Riding out of Crested Butte, Colorado

[SpringerMan]

Hello All

Here goes my first attempt at a ride report with photos and all.

I went out exploring some old mining roads outside Crested Butte, Co. after a friend told me she had driven a rent car out one road and returned to town via annother. I had known a road or trail connected the two but had never explored the area enough to know what was really there. So here goes:
This is an area on the Slate River I've fly fished many times.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_842.jpg
Sometimes I even caught some but I had never ventured very much farther up the river than this area. This time I did! After several miles of river road I began to climb steadily to this area, Paradise Divide.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0900.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0899.jpg
A new experience for me, I had been vacationing in Crested Butte since 1984 and had never been to this area.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0902.jpg
As you can see the trees really get scarse at this altitude. Leaving Paradise Divide and heading toward Schofield Pass was this road.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0903.jpg
At the end of that long and winding road was a peaceful vally and I arrived at the summit of Schofield Pass.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0905.jpg
The road back to CB was mostly down hill from this point on and included some great scenery and passed through the old mining town of Gothic.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0908.jpg
Looking back towards the Schofield summit.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0909.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0907.jpg
Upon returning to Mt. Crested Butte (the ski area) via Gothic Road, I took Washington Gulch Road to where it intersected the road between the Slate River and Paridise Divide that I had traveled in the begining, Here are some sights from that area.
There was a Mountain Man Rendezvous. Looked like an Indian rendezvous to me!
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0894.jpg
That is Mt. Crested Butte just above the Tee Pee.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_848.jpg
The ride was probably only about 35 miles in all but I was ready for a break after that. Hope you all enjoyed the pictures and sorry for any sloppy typing or spelling.

Leon

Sorry about the picture resizing - like I said it's my first attempt with pictures

[rgatling]

Nice! I want to be there right now!!!

[dbdolan]

Good stuff I enjoyed the pic's and report. Try resizing the photo's to 640x480 that seems to be a good size for everyones connection.

[Tourmeister]

I hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it... I hate that I cannot ride there all the time :doh: Your pics only add salt to the open wound :-P :tears:

Looks like you had a blast, good for you! :thumb:

[jsb223]

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/SpringerMan_2006/IMG_0903.jpg[/IMG]

I wanna ride there...

:thumb:

[Jay61]

Fantastic pics. A 35 mile trip like that would take me all day and a handful of memory sticks for the camera.
Wish I was there with fly rod in hand!

[BigRoach]

Wow!
Your pictures gave me goosebumps, and a feeling of anxiety I don't usually get this early in the morning! I LOVE that place!! Last summer I went to CB, and had a blast! If I ever go back, I'll have to remember that trail. The only trail riding I did was on the Brush Creek Rd./ Pearl Pass. :
:pray: :zen:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/Broach1/Bike%20trips/0435277-R1-046-21A.jpg
http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/Broach1/Bike%20trips/?start=20


I wanna go!!!

[SpringerMan]

Big Roach

I've wanted to ride Pearl Pass for a long time. I made it near the summit years ago on 4-wheelers but that's as far as we went, the weather was closing in fast.
A bike shop in Gunnison didn't really recomend trying to cross Pearl because of a lot of loose rocks on top. According to www.cbtrailriders.org Pearl was still snowed in as late as about August 10. There were signs of mountain bikers pushing their bikes through the snow. Maybe next year, or maybe if I'm real lucky I can make it back up there in late September.

Leon

[Tracker]

great photos
I definitely didn't get enough CO this summer.
:drool:

[buck000]

Oh, man, that's gorgeous stuff. I'm terrible at DSing, but even I'd like to try some of those roads, just to experience the views... :hail:

Of course, what this means is that I hate SpringerMan...with all due respect. ;-)

[TeacherDan]

Oh that is so Gorgeous! I can't wait to ride my bike on those roads! The pics were great!

[Hoop]

I rode up the south side of Pearl Pass maybe 5 years ago, it was a hoot, lots of curves and steep spots, a few spots with loose rock, but definitely do-able. We were running out of daylight, so turned around and came back. I've heard the north side is worse.

There is a lot of great trails to ride in that area, and a lot that I don't really want to be on!