After four months in Colorado we finally left and are in Red River, NM. Our boondocking spot took some work to get level but we have a nice spot in the forest with trees and a meadow to look out on. We are up at 9000’ so it’s cool at night and warm in the …
Our initial plan to hike up to Como Lake were foiled by heavy looking dark grey, almost black clouds that hovered around Blanca Peak. So, we decided to hike around Great Sand Dunes National Park for a couple hours. I am quite possibly the most paranoid person when it comes to the pandemic. Basically, I …
While in the area, we decided to ride Medano Pass Primitive Road. This road is passable only in the warmer months with a high clearance 4X4 vehicle, crosses areas of deep sand and traverses Medano Creek nine times. We rode it on our mountain bikes and it was awesome. Our out and back was 23.4 …
We finally left Salida and are hanging out by Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. With thunderstorms forecast for early in the day, we decided to do a quickish hike in the area. Mosca Pass Trail starts just inside the park headquarters and except for 2 other people, we had the entire hike to …
It seems a few days of riding slipped through over the past week without us doing a post so here they are. Cottonwood Loop Just on the other side of the river from downtown Salida is a tremendous trail network called Arkansas Hill Trail System. On two different days we rode the Big Cottonwood Loop …
For our 21st wedding anniversary we rode Monarch Crest/Fooses, made pizza for dinner, brownies for dessert, and a special beer to celebrate. What a day! Fooses is yet another trail off the Monarch Crest in Salida, CO. We rode everything else and this was the last loop we planned to ride up there. It isn’t …
We rode a Colorado Trail/Silver Creek/Rainbow Loop that really has my heart. Our loop was 30.5 miles with 4371′ of climbing. Not a small ride. The loop starts with a ride out Marshall Pass Road and then we turned left on the gravel/rock Poncha Creek Road. Sure it starts all friendly and wide with a …
Buena Vista, CO has a very fun mountain bike trail system. We rode out here last year and did so again the other day. Our ride was 22 miles with 2177′ of climbing so almost a day off for us. Haha! We rode a lot of the most challenging trails like Umchained, Broken Boyfriend, and …
Exploring Ride Salida hosts a gravel bike race, well, it was canceled due to the pandemic, but I downloaded the map from the website and we attempted the ride. Our ride was 29.7 miles with 3584′ of climbing all on gravel roads up above Salida. Not wanting to deal with people, we shortcutted the ride …
Last year when we were in Salida these trails were still under snow in July and we didn’t get to ride them. This year they are open! This loop is a beast at 36 miles with 4635’ of climbing. Most people ride Monarch Crest as a shuttle but we don’t have that luxury so we …