Bikepacking the Colorado Trail: Part 6
Day 11: Razor Creek to Cathedral Creek Cabins
Stats: 54.56 mi, Elevation Gain: 4528 ft, Moving Time: 7h0m, Elapsed Time: 9h46m
The beginning of this day was pretty unremarkable. We got up early and started riding because we had to get a lot of miles under our belt. For once, we had a day that was generally “downhill.” Even still, we ended up gaining about 4.5k ft throughout the day and felt every minute of it, but it was a much needed reprieve to be able to ride more than hike our bike.
After arriving at Cochetopa Pass, we started the La Garita Wilderness Bicycle Detour. It was a very pleasant ride as far as I remember. We passed Dome Lakes along the way and stopped to take in the view, but didn’t stop for long, though there were beautiful campsites around the lakes. As we descended we could see a trail angel set up at the point where the detour rejoins with the trail. As we approached we could see quite the smorgasbord set up with coolers and a small dome tent for shelter from the sun/rain. This was the infamous Trail Angel Apple and we felt so excited to be able to meet him while he was there and to talk to some of the through hikers, not to mention have an ice cold cocacola and cold water!
The passage just after meeting with Apple and the hikers was brilliant. It was pretty easy meadow riding through wildflowers and open air. There were views for miles and our moods instantly lifted as we made up some substantial miles in a little bit of time. The trial turned into gravel road and we rode on the detour towards the Dome Lakes Wildlife area. This area was absolutely beautiful and we had the opportunity to ride alond sides these lakes for miles.
The wind started to pick up and before we knew it we were battling a headwind as we motored towards our destination, which we had planned to go about 70 or so miles that day.
At probably around mile 45 or so, we started to realize that we would not make it to our destination until well after dark. Again, both of us were very tired, and Aliza didn’t feel like continuing in the dark so we called Patty Sag and asked if he could call and see if any of the cabins at Cathedral Cabins were available. We lucked out and there was 1 cabin with two beds! At least we knew where we were going to sleep for the night, and it would be with showers and a comfortable bed!
The trek from where we turned off to follow Cebola Creek uphill was a long schlog. The wind was picking up by the minute and the road was progressively more rough as we went. We wove back and forth to each side of the rode, avoiding the large cracks and rocks as we went, or at least trying to. Then the real climb started. Our legs ached from the elevation at this point of the day and it really took everything I had to keep motoring. My underside was taking a beating and my back hurt pretty badly from riding quite hard for so long. It was another situation where we just had to put our heads down and pedal and just sort of make sure we were both still pedaling our bikes at any given time. I listened to almost all of the podcasts I had downloaded and that’s really what saved me, mentally, though now every time I listen to That’s Bananas, I think of how horrible that climb was.
What goes up, must come down and down we went. Here was the glorious descent we had been hoping for for so long. The road meandered down as we careened through the corners and let or legs rest for a bit. It was twilight hour and there was a slight rain in the air, but the sun rays still poked through the clouds. It was magical. At the bottom of the descent, I managed to pass the turn off for the cabins, and it took us just a bit to realize it, but thankfully we noticed before too long and turned back.
The jaunt back to the cabins was a bit longer than we expected and on the way through the ranch we were chased by a couple of dogs which scared the crappers out of me! The owners weren’t far away, but it got my heart rate up. Eventually, I pulled up to the cabin to see Patty waiting for us! Wahoo!
There was just enough of the golden evening left to take a tour of the cabin area and ranch, which was absolutely beautiful and had everything we needed. There was a little shop in the house of the owner with goodies including freezer foods which we definitely bought and heated up in our cabin including breakfast sammies for the next morning and corn dogs for that evening! The shower was hot and therapeutic and washed away the day. I have definitely been on adventures where niceties such as a shower and a Patty sag were not an option, but I will say that it felt like such a luxury to take advantage of Patty’s support and lucky that we got a spot in the cabins. It really made the rest of the trip much more doable for both of us.
Day 12: Unplanned Zero Day
Stats: 0mi, Elevation Gain: 0ft, Moving Time: 0h0m, Elapsed Time: 24h
We woke up in the morning to sunbeams and rainbows. Well, maybe not rainbows, but at least sunbeams. Things had dried out, we’d had a warm bed and I was ready to attack the day. Aliza had other things on her mind. SHe was sore and tired and mentally just flambéed so, she made it known that she felt like she had two options. Option one was to ride the planned route for that day. We would be able to hit the highest point on the route, just past Spring Creek Pass at 13,271 feet. The climb is supposed to be epically difficult, especially by bike, but worth the views at the top. But…she felt that if she did this ride, it would sap basically all she would have left in her and she didn’t know that she’d be able to or be willing to finish the last couple of days. Option 2 was that I would ride the route alone and she would ride with Patty sag and catch me on the other side, where she would rejoin me for the last two days. Though I was half tempted to do this, I also knew that it would not be as much fun without ALiza and also we had made a pact that whatever decisions we made on the trail, we would do it together and get to the end together no matter what. It meant much more to me to cross the “finish line” with Aliza than to make sure we rode every single mile of the trail. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to experience the awesomeness of the high point, but also I knew it would still be there in years to come, so I could always come back if I wanted. Option 3, and the one we decided on was that we would hop in the Patty Sag wagon and make the drive up to Silverton and have a rest day and then leave from Silverton to complete the rest of the trail, which would take us two days. Aliza felt comfortable with that, said she’d try her best and so we agreed. We packed everything in the car and headed out.
