4 day Mini Tour: Denver > Longs > Ned > Boulder > Denver

My last big push physically before my 3 month summer tour begins- and more importantly I think, a trial run with the 'new' bike and my gear setup. Set up the bike last weekend, packed up on Wed/Thurs and I took a 'vacation' day Friday and hit the road at 7am headed west.

My agenda for the long weekend: bike tour to Longs Peak, hike to the summit of Longs, ride to Nederland and then find my 'puter seat in the courier office on Monday morning.

I elected to climb via Golden Gate Canyon, the most direct route onto the Peak To Peak HW. It is a long, long climb... a few years ago when I was "training" for my first Utah Tour, I tried to climb this road, sans gear. I had to surrender to bowing my head over my bars near the top of the long ascent. Yet today I, smugly, crushed it. 50lbs of gear and I made a steady snail's pace up into the upper edge of the Foothills. Not to brag, but all my training has really paid off! I used to think that working as a courier counted as training. False. Very false. Since early January, you could say I've been sorta focused on training, 5-6 days/wk... running, swimming, weights, yoga, some spin classes, a few weights/spin/yoga (what the hell is that?) and of course many long rides in the mountains made possible by the unseasonably warm and dry winter we had.

So after 16mi of rolling flats and 18mi of of climbs, I finally gained the Peak To Peak HW

From here I headed north on the P2P for ~50mi, undulating between 8K and 9.4Kft  through Nederland, Ward, Allenspark. Shortly prior to the Longs trailhead/camp turnoff, I stopped by Olive Ridge campground and met Roland & Margaret, a retired Swiss couple halfway through their year long RV tour from Buenos Aires to Alaska to NYC! They shared a beer (american Budweiser) as we chatted about my euro tour and art museums near Basel, their hometown.

 
Despite threatening rain clouds all afternoon, I arrived dry at the Longs Peak campground, still closed for the winter, around dusk. Some overnight storms brought rain, lightening and sleet and I packed up camp still encased in ice at 5:30am Saturday morning. 82mi and 9900ft gained my first day out with full gear.

Hit the 7.5mi (each way) Longs trail at 7am on foot and climbed above a beautiful inversion

The weather was spotty; snow flurries w/o accumulation all day. A few times I considered turning back but each time I'd stop to regroup, the clouds would start to break before I was ready to turn tail. And so I kept pushing up and ahead. Until I got through the boulder field and saw a tent, I'd been the only person hiking up this high today.

the "trail" through the boulder field en route to The Keyhole

I pushed through 'The Keyhole' and things started to get far more intense in terms of climbing, altitude and weather. The signs had warned that this was "not a hike" rather a "climb" and I finally began to understand their advice. The backside of The Keyhole was no joke; one wrong slip would send you sliding down into dire consequences!

The Keyhole

The red/yellow bullseye paint marks the "easiest" route to scramble beyond The Keyhole.

Traversed the west ridge and caught up to two Tennessean brothers while ascending "The Trough." Now that I wasn't alone up here in the dicey conditions, all three of us pushed onward through "The Notch" and across "The Narrows." The snow was picking up and starting to accumulate, and the warmer rock faces were beginning to freeze over. Things were getting messy and dangerous. We made it to the very last steep pitch before the Summit Ridge when one of the brothers looked ahead and murmured, "This is stupid."

We all agreed. One slip, which was increasingly likely, would lead to instant death as you cascaded off the cliffs below. We turned back at 13,900ft, just 350ft below the summit. Wise decision... wiser yet would have had us heading down much sooner. There were no epic views, no grand ski lines, no majestic summit. We were just experiencing it for what it was, but that was perhaps better than running into a trail traffic jam on a bluebird day with people streaming onto the summit.

