It’s not a Trip unless you see Colors!

There are a few rides that you can only do at certain times of the year and it’s these rides that I look forward to all year long. It’s the “Fall Foliage” ride. I’m sure different parts of the country have variations on this theme, but here in the Desert Southwest that means Colorado Aspens.

Now everyone has their favorite place to go to experience this type of scenery. The top in my book has to be the Southern San Juan Mts. The Cumbres Pass East of Pagosa Springs is a classic, with the Cumbres to Toltec Steam Railroad running through it. Something about hearing the wail of that locomotive as it makes its way up the pass in the golden glow of Autumn.

Another favorite of mine if you really want to experience the colors of Colorado is the La Plata Mts. (West of Durango) and specifically the Dolores River Valley. The Stoner Mesa area has to rank up there as one of the most spectacular stands of Aspens in all of Colorado. It is huge and covers such varied terrain.

We have trek-ed to Dolores the last couple years to enjoy the experience of this spectacle and it never fails to impress us. This year was a little disappointing in that the Autumn hit cold and hard early on and the leaves literally got burnt on the trees. We saw many Golden and Green colors from the stronger stands, but many leaves were also brown and still on the trees. It’s no matter though, the colors that were to be had always leave me feeling like I am experiencing the end of another beautiful season of riding. It may signal the end, but it also represents the best.

A couple years ago we did a ride up Eagle Peak Trail and then came back down the Stoner Mesa Trail. I wanted to duplicate this ride with more of a “through ride” experience and I wanted to stay longer up high. Pouring over the maps, I decided that gaining the Eagle Peak could be done from a number of directions, but the one that made the most sense, based on where we were camped, was to head up the Johnny Bull Trail to the Calico Ridgeline and across to the Eagle Peak Trail descent.

It was a shorter approach to the ridgeline than the actual Eagle Peak Trail and I knew how rugged that trail was. I was a little nervous about how difficult this approach would be. It would be a leap of faith, because we could end up having to sling our bikes up steep ledge climbs. And people wouldn't have been too happy about that. But then again, it is an epic!

Pouring over the maps seem to indicate a stout initial climb up some switchbacks and then a climb along the contours up to a steep climb to the peak itself. That’s where the uncertainty lay.

I put a shout out to "El Freako from Rico”, Mr. Jeff Hemperly, but he had never attempted a climb up that side of the Calico Ridge. He did give us feedback that a friend of his who had ridden it, didn’t suggest doing it. Ok, not quite what I wanted to hear, but that's just one perspective. And they ride Single Speed and we were "Geared" so maybe it wouldn't be too bad. At least that's what I told myself for reinforcement. With little in the way of local knowledge, and sharing what Jeff had to say, we decided to go for it. Isn't that what an adventure is all about after all?


We drove up Denton Road from our Camp Site at the West Dolores Campground and found the vaguely marked sign for the Johnny Bull Trail about 3-4 miles up from the Stoner Mesa Road cutoff. We geared up and off we went.

First we had to get across the Dolores River. It is shallow here but somewhat wide and you had to roll it because there is no rock walkway. Just be prepared for that initial challenge. Then sure enough the first mile or two were climbing up a steep well defined trail through worn but ridable switchbacks. A couple miles up the trail leveled out and sure enough climbed slowly up along the contours. Aren’t Topo Maps great!

We rode along through some nice meadows and before we knew it we had reached the intersection with the well known Calico Trail. I guess the best I can say is the Johnny Bull is not an easy trail to climb, but it is a nice track and it isn’t what I would call heinous by any stretch of the imagination. I guess we lucked out, or was it good map reading? Ah, what do goat's know anyway.

From here we encountered a stiff hike a bike for about a mile or less up a skree field to the ridgeline below the Calico Peak. The scenery up on the ridge was spectacular! The views across the valley of Anchor and Expectation Peaks, with Calico and Eagle Peak along the ridge, were all about why I ride my bike. Some folks may find their thrills in other places, but mine is on top of the world!





From the top of the Calico Ridgeline we had a mostly downhill run to look forward to from here. About 20 miles of downhill fun! The ride down the Eagle Peak Trail to the Stoner Mesa Trail is one of the best downhill adventures this side of Monarch Crest in my book! It really is that awesome.




This was an epic ride no doubt. Not as daunting as the Wheeler Trail adventure but the altitude gain will challenge you. However, the variety of terrain is spectacular and with the Fall colors it just seems to come alive. Once pointed downhill, the 5-6 miles of pain that Johnny Bull provides begins to fade into the splendor of the season. Autumn doesn’t get much better than this!

Here’s a link to our pictures at the Stoner Mesa Photo Album.

There are long rides… and then there are Epics!

Everyone has their own idea of an “Epic”. For some it is moving back and forth along flowing fast single track for miles on end. For others it is managing to survive a long technical descent or powering up a long sustained climb. And yes, I guess any real Epic will incorporate all of these attributes.

However, for me, the basis of any true Epic is the scenery. And in my mind the greatest of all scenery starts above Timberline. I have a saying on MTBR that “something changes at 12,000ft”. And no doubt, there’s a whole other world up high.