Everything did not go as planned though…On the map, it looked like there was a “shortcut” through the middle of the mountain over to Silverton which would cut more than an hour off of our drive time. We didn’t know anything about the road, but we thought we’d give it a shot. The “shortcut” road eventually turned pretty bumpy, and then very unmaintained and basically turned into a jeep road. So, here were were with this large, fully packed, top heavy, outfitted van, bumbling up the road over increasingly large boulders and washouts and the like. Not a pretty sight. We eventually decided that we shouldn't go any further because the potential for getting high-centered and stuck with no turn around point was high. So, while the drive was really beautiful, and interesting as we passed a really cool old mining area, we had lost a lot of time (and gas), and I was feeling a bit grumpy since I wanted to be out riding anyway. I think this the theme of things - if I’m out riding, even on a hard day, even when I’m losing my shit, I don’t consider myself grumpy (unless I’m hangry - as both Aliza and Patty can attest to, but who isn’t grumpy when they get the hangries?) Anyway, I digress. But on rest days, when I want to be out riding my bike, especially if it’s an unplanned one, I’m not in my element and I go stir crazy. Anyway, we turned it around and I tried to get some sleep.
Somewhere in between the cabin loops and Silverton, on our new route which would take us about 3.5 hours, we stopped for lunch and had a mediocre bbq meal. It hit the spot, but I was tired and ready for the day to be over with. Anyway, we headed to Silverton, and were going to try to find a dispersed campspot just up the road from the town proper. We lucked out because our friends from Phoenix were in the area on a weekend moto trip and had camped just up the road as well and managed to save us a spot just down from where they were. We pulled in just at dark, ate a bit of food, set up a tent for Patty and I right next to a clear flowing creek. This moment was memorable to me, because there’s something about sleeping next to a creek/river that I absolutely love. It calms me, puts me at ease, makes me feel connected with nature. So, Patty and I got a little time to recap and decompress about the day and the adventure so far and he gave me a little pep talk for the two days more to come. I went to bed feeling ready to tackle whatever the CT would bring in the coming 48 hours.
Day 13: Molas TH to Hotel Draw Intersection
Stats: 29.03 mi, Elevation Gain: 5030ft, Moving Time: 6h38m, Elapsed Time: 10h18m
We rose early and Patty Sag drove us up to Molas Lake Trailhead. This allowed Aliza and I a head start of the day and we just skipped the stretch of the Wiminuche Wilderness Bike Detour from Silverton to Molas pass, which I didn’t feel bad about. Little did we know, but there was an Ultra Running event going on and one of the pitstops/feed stations was at Molas pass. Luckily we had arrived quite early so found a place for the van and geared up and threw down half of an energy bar because we hadn’t had breakfast that morning. Some of the first runners started coming through right as we approached the Trailhead. I figured we’d just pass them and that would be it. But! (There’s always a but) I didn’t have my climbing or my trail eyes on yet, especially because we’d had a rest day before. We also hadn’t had breakfast yet. AND there was a thick smoke in the air from the fires in, I don't know where - maybe Oregon, maybe california? I can’t remember. Anyway, it was thick and I couldn’t breathe. Though the trail at this point was rideable I was having a difficult time and we played leapfrog with multiple runners. I felt bad bevacuse I felt like we were ruining their race. Then I felt pressure to try to push as hard as I could on climbs because I didn’t want to get in someone’s way that I had just passed on the descent. The runners were all very kind, and we had a Timber Bell on so they could hear us coming, so I don’t think it was as big of a deal to them as it was to me, but suddenly I felt the overwhelming desire to just huck my bike off the side of the mountain and call it quits.
So far this trip, I had felt good. I had felt tired, happy, elated, exhausted, sore, hungry, a bit grumpy, but never defeated. I had kept my cool the entire time, never going into a tizzy, never feeling like I wanted to quit, and had tried to be positive the entire ride, especially because Aliza was having such a hard time. But this was my time. Every bump, bruise, slip, root, rock, hike a bike had caught up with me. I got off my bike, moved to the side of the trail. Aliza and I looked at each other and I just said, “THIS IS BLEEP DIFFICULT! I CAN’T EVEN! I feel pressure to go fast, and it’s making me mess things up and then I hike my bike more than I want to, etc. etc. And then came the tears. She just looked at me and cried a bit as well and said, “Hell, I was up for quitting like three days ago!” haha We had a little laugh, gave each other a hug and agreed that we’d just make it up the mountain at our pace and screw the runners and we’d have breakfast at the top.
