my big chain ring. So it caught me a little off guard as I was ascending one of the first tall water bars and my rear wheel spun on the dusty wood. When my wheel spun, I lost my balance, and fell to my right. On my right. It happened quite quickly, and while I easily unclipped my left foot from my pedal, my weight was such that I did not get my right foot out to stop my fall. It was an easy and slow fall, but the unforgiving pile of rocks I landed on was neither smooth nor soft. It cost me some skin, and it cost my Nickel some white paint. Together we quickly jumped up and started riding again with the same philosophy I've mentioned before: getting up quickly, mounting the the bicycle, and starting to ride again helps reassure me or trick me into thinking that I'm not hurt. Why does a crash like that seem to take such an energetic toll? So much that seems physical must be mental.

And then the trail started to climb. Check out the Garmin log. Once it started climbing it didn't stop. One guy even passed me on the way up, but he was on a 29er. If I'd been on 29er, I'd have been moving twice as fast and using half the energy! There was another rider, also on a 29er, that I sort leap-frogged with for quite a while near the top when I was really getting tired and taking a periodic pause to rest. But the scenery was really nice, so I enjoyed those pauses.

The picture below didn't come out so great, as photos go, but it shows that line of hogbacks pretty well off in the distance. I'm not sure why I'm so fascinated with those, but there's something really earthy and powerful about geologic forces.

Once the climbing was done, the trail became wide and smooth and quite civil. This was to me a surprise. There were people everywhere. Moms with strollers, kids on bikes. Had they pushed those strollers up the that incline? Had I struggled up this trail to arrive at the mall? No, of course not. There is another parking lot up on top, near Mount Falcon, where there's a big wide flat ridge (there's probably a better more geologically correct name for it) that's a perfect place for a reasonably easy walk at 7500 feet. It was a really nice park. Definitely worth another visit with the whole family.

Also up on top is the remains of this castle! Built by a fella' name o' Walker, back in the early 1900s. It burned down in 1918. I used have a 1918 Nickel. Now I've got a 2010 Nickel. One a coin, one a bicycle. I should get a 2010 nickel and glue it to my 2010 Nickel. Whatever. There's more info on Walker's castle at the park website.

I spent some time resting by the castle and talked with a guy from Evergreen who was riding a really nice looking Ellsworth bike - a pricier machine than I'll likely ever own. His kids, both younger than Quinn, had almost-matching Konas. We talked bikes, of course. His kids love the Valmont Bike Park. Their mom was  one of those many people out running on the trails. I hope I run into this family again sometime when the whole of scaq is present.

A little further up the trail was this lookout, providing fabulous views of the mountains to the west, and probably a good place to hang out if it's raining. Though maybe not if there's lighting - ask Mr. Walker about that!

There were some other trails to explore up top, and I rode around a little, but the climb had really drained what little energy I'd had left, so I wasn't too anxious to keep exploring. I was ready for a speedy descent to the nearest burrito.

Sunday Ride 1: Lair O' The Bunny

Normally that would be "Bear," but on this particular Sunday morning it was "Bunny." I would have traded this day's riding to be home with my family, but if having to spend a holiday away, being on my bike in the mountains was probably the best I could ask.

One of the engineers in my office told me this was his favorite Denver-area trail because it was less a rocky and technical challenge than a fast and flowing one. It's definitely true that most of the trail was not especially difficult to ride, and those swoopy roller coaster sections were a welcome relief after so much slow grinding the day before.

Here's the Garmin log.


I arrived at the trailhead, alongside Bear Creek (Bunny Creek?), around 7:30 Easter morning. The only other cars in the lot had transported fisherman who were standing in the stream wearing waders and flicking fly rods. While I was getting ready to ride, a couple more cyclists arrived, but I was the first one on the trail. For the first mile or so the trail runs parallel to the stream in its narrow valley. This particular morning the temperature was in the 30s in Denver, and it must have been colder alongside that creek. In places there was still snow and ice covering the trail. Once again, I had failed to learn from my experience the previous morning: I did not wear suitable gloves for the occasion and almost immediately found I had numb and unusable fingers. I did not, however, accidentally drain my water onto the ground! I was relieved when the trail finally moved away from the creek and began to ascend because I knew that the exertion of climbing would soon warm my numb hands. It was actually rather unpleasant as the numbness gave way to pain.

Eventually I reached the point on the trail my map labelled "Rock Staircase," which was a reasonably accurate description. I wish I could say I rode right up that staircase, but I cannot. I dismounted and  pushed my trusty steed up the rocks. It was too early in the morning, and my hands were too cold to try riding up a rocky staircase. It wasn't worth the risk of ruining a good day of riding. If I happen to ride this trail again someday, I'm going to give it a try; it really should be within my capability. Here's a photo of the staircase, although as usual, I think it looks less steep in the picture. The trail comes up in the center of the pictures, turns alongside large rock and exits to the right. The stuff at the bottom of the picture is not part of the trail. Oh, and for those of you still in Michigan, that bright blob at the top, just right of center, is the sun.

While I was stopped here taking the photo above and trying to warm my frozen fingers, another rider came up behind me and attempted the staircase, but he didn't make it. His dog cleaned it with ease.

I liked this trail because much of it was in the forest, giving me the feeling that I was somewhere deep in the mountains. There was a very nice big meadow, here, and while not visible in the picture, a series of houses lined the hill behind me, overlooking the meadow and the two-track path I was riding. Look closely and see if you can find the white bunny.

I couldn't find him either. Maybe he blends in with the snow?

At the end of the trail there awaits a road and a small parking lot. Some folks do this as a one-way ride, leaving a car at the top and just riding down. Myself, I enjoy the challenge of the climb almost as much as the thrill of the downhill, so I don't see the one-way having much appeal. On the other hand, Cindy and the kids get out here we might try it as a one-way. It's a beautiful ride on a nice trail, and it's not too challenging from a technical rock-crawling perspective, so we could do it in the downhill direction before they've fully acclimated to the elevation. They might even enjoy it.

The ride down was quite a lot of fun, although there were numerous hikers, runners, and cyclists riding up, so I had to fly with caution. There was a group of cyclists stopped at the Rock Staircase, so as I descended I had an audience. It would have been embarrassing to fail and fall, but maybe one of them would have had a first aid kit handy. Fortunately, my descent was successful. It was in fact so easy that it hardly seemed worth the ink on the map.