Bikepacking the Colorado Trail: Part 2
Day 2: Buffalo Creek CG to Twin Eagle CG
Stats: 43.3 mi, Elevation Gain: 5033ft, Moving time: 5h41m, Elapsed Time: 8h38m
We woke early and knew we had a pretty warm day ahead of us. I don’t remember much about this day except that I felt pretty good and Aliza didn’t. At Rolling Creek TH, the Lost Creek wilderness detour began, which meant we were on mostly paved/dirt roads for the day. You might think that sounds wonderful compared to trails, but in this case it also means sandy, non-graded roads, open treeless passages (hot), and washboard.
For me, though, with my hardtail, compared to Aliza’s full suspension trail bike, it was quite plush. My energy pedaling helped propel me forward right up the hill, where Aliza’s bike sucked a lot of energy that she was putting in. That, plus her sensitivity to heat made for a long grueling day. We rode together quite a bit, but also we rode with the understanding that we each just go at our own pace up the long ascents and then meet at turns or occasionally on the hills, just to make sure we don’t get too far apart. Eventually I realized that Aliza really was struggling and she needed more of a rest than just a quick stretch and a snack.
We stopped in some of the only shade we could find on the dirt road in the middle of the day. Ants ate our legs alive in the first couple of spots we tried, but eventually, after naming the road Ant Hill, we found a place to stretch our legs. We stripped down, doused ourselves with water, ate some snack-ums and just rested for a while. At this point we were in the heat of the day and we knew we just needed to not be in a rush and take it easy or else we could possibly get too overheated.
The road climb to the campsite was beautiful and brutal at the same time. We were literally only a few miles from camp when Aliza had to just not pedal any more. We dismounted, clamored over to a shaded rock area and laid on the cool rocks for about thirty minutes or so. We had just a bit of climbing left, so after a pep talk and some grumbling, we were on our way. We pulled into the campsites near Tarryall Reservoir and it was a busy, crowded mess. It didn’t look like there were many, if any, open spots, so we looked at the map and saw there was a smaller camp ground that we could possibly find a spot at. This was a good call! I think we ended up at Twin Eagles CG, a small spot, with maybe eight camp sites. We plopped in the first one we came to and set up camp. We arrived at about 3:30pm so we had plenty of time to rinse off and cool down in the lazy river right next to our campsite. After living and bikepacking in AZ, I will NEVER take a stream/river for granted! It is such a luxury to be ale to have an after-ride “bath” and a “wash room” for our salty, dirt-filled clothes.
Day 3: Twin Eagle CG to Jefferson Creek CG
Stats: 35.09 miles, Elevation Gain: +3802, Moving Time: 4h 55m, Elapsed Time: 8h24m
We woke up, refreshed and thankful for a cool morning. We tried to get an early start and were on the road by 7am, which all things considered with having to pack up and make breakfast and all that stuff, was a pretty great feat. We would be leaving the wilderness detour and rejoining the CT proper, which we were pretty excited about. The morning was pretty uneventful, and I thought it was pleasant, as we motored up to high alpine through the aspens, enjoying the rideable singletrack. The only drawback of getting such an early start was that we tried to stop by the well-known Lodge but it was closed when we got there. They have variable hours and we knew it probably wouldn’t be open bevcause it was early. We stopped for a quick snack and were on our way.
After gravel and aspens and wildflowers, our lunch stop was at Johnson Gulch where there was a cute little stream, and I swear we had turned into Bilbo Baggins and Frodo and had been galavanting in the Shire. Though it was a little buggy, the creekside resting place was much needed and our lunch spot gave us the energy we needed to continue on. We ran into two guys on foot (I think?) that had stopped for lunch as well and had a wee chat before they went one way and we went the other. Lunch legs hit hard when we realized we had to climb out of the gulch we were in and the long afternoon slog proved mentally (and physically) challenging.
Lunch break and stretch at Johnson Gulch
The climb up to Kenosha Pass was a bit brutal. I have pretty much blocked it from my mind. The only thing that I do recall was that, except for the two hikers in the gulch, we hadn’t seen anyone for the entire day and were just mentioning how it was something special to be able to ride to a place in the middle of nowhere that was inaccessible by anyone unless they really put the effort in when two people on horseback and their pup rounded the corner. We chatted for a bit, reveling in the beauty of where we were at on that ridgeline with views for miles and the serenity of it all. We bade each other adieu and continued toward the top. The camp area near the summit had a pump water station, so we filled our bottles, doused our heads, cleaned off a bit with our handkerchiefs readied ourselves for the final roll to Jefferson Creek CG.
At one point, we heard some noises in the trees and stopped quickly, unsure of what we would find. Suddenly, a few large quail flew out in front of us and we jumped so high! We giggled afterwards, and saw a whole family of the birds, climbing onto one of the branches that lay on the ground. They gave us quite the scare, and we were glad it wasn’t anything bigger.
Towards the end of the day, clouds blew in and started spattering sprinkles on our tired legs, shortly before we reached camp. We got a little turned around, unsure of which way the trail led to the camp vs. going through on the trail, but eventually found our way to the camp site in the late evening. We hadn’t known exactly where we would meet Patty Sag, whether it be on the road or at the campsite, but eventually we saw the van pulling into the camp just in time for dinner and just in time to get warm for the night. Aliza got a comfy bed in the camp and Patty and I slept in the tent. We dove into our resupply boxes for special treats that we had sent ahead and slipped into our dry, fresh clothing.