13,906ft

  The return back to the Keyhole was harder than the climb up because the continuing snow/wind was covering our tracks as well as the painted route markers. And shit was getting slick! We progressed very slowly and cautiously with only a few scares; when the Keyhole came into view all 3 of us let out a howl of relief. The risk had not abated entirely, but the worst was behind us. I made haste down the mountain towards my bike/gear so I could ride back down to the Natl Forest campground 6mi south. The sky was still dropping flakes when I returned to the trailhead at 9400ft, but the storm was breaking up and I let out for the other campground where I knew I'd have the next day for the 'dryer cycle' aka Colorado sunshine!

As I dried, organized and hashed out my gear, I had the realization that this stuff, give or take a few items, will be my only worldly possessions for the next three months halfway around the world. I think I'm comfortable with this prospect... certainly wish I didn't have an apartment full of crap to deal with.

In the afternoon I hit the road again and headed south on the P2P HW for 35mi to camp in the National Forest near where I often go mountain biking. Weather squalls missed me again; 2 out of 3 ain't bad. In the early morning I packed up and rolled into Nederland for a morning coffee before jamming down the canyon to work dispatch duties in the courier office.

After 9 hours in the office, it was back to the road to ride home to Denver through the 'burbs. A very successful 4 day trek! About 175mi on the bike and almost 15mi of high alpine hiking for the long weekend.

Denver > Squaw Pass > Bear Creek > Deer Creek; 102mi, 8000ft gained

I began my weekend with hopes up riding the paved road to the summit of Mt Evans at 14,264ft. However, a cold storm front was approaching and the forecast called for a 70% chance if thunderstorms in the afternoon. So I tried anyway despite not expecting to be able to safely (or comfortably) gaining the summit. Alas, I made it up to Squaw Pass at 9807ft while the clouds were swirling in and the temps were dropping. I could see my breath, and knew that it'd be in the upper 20's once up another 4500ft higher.

So I bailed on my Evans summit goal and instead rode to the end of the line up Squaw Mountain. It was 45 degrees here at 10,600ft. Not quite the amazing vista I'd hoped for, but I do appreciate having cell reception:

Some good views on the way back down to Squall Pass, however:

I cut over down Witter Gulch gravel road to Upper Bear Creek Canyon Rd, which eventually led into the town of Evergreen. From there I continued down to the little village of Kittridge and turned south on Meyers/Parmalee Gulch Rd to get to Deer Creek Canyon. I'd ridden these canyons a few months ago; it was fun to hit them backwards today.

I love this section of Deer Creek; you might think you were in the southern Utah desert:

Took a couple of detours on the bikepath ride home in order to surmount 100 miles... if you're gonna ride well over 90mi, may as well bag a Century, right? I'm disappointed not to have summitted a 14er today, but glad not to have gotten caught in a frozen thunderstorm above treeline. Hopefully the weather improves by next weekend and I'll go for it again.

my new friend

As my 3 month summer tour approaches, I lucked into a sweet deal on a Surly Long Haul Trucker touring bike via my coworker's girlfriend's brother. Today I finally got over to pick it up and bring it home. It's a 'beaut, my new friend the 'Iceland Machine.' This bike is designed and built especially for touring and I'm stoked to have the right tool for the job this summer. On my previous Utah tours I successfully utilized my old aluminum Bianchi cyclocross frame, but for a journey of this magnitude I wanted something more durable and purpose driven. Now I've got it, for a good price and pristine peace of mind. Thanks, Declan! [photos coming soon]

sunset mountain biking Nederland; 1700ft gained

I was covering dispatching duties in the Boulder office again today; brought the mountain bike along and hopped on the bus up to Nederland after work. I squeezed in about 2.5hrs of trails in the convenient West Magnolia / High School trail system. Actually found some new trails I'd not explored before, which was fun.

The high country aspens are just beginning to send out their buds:

And eventually I found some leftover snow around 8700ft:

Rolled back through the town of Ned around 8pm with plenty of daylight left. Bombed down Boulder Canyon under the full "Super Moon" and treated myself to a post ride dinner of burger n beers at the Mountain Sun brew pub. What a way to spend a Friday night, yes?!?