BikingCrested Butte

The new Upper Upper Trail, Crested Butte

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Last fall, volunteers from the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association, including yours truly, built a new trail at the start of the Upper Upper trail and continuing above Grant Lake. This portion of the old trail is on private property, so the trail was moved before any conflicts arise. While I enjoyed the old trail (which is still open, for now), the new trail is even better, in my opinion. But first, the upper loop, currently a wildflower hotspot:
flowers on upper loop crested butte

My favorite loop using these trails is to go down the upper and then up Whetstone Vista, which I’ve always preferred going up. From there we went on the Upper Upper to the new part (the upper upper upper?) (instead of the lower upper upper?) (or is it the middle upper?). But first, Whetstone Vista:
whetstone vista trail crested butte


The first part of this trail, above Grant Lake, was a section I wasn’t able to help out with. It’s awesome. 15 years ago, trails always got worse when CBMBA worked on them. They’re doing a tremendous job these days however- when riders with vision build a trail, it’s a good trail. Whoever was on this section- Thank You! The jump into the bermed out turn was great…
upper upper

crested butte mountain biking

Back in the aspens, the trail is filled with bridges and berms.
upper upper loop

The smile says it all:
upper upper trail

This is a section I spent some time on. The high banked turns in this gully were as fun as we invisioned when we built them. Building trails is a lot more fun than I ever realized, especially when you have a connection to the trail.
upper upper loop crested butte

We were having too much fun so we continued on down Tony’s trail, which has some of the best flowers in the valley right now.
tony's trail

flowers tony's trail

crested butte mountain biking paradise divide

Check out the new Upper Upper some time. I’m sure it still rides just as well in the opposite direction. See you out there.

Frank Konsella
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Frank Konsella

Frank loves snow more than anything... except his wife.    He ensures his food is digested properly by chewing it 32 times before swallowing. He is a full-time real estate agent serving Crested Butte and Gunnison and would be honored to send you his monthly newsletter.

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