Despite Fall's official arrival on Friday, the temps remained summer-like. We took advantage by packing up and heading back out to the hills. We explored the Big Hole area and got on the CDT on new (to us) portions of the CDT in the Bitterroots. This area has been the subject of much belly aching for cyclists as it has been on the chopping block as per our infinitely wise (sarcasm) government debating whether to declare it a Wilderness area (such designations do not permit biking). Fortunately it has been held up in government bureaucracy while they determine what to do with the area. When you go to places like this, it really makes you wonder why they feel the need to do anything.
The reality is the area gets so little traffic (would venture to guess the CDT proper probably sees less than 100 bikers a year due to ride season based on snow pack, etc). We saw ample evidence of horses on the trail and they really trash a trail quickly.
Alas, the never-ending debate of horses and bikers. The reality is that areas like this see so little traffic for any user type that it would be pretty silly to close it down to any specific user group (motorized not-withstanding as they should be kept out in order to maintain the pristine nature of the area).
oopsy - took a left turn on the way of the post - back to the weekend. The good thing is that while the government spends their resources trying to figure out what to do, it creates a window for some essplorin'.
The campground was desolate - we were the only ones up there and the area was pretty quite. The foliage is turning and in some areas, it made for very vivid and bright scenery.
The riding was rugged, tough, technical, but super scenic. There is no easy way to manage loops on the trail since most of the trail is point to point but there are ways to link together segments if you are willing to spend some time riding on dirt roads to get back to where you started. We managed logistics via a shuttle car but still ended up putting some road miles in to get to the car.
We ended up not going as far as we had planned mostly due to the aggressive nature of the trails. The trails take longer to ascend and descend with a lot of gnarly rocks that can make progress slow. I can see how it would be a good idea to make sure to pack extra (in addition to the extra you should carry) tubes or perhaps even tire as some of the sharp rocks and erosion control (sharper yet) that the trail coughs up.
The trail must have taken a lot of work to build as there are sections that were slightly elevated to avoid the swampy marshy meadows & run-off.
We ended up riding 28 miles which produced around 3,500 ft of elevation gain. The elevation gain is a little misleading because most of it came on two short sections as you can see from the elevation profile:
Those steep little point sections included some serious grunting and hike a bike to summit on a couple of saddles around 9,200 ft. If you look at the profile, you can tell you climb around 1000 ft in 2 miles to gain the saddle!
The topo shows
I am looking forward to getting back out there at some point for further exploration but this was a great taste of what that area offers. Fantastics views but certainly not a trail for the meek or timid and don't be afraid of steep technical ascents and descents with an occasional hike a bike thrown in for good measure.
Pictures forthcoming in tomorrow's blog....
