There’s “Mountain Biking” and then there’s “MOUNTAIN” Biking!

Many people consider mountain biking to be an activity. They ride for exercise, to enjoy the trail experience or to have some social engagement. Some race XC or DH or do free ride stunts, activities that border on the heroic.

It truly is amazing the range of experiences that folks choose to pursue on a Mt. Bike.

We all have our passions when it comes to riding our bikes, but there is one aspect of our sport that many overlook. Mountain biking can be a vehicle to experience places that can take days and a heavy pack to get to. Some of us use our bikes as a tool for ascending into the high country and aren’t so much focused on the quality of the “ride” as we are enthralled with the quality of the “experience”.

It’s one of the reasons I’m willing to slug it through scree fields and rock gardens, hoof it up steep slopes and suffer through oxygen deprivation. It’s all about the experience of facing the challenges and feeling like you’re on top of the world. And the bike? It’s just a vehicle to get you there and back. Yeah, you have to push it, carry it and you may even get to ride it, but it isn’t all about the ride in my book. It’s about the visual beauty of being way above the mundane world, in a place you know you can’t stay, and the feeling for at least one moment, that you have conquered the “Mountain”.

So it’s with this in mind that we ventured to probably one of the most scenic but lightly ridden areas of Colorado; The northern San Juan’s and the Colorado Trail on the Spring Creek Pass. Situated between Creede and Lake City, it is far removed from any major population centers and provides a unique experience of being way away from the hordes. This remote area has always intrigued me with its looming peaks and huge expanse of Alpine Parks. The Colorado Trail hits its highest point on Coney Peak at 13,300’ and it presents a unique experience of being challenging but relatively ride-able.

We spent two days riding off of the Spring Creek Pass on the Colorado trail during the Labor Day weekend. Even this late in the season you can get some gorgeous days up high and we were fortunate. This pass and the Slumgullion Pass to the west form a high mesa that extends out to the overlook of the Lake San Cristobal valley. The lake is actually formed by the slumping of the Slumgullion massive. Wiki has a write up on it for those who are curious.

The first day involved a roll to the north on Section #21 of the Colorado Trail. This leads towards the LaGarita Wilderness Boundary at the Miners Creek Drainage across Snow Mesa. Since it is only about 8 miles out to the boundary, we decided to try to make it a loop. We parked a shuttle vehicle about 5 miles down from the pass at the road out to the Continental Reservoir.

We rode up the trail from the pass and within the first mile the route got steep and rugged. It’s a slog for the next mile or so until you climb up the face of Snow Mesa, but from there on out it is just wide open tundra. Some of the most gorgeous riding terrain I’ve ever ridden. Undulating, rolling single track for close to 6 miles, all at 12,000’.

We got to the Miners Creek drainage at the edge of the Wilderness Boundary and climbed up to the saddle. From there we descended back down off the ridge and headed east out on Snow Mesa exploring our way on a pack trail that leads down the Willow Creek drainage. This trail was not a solid tread but rather marked with cairns. Not the kind of trail you would want to climb, but descending it was a blast.

And this is when Mt. Biking really does become “Mountain Biking”. As the venerable Sheldon Brown once said "Do not follow where the path may lead! Go instead where there is no path, and leave a TRAIL!" And this is what we did!

The next day we rode Section 22 of the CT to the south off the pass, on to Jarosa Mesa and out to the Carson Saddle. This section is much more scenic than the Snow Mesa area with its extensive
views down into the Lake San Cristobal valley high above the Alpine Loop Jeep Road.

The first part of the ride up onto Jarosa Mesa is basically a two track, but when the trail turns off up towards the Mesa it gets rocky and rugged. It wasn’t what I would call great single track, with buried baby heads and some steep slogging. Once up on the mesa the views open up and you realize why you’re here. It’s gorgeous.

From there you drop off the mesa and the trail becomes a lot smoother. The ride to Coney Peak involves numerous climbs and descents. Once on the cusp of the Coney Peak climb you realize that you haven’t been dropping as much as you’ve been climbing. Yeah, 13,300’ kinda sneaks up on ya.

The view from Coney Peak is one of the more spectacular views I’ve taken in, with broad expanses of Alpine Parks stretched out below you. Up this high everything is above timberline. Take your time to enjoy the scenery because with the work it takes to get here, you deserve it.

We dropped off of the ridge down to the old mining town of Carson via the Wagner Gulch jeep road. From there we rode the Alpine Loop Road back to Lake City to complete a nice 35 mile shuttle.

An intriguing option is to continue on the CT after crossing the Wagner Gulch Road and do the Cataract Ridge, dropping down the Cataract Gulch or even head further out and do the Cuba Gulch trail down to the Alpine Loop Road. I haven’t ridden either of these routes so follow wise back country practice and check the Topo maps carefully.

Another interesting option is to shuttle from the road to the Continental Reservoir up to the Spring Creek Pass. This allows you to drop off the Cataract Ridge to the east and exit on the West Lost Trail. And if you want to go HUGE, I guess you could make a loop using the Middle Pole Trail out to the Rio Grande Reservoir, but you better do that one in July and hope the snow has melted out. Check out the Cataract Reroute Map for some more detail.

The Colorado Trail offers up so much, and these sections are some of the more remote and scenic areas. They are wonderful Mt. Biking terrain but not meant for the faint of heart. They will work you, so bring the A-game and lots of Back Country savvy, it’s a big world out there!

Here's the Links to Day #1 Picts and Day #2 Picts... Enjoy!