I tried timing my mountain bike ride yesterday such that I would beat the storms that were due to roll in later in the afternoon. It did not seem to matter as I got full on hailed on up in the Highlands. To the point where I had to tilt my head and look down at the ground while riding so that I would not get nailed in the face...ouch, it hurt!
The ride started in Thompson Park to Herman Gulch to the Highlands via Moose Creek then turned around up at the top and headed back down via the dirt road back to Herman Gulch to Thompson, over to the Archery Range to Blacktail Canyon and back out to the car.
It ended up being a good solid day with 30.4 miles, 3 hrs 20 mins, & just over 4,000 ft of elevation gain. The route:
Elevation Profile:
View up at the Highlands - somehow it managed to unload as I rode towards the top of the road and then really opened up once the descent started:
view looking south west:
It will be a while before the upper trails are open...there is still a lot of snow up high on the north facing aspects...view of the CDT heading down to Basin Creek:
On the return I saw some down power lines....scary - it was not sparking or anything but I was amazed at just how much flex the power lines have without snapping. That is one of the risks with all the dead trees (due to the beetles). I called the power company when I got home and tried explaining where I saw this...hard to do when you are trying to explain a trail to a non-local - "It is 1 mile from junction X, by the big rock and trees" Fortunately the person they dispatched to was local and knew exactly the area I was talking about when we chatted.
The legs felt pretty good (with the exception of the climb up the Archery Range which is steep and especially mean on a singlespeed!)
The ride started in Thompson Park to Herman Gulch to the Highlands via Moose Creek then turned around up at the top and headed back down via the dirt road back to Herman Gulch to Thompson, over to the Archery Range to Blacktail Canyon and back out to the car.
It ended up being a good solid day with 30.4 miles, 3 hrs 20 mins, & just over 4,000 ft of elevation gain. The route:
I switched up the direction of my ride a little and went up a trail I usually go down and noticed some boulders that warrant a return trip for a proper recon. This is about as featured as I have seen on the local granite - the down side is lack of good landings...still will merit more exploring - sounds like a perfect day hike with the mutts!
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