Return to Cataract Ridge 9.3.11
(Last Updated On: July 31, 2017)
Late summer and fall is the time to ride the alpine rides, so we headed down to the Rio Grande Reservoir to ride my favorite of them all, the Cataract Ridge section of the Colorado Trail. Joining Brittany and I were Chris Webster, Sydney Dickinson, Hana Fiserova, and Ondrej Hejduk. For a lot more detail on this ride, as well as the possible Wilderness threat in this area, please check out my original Cataract post. So, on with the pictures of the stunning San Juans and Cataract Ridge…
This area is well known for its wildlife, usually in the form of large herds of Elk. This time it was a monster Moose.
Interestingly, we weren’t the only riders on the trail this day. Another large group, out of New Mexico, reached the CT via a number of different routes including West Lost Trail, underscoring just how much good, albeit difficult, riding is in this area. My pedal had exploded at this point, and I was considering bailing so I could get to a bike shop in South Fork, but our new friend Walt offered to let me use his pedal once we got back to camp. Thanks again Walt! Walt in action:
Some scenics- Sunshine and Uncompahgre in this one:
Cataract Lake:
Hana:
Find the riders:
Frank, rounding the corner:
Incoming weather:
Chris, Brittany, and I decided to bail due to the weather and my broken pedal. We thought we were lined up to ride Middle Pole Creek, but as it turned out, we were in an unnamed, smaller valley right before it. The rain cleared as we fought our way down the willows: (photo Chris Webster)
Oops. Should have continued all the way to West Pole Creek as we intended. On the other hand, the storm could have intensified and we might have been wishing for some willow bashing. Walt dropped off a pedal back in camp, so I was able to ride Snow Mesa the following day (TR coming soon). Meanwhile, Walt finished off his goal of riding every section of the CT the following day by riding the nearby Jarosa Mesa section. Congrats to him, and hmmm, I might have to do that next year….
For more info about mountain biking Cataract Ridge, check out out Colorado Trail Mountain Bike Guide.
Frank Konsella
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Did this get carved out of the San Juan Wilderness Bill? If not, did IMBA try or do we need to contact them? Udall is willing to listen.
Ellen, to be honest I’m not sure of the latest status. I’ll try to investigate unless someone else knows and would like to share…
So i looked at Udall’s maps and it does not seem like this area was part of the bill. I hope I am right. This is such a remote area and so few have biked here that I worry it could someday happen without bikers even knowing about it. The good news is that Udall seems to like the new “Special Management Areas” which is a fancy way of saying wilderness protection but bikes and main dirt roads are allowed.
Sounds like good news! I hope that Special Management Areas are the wave of the future.