When it heats up at lower levels, head up in elevation! This ride topped out at 10,500 and while it was a lot of climbing, the downhills were fast and deserved.
The area around Southern Colorado has a lot of gravel roads leading to the high country. Some of the roads are good gravel and some warrant a full on mountain bike. This loop had both and we rode our mountain bikes. Sure, you could do it all on a gravel bike but you wouldn’t be very comfy. Several long stretches were incredibly rocky and rugged.
At the furthers reach of this ride, the view of Hesperus Mountain is the payoff. We’ve now seen it from several different sides and it’s majestic from all of them. To get there though, we rode through the lower foothills of oak and sage, then higher up into the aspen, pine and fir. Looking back, we could see town wayyyyyyyy below. The only thing that would make this ride better would be if we started and ended from a lake…which you could!
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