Our last two rides in the area were doozies. Unfortunately the sky was a bit hazy from the fires everywhere in the west so the views in pictures didn’t turn out. The riding on the Pole Canyon Mikesell Loop was challenging. This is DEFINITELY a black diamond route with difficult climbs and descents. Our loop was 15 miles with 2945′ of climbing up to a max elevation of 8542′.
Starting from the Mike Harris trailhead by Victor, we climbed up Nemo, Ladyslipper and Pole Canyon before hiking up onto Pole Canyon Ridge and descending Mikesell Canyon. The first couple trails were nice meandering singletrack through the forest with lots of little roots, berms and fun. Pole Canyon is where the true climbing starts and it’s fairly consistent and gets steeper. I’m pretty sure the most underrated mountain bike skill is slow to almost no speed climbing. When the trail is steep, loose, and technical this skill is key. There are a few stream crossings and lots of roots and loose rocks on the way up as well.
After turning left at the top and push biking to the ridge, we started to traverse back towards the trailhead on Pole Canyon Ridge but there were still a few climbs. It’s remote up here and we didn’t see anyone else. The descent on Mikesell Canyon is wild! The trail is tight with lots of rocky sections, steep in spots, and with a bit of exposure. The canyon walls back here are so steep so look where you want to go, not where you don’t. We “had” to stop a lot to admire the views.
We definitely keep an eye on the fire maps for the west since it’s no fun to be camping in smoke. So far we have been lucky with only a couple days of upper atmosphere haze but with the way things are shaping up I’m not sure. Luckily, we can pick up and move whenever we want! Stay safe.
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