A different kind of canyon country

I've been meaning to post some photos of a beautiful and relaxing quick trip taken last weekend. The time to actually do this has been illusive, but today I had a bit of a revelation after returning from an exhausting ride well before dark. Late November generally signals the return to some form of a structured training regiment for me, and with no big races (i.e., Tour Divide big) on the horizon for next summer, that means training is going to include more short, hard efforts. That means I don't need to be on the bike all day every weekend. Huh.

Anyway, last weekend Caroline and I headed to the rather unknown canyon country of southeastern Colorado. It's been on my list of areas to visit for a while now, and fall seemed like a perfect time to go. Here's a bit of what it looked like...

Apatosaur tracks!

Not bad. Most of the canyons are near La Junta. The dino tracks are in Picketwire Canyon, and there are some other trails in that area and plenty of scenic dirt road riding in remote country to be had. The last few photos are from Pueblo Reservoir State Park. The trail network there is a gem. Check it out...you'll be glad you did.

Turkey(eve) Trot

Since quitting running last summer after 8 months of dabbling in the painful sport, I haven't been getting out on all the trails immediately above Boulder nearly as much as one should. There are seemingly endless miles of trails up there, but sadly, they're entirely closed to bikes.

Last night Caroline and I got out for a quick hike on a warm November evening. It reminded me of how, once again, my leg muscles are frustratingly unfit for anything except pedaling.

We had the mountain to almost to ourselves, having only to share it with the now seemingly incessant winds that have been battering the Front Range off and on for the past few weeks. But I'll take wind over snow any day...

 

Happy Thanksgiving, all. Enjoy all you have, and don't take it for granted!

The windy days return

I've been having a bit too much fun lately on my Horsethief. I should have gotten a 5" bike years ago for the kind of terrain I like to ride. After two frightening crashes in my backyard playground a few weeks ago, I've only been back a couple times.

On Saturday, Rob, Dan, and I braved 50-70 mph wind gusts to have some fun. My confidence was back, partly due to some even knobbier tires, and I spent the entire time either grinning (on the descents) or grimacing (on the nasty climbs). 

We each blew completely off the trail at least a few times, eliciting more than a bit of laughter by everyone involved. It also highlighted the sheer craziness of the roadies we saw trying to ride (or walk) their bikes along the base of the foothills. The cracking of nearby branches and the freshly downed trees weren't quite as comical.

It was great to get back out there, and with some strong riders to boot. Now I should get some sleep before heading to my dissertation defense in the morning. My seemingly eternal days (years!) of being a student are nearly over...

Mountains

A few highlights from some little mountain adventures over the past few weeks...first some backpacking, then some pedaling and relaxed exploring. Both were quick trips packed with impressive landscapes.

Pawnee Pass, with 50 mph wind gusts to make things interesting

3 am below Pawnee Pass

Up over Pawnee Peak to create a nice loop route

 

Riding the Laramie Enduro course. Good stuff up there!

Granite goblins

Caroline enjoyed the warmth of the fire

 I tried to keep my fingers warm while writing

 

Petrified camel

The Medicine Bows

I've lived in Boulder for 5 years now, and there's still so much unexplored territory within easy striking range. I'm a bit amazed. Get out there - you'll never realize what how much you're missing until you've scratched well below the surface!

Canyon country

Last night I managed to submit my dissertation to my thesis committee, so I now have a bit of time to catch up on all the things that were pushed to the wayside over the past month. That long list of minor sacrifices included blogging. But with working long, long days (and sometimes nights, too!), I was able to carve out some time every weekend to go exploring in new places. Some of this was by foot, some by bike, and a tiny bit by boat.

  

This past weekend, Caroline and I headed west to the desert for a loop some ultra runner friends suggested. A note of caution: just because a local endurance freak did something in 9 hours doesn't mean it'll be easy to do at a leisurely pace in two days!

This loop followed two very remote tributary canyons to the Colorado River near the Utah state line. Each canyon had a bit of a trail from the plateau above down to the bottom, but in between was 8-12 miles of bushwhacking, boulder hopping, low speed travel.

The scenery was spectacular. The weather was pleasant. And the only footprints we saw were from deer, mountain lions, coyotes, bobcat (?), and smaller critters.

 
  

We reached the big muddy river while the sun was still low and frost covered most of the grass along the riverbank. We inflated the packraft I had been carrying, crammed two bodies and two packs into the tiny thing, and pushed out into the strong current.

Easy miles. A few rapids and boils had me a bit nervous, as our little craft was a bit overloaded.

Unexpected shapes and colors of rocks at the valley floor - I now see why this immediate section of river is called Black Rock

Back on dry land, we headed up our exit canyon. It was even more impressive than the first canyon we had been in.

We hiked on granite for most of the climb up, meaning we were right on the Great Unconformity, a gap of 1.4 billion years in the geologic record. It isn't exposed in too many places between the Rockies and the bottom of the Grand Canyon, so I wasn't expecting be hiking along it for several hours.

Another sunset. Time to switch on the head lamps and hustle back to the trailhead.