So I mounted my trusty steed again, this time a bit more calm and collected, ate a quick snack and started the slog to the top. I felt much more confident, less hurried, and more mentally able to tackle the elevation we were in for that day. The only real bummer about this portion of thet rail is that it’s supposed to hold some of the best views of the entire trail. The San Juans are a destination point. And here we were, right in the middle of them, and yet we couldn’t see anything more than about 6 feet in front of us because of the smoke. I can’t imagine running an ultra in those conditions! But these runners were doing it! (I can’t imagine running an ultra…period). Probably somewhere at about 6 miles in, we hunkered down behind a rock because it was pretty windy and warmed up our breakfast. Oatmeal and Coffee never tasted so good. I felt revived and refreshed!
The climb seemed to continue for days - we eventually veered off where most of the runners were running (the 50k had a different turn off than the 100k and there are much less 100k folks than 50k folks). There were a few other cyclists out there that were on day-trips and I envied them for a brief second, but then decided not to because we were more badass than them without loaded bikes! They didn’t envy us, but were in awe that we were riding all that we did and cheered us on at a few spots when they were taking a break. Engineer mountain, one of the most famous destination peaks was also right behind us, but we couldn’t even see it. I had to trust that it was beautiful based on the 6ft range of sight that we had.
At the top we ran into a few through hikers that had camped on the ridge in a beautifully sunny spot and said hello. They looked like they were having the best time together and I appreciated what they had! That’s what it’s all about, right? We also ran into a mother and son hiking duo that were doing the whole trail together. It was so great to be able to talk to all these folks and just be there appreciating where we were and what we each were doing for our own reasons. This is one of the things that I love most about adventure trips like these.
Just before the descent down to cascade creek, we summited the Blackhawk Mountain turn off. This was one of the last major climbs of the entire trip and we were elated. We ran into two lady through-hikers who were stopped for lunch. We had a nice chat, they graciously took our picture for us and then were in awe as we started the rocky descent down to the creek. The decent was glorious, that was until I locked up my front break and endo’d into the side of the hill. Luckily, I caught it on my go-pro so it wasn’t all for nothing! Haha I was a little shaken by it, but hopped back up, nothing broken, nothing bruised really and continued my way down. I think that was probably Aliza’s favorite part (bar a few really exposed areas, which I actually enjoyed) and she killed the descent! It was absolutely beautiful. There was a bit less smoke on this side of the mountain and it was soooooo green and muttered with wildflowers.
We took a reprieve at Cascade Creek where we ran into a guy who had been out on the trail for a couple of months. He was one of those people who didn’t really have a schedule, and didn’t really have a time when he needed to get back. He felt like his time was soon, but he was still enjoying himself out there, so there he was! We would later run into his friend who had been hiking with him. This much older gentleman was kind and full of sage advice and we talked to him as we rested from the challenging climb out of Cascade creek.
We had communicated with Patty Sag and had planned that if the Van could make it to the intersection of Hotel Draw and the trail, that it would be nice if he could meet us there. So! He did! We pulled up around twilight hour, which is the best hour. We had an awesome descent coming into the camp area and I was actually surprised that we had met him so soon! I knew the van was a nicety to have because we could have either kept going to water or just camped on our own, but again, we were taking advantage of it because we could.
Protein Rice Crispy Treats for the Win!
As we were setting up camp, a cute little +60 Asian couple hiked on by and stopped to chat for a bit. They were doing the trail as well and had been out for a while. They were so full of joy and excitement, even on their last few days. They planned to take about 3 days to finish what we would do on our bikes, in one day. They were almost done with the entire CT and had been having the best time! #relationshipadventuregoals!
Patty and I got to sleep in the van that night and Aliza took the tent, which was such a treat! Also, such a treat was that I had made some Protein Rice Crispy treats before we left for the trail and had forgotten about them so we pulled them out and had a delicious post-ride snack! If you haven’t made those for any of your adventure trips, you should! They are delicious!!!!
Day 14: Hotel Draw Road to Junction Creek Trailhead (THE END!)
Stats: 40.8m, Elevation Gain: 5361ft, Moving time: 7h11m, Elapsed Time: 9h49m
For a day that is predominantly “downhill” much work was to be had. We had heard that some of the best trail, especially downhill trail in the CT is on the final day descending from Blackhawk Mountain. I would agree with that, but I would also say that no one talks about all of the elevation you gain in the mean time. What goes down must go up, and eventually comes down but with a roller coast in the middle. Mentally I wasn’t super prepared for the last day, even though I knew that we’d have over 5k ft of elevation gain. I figured maybe it was a misprint. How could there be that much climbing when we had to descend almost 10k ft! Well, that’s the CT for you!
