Before the giant rain storm this past weekend, Derek and I rode our bikes on a loop up out of Mancos that went by the Jersey Jim Lookout and around towards Dolores before dropping back down to Transfer Campground. Jersey Jim Tower is an old Forest Service Fire Tower 55′ in the air with an …
Before the government shutdown, Derek and I hiked Spruce Canyon on a LOVELY day. It’s closed and you can’t hike it now, unfortunately. It’s not a terribly long hike but it gets down onto the canyon floor and never has more than a couple people on it. This time we didn’t see anyone. This weekend …
Seeking to escape the heat, we headed up a little higher above Mancos, CO to ride in the Chicken Creek area. It’s nice because there is a lot of shade from the big pines and aspens. Plus, the cool breeze coming off the La Plata Mtns helps when it’s a warm summer day. We have …
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 …
Derek and I did a short but rewarding hike in Mesa Verde National Park the other day. This loop takes you a short distance down into the canyon and then along the cliffs to see some petroglyphs. I highly recommend it if you’re in the park. This 3 mile hike is not a fast one …
Chicken Creek Trail is ranked moderate on most mapping apps but it has some pretty tough parts sprinkled in. Riding it as an out and back is challenging so we opted to ride it as a loop this time but piecing in a section of dirt road to get to the very top (8866′ elevation). …
This hike is the highest we’ve hiked this year. Our turnaround point was 11,945′ at Sharkstooth Pass in Mancos, Co. Phew! Just getting to this hike is an adventure. On a ride last week I mountain biked up to the trailhead on a different trail, this time we drove up. It’s a pretty good gravel …
Aspen Loop is a burly doubletrack/gravel/singletrack big loop in Mancos. We’ve ridden the entire thing before, but this time I did just part of it as a loop with another gravel road to get out to Sharkstooth Pass Trailhead. I started from the trailhead just past Transfer Campground in Mancos, CO. The trail is not …
I joined a small group to hike Box Canyon, West Mancos, and Rim Trail with a local historian, Andrew Gulliford. I’ve done the hike before in a past year and we’ve ridden this as well. This time though, I was treated to all sorts of local history and fascinating stories. Box Canyon was originally one …
Mesa Verde National Park is one of the lesser visited parks in the country and we are fortunate to be able to spend time here. However, I did this hike into Spruce Canyon solo and I was a bit nervous of the bear encounter potential since I only came across a couple other people. I …