The problem with these types of “adventures” is many times they are not the most ridable of Mt. Bike trails. Unless you are doing a downhill bomb of Monarch Crest, much of what is above timberline will be somewhat marginal when it comes to riding. The trails tend to be what I like to call “Rocky Mountain Single Track”, which is usually a deep trough of crank busting notchy trail with areas of tufted grass meadow over growth separating some pretty stiff steep climbs. And as we all know, there is a difference between a “hiking trail” and a Mt. Biking Track. Many times these adventures include a healthy dose of “Hike-a-bike”. However, my objective is to try to find those gems that are ridable, scenic and provide a variety of experience, while minimizing taking my bike for a hike! Of course, that which goes up, must come down!

Now these types of adventures are surely not for everyone. Although those who have hung in there and finished them will after some time admit that the effort was worth the experience. And maybe after some recovery, they’ll actually get bit by the “Peak Bagging Bug” and go in pursuit of “High Alpine Adventure”. So attitude is everything. The other thing about being a “Peak Bagger” is it requires a dedication to amping up your game down low in order to be able to survive and perform above timberline. It's the main reason why I race and train. Gotta have a motor at this altitude. It also takes experience to understand the limitations and warning signs of trouble up high. You can die up there if mistakes get compounded. Injury, physical exhaustion, weather and mechanicals can all turn a wonderful, exciting outing, into a life threatening situation. I guess the best I can say, is Epic’s of this proportion are not for the meek of heart and take lots of preparation and training. Be safe up there!

So with this in mind we went off to complete what has to be close to the avowed Breckenridge Epic. The Wheeler Pass Trail is well known to those of the B100/Breck Epic Racing crowd. Many ride over Wheeler Pass into Copper Ski Basin and do the paved “Bike Trail” around to Dillon and back to Breck. But why miss out on all that high country. Instead you can circumnavigate the "Ten Mile Mountains" by linking the Wheeler Trail to the Miners Creek Trail and then down to the Peaks Trail. If you’ve found your fill up high you can always drop right down the Gold Hill Trail and call it a day. This is what we ended up doing, since we had ridden Gold Hill to the Peaks Trail the day before. Now if this doesn’t qualify as an “Epic”, I’m not sure what does.

The riding combines quality single track with the ascent up the Burro Trail out of the Breck Ski Basin. Once up to the Crystal Creek area you are then faced with some more lung busting climbing on the actual Wheeler Trail up to a “Leadville Columbine Mine Verified” hike-a-bike to gain the ridge. In reality, I’m sure Lance or Dave could clean it, but yours truly hiked it.

Once on top, you can then ride much of the lower alpine meadows up to the Wheeler Pass ascent. I made a bit of the switchbacks to the pass but my lungs finally gave out and it was back to walking. The view from the pass is awesome. In my book, well worth the climb! Once off the backside towards Copper, it was a hairy bit of a descent with some exposure, until you hit the intersection to the Miners Creek Trail. Then it was more hiking combined with some wheeling until we finally got to the Miners Creek Pass. From here it was all sweet downhill.



OK, a few get offs to clear skree areas and swamp meadows, but can you visualize 12,400’ to 9,800’ in about 6 miles or so. Yee Haw! We then had to climb up to the top of Gold Hill Trail, which after our little adventure seemed to go on forever. It’s one of those climbs that isn’t steep and isn’t really hard. It’s just a grind! However after all day at +12,000’ you just want the pain to stop. You know you have to keep going though, because the beer is calling you. Finally we got to the top of the “hill” and it was truly all downhill from there to the paved bike path. A nice little 5 mile ride up to the town and back to the condo and we were some spent but happy puppies.

Doesn’t get much better than this in my whirld. On the Epic Scale I’d give it a solid 8 out of 10. The scenery was some of the best in the “WORLD”. And the trail conditions were not that bad. Hike-a-Bike rating was about a 15%. Which is a decent amount of it, but the views more than made up for it. Downhill component was about a 7 out of 10. I would have given it more because hauling down the Miners is way cool, but then you have to climb up to Gold Hill. Climbing quotient is about a 6. The Burro Trail is a solid climb and my honey Sandra is the “Queen of the Burro”! Beyond this the climbs get pretty tough and although the quality of the Gold Hill ascent is awesome, when your legs are running on mile 20 after significant altitude, it’s hard to appreciate it.


Now the big question; is it better to do it in the opposite direction? Hmmm, the climb up out of Miner's Creek is rugged, but I guess not quite as long and arguous as going up the Wheeler side. You will have to climb up to Wheeler Pass from the Miner's intersection as well, but again shorter and steeper (I'll take shorter!). And I think the downhills might be better coming off the Miner's in that direction and also to the south side to the Burro Trail. I'd like to try it someday to see!

And the all important last question; would I do it again? I'd say heck yeah! I have other peaks I want to bag, but I would consider coming back to do Wheeler again, especially in the opposite direction!

So if your objective is to get to the Top of the Whirld, I’d say go for it! The Wheeler Pass is definitely “Goat Approved”!

Check out more pictures at the Picasa Album for the Wheeler Pass Epic