We woke up early and started out. We left most of the stuff on our bike, just in case, but packed very light and actually removed our rear packs and left them in the van. Call it “cheating” if you will, but I knew that it would be so much better to be able to use our dropper posts on those descents, so why not have as much fun as possible on the final day of our epic journey! I was feeling pumped and ready to go. Aliza was feeling just ready to be done, so that was her motivation for the day.
This final day truly was epic. You get to ride through multiple layers of forest, descending through shale, rocky boulders, alpine single track, hero dirt, fading into thick shaded forest with pines, and eventually clear down to the forest bed by the streams and almost marshy areas and rock beds (which are not fun to ride, btw). Anyway, for the most part things went very well for both of us. Aliza was killing it in the first part of the day (Again, I think her motivation was just to be done with the whole blasted thing), which really fueled her fire.
I think for both of us, the most difficult part was along the stream bed. The trail was a rollercoaster with tight turns and steep pitches coming up and away from the stream. It was also a little muddy because of all the moisture from the previous days and just really taxed us. We had heard from someone that “you’re almost there,” which you should never believe because if you are expecting that you are “almost there,” you almost never are. Each turn becomes a tease and you are forever disappointed. We rode well together though and as the day went on, I started getting my legs under me as Aliza sort of faded. So I tried to help her out by some pep talks, positive energies (but not to the annoying amount) and to just keep moving.
The final hill was a bugger but I was on fire! I flew up that mountain and was super stoked! I kept looking back for Aliza and knew that she was coming and just kept on going. Eventually, she joined me for the final crest to the climb before we headed down the final descent. We ran into a young couple who were bikepacking just a few day trip on the CT. They were experienced adventurers and were having a blast - but going the opposite way we were. They gave their congrats on it being our last day and away we went!
The trail coming down from that final summit is epic. It was flowy and then rocky and full of technical bits followed by fast hero dirt through the trees with epic views, rocky, shale, everything! Aliza definitely killed the descent on her full suspension bike and I was just proud of myself for riding it all on my hardtail.
Suddenly, about half way down the trail, we saw Patty riding up towards us! It was so great to see him! We were spent and he had all this energy and just rode behind us and cheered us on. IT was loads of fun! I managed to crash a bit on some rocks though on a turn because I lost my front wheel, but again, nothing was damaged and I got up without a scratch. Patty finally went ahead so he could be there at the end with snacks and cold drinks ready. I’m not going to lie, but the last part of the trail seemed to take forever. It is generally downhill, but sort of flattens out and is very pedally. By the time we saw the sign of the TH coming up, I was definitely ready to be off my bike! We pulled through the finish line and just sort of stopped. It’s strangely anticlimatic to have finished riding that far and put in that much energy just to suddenly stop riding at a trailhead where there’s not really anyone there, no medals, no recognition. But that’s not why we do stuff like this, is it? I did feel accomplished, but I also just felt tired and grateful to be done. We took some photos by the sign and collapsed over by the van. More nom noms were had and definitely an ice-cold coca cola or two was drunk. We had completed what we had set out to do - which was to tackle the CT and get from start to finish in the best way we knew how.
Aliza was and is such a great adventure buddy. We have experienced so much type-2-fun together and I know she is one of those people who can motivate me when I need it, give me a hug when I’m down, just listen when I cry, and allow me to give the same to her. We often ride the highs and lows at a bit different times during our adventures which is perfect because she’s there to lift me up and push me when I need it and I do the same for her. Having an adventure buddy like this is such a wonderful thing and I’m looking forward to even more adventures with her in the future! Here’s to all of your and my future adventures! Signing out!
I feel very fortunate and lucky also that my boyfriend and forever partner, Patty, was there for the trip and was able to offer support when he could. He also got to experience the magic of Colorado backcountry riding and I’m looking forward to when we can go back on our full squish and experience some of those trails again. A special thanks goes out to all of the trail angels who we saw that helped us with a cold drink or a quick snack. We didn’t use/see them as much as the hikers do, but still greatly appreciate everything they do when they are out there. Also, a huge thanks to the Colorado Trail Association and all of the volunteer time and energy that goes into keeping the trail maintained. It’s a monstrous beast of a trail to manage and they do an excellent job! Lastly, thank you to Joan and John in Durango and Will in Denver who were kind enough to open their doors to us and be the best hosts we could ask for. It’s people like these in our lives that make these adventures possible! Happy adventuring you all! I wish the best for you and your type-2-fun adventures!
Signing out!