On paper this looked like a cinch. Ride 31 miles with 1750’ of climbing. In reality, it seemed really hard. We left from Sheep Canyon overlook where we saw otters playing in the Rio Grande waaaaaay below us. It’s doubletrack the whole way, almost nonexistent in some places. All around is sage and scrub brush…and wind.
Ute Mountain was our destination and you can see it off in the distance the whole ride. Ute Mountain is the tallest free standing volcano in North America. At 10,093′ the mountain is the highest point of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
The entire ride winds along the Rio Grande and several times we stopped in awe at how little water there currently is, and how much water there was ages ago. The river canyon is rocky and steep with trees and lush vegetation lining the river below. Our original plan was to ride part of the way up the flank of the mountain but the winds picked up, the billowing mounds of thunderstorm clouds collected, and we turned back instead. Good thing.
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