Steamboat Mountain Biking: From Rabbit Ears to Soda Mountain
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Steamboat Springs will always hold a special place in my heart. I had some of my first powder skiing there as a child and I frequented it regularly during my college years (and beyond) for various freestyle skiing competitions – oooh, yeah, those good ol’ bumps on Voodoo. My first 24-hour mountain bike race was even there. Even though it was over a dozen years ago, I remember it well, especially freezing my ass off at night.
That said, for all the skiing I’ve done in the Steamboat Springs area, I haven’t given the riding much justice. So, after our friend Larry visited Crested Butte, he insisted I come up to Steamboat and sample their goods. He had a special ride planned out for us. We would ride from Rabbit Ears to Soda Mountain and then back to town.
From Rabbit Ears, we started out following a road that climbed above Dumont Lake which gave us some magnificent views.
Fog hovered in the valley below, while the Gore Range rose above it in the distance.
A view of Dumont Lake below.
We then hopped on the Wyoming Trail which started off as a fun descent, and then become more cross-country.
We rode by quite a few alpine lakes, including this one – Fish Hook.
And Elmo.
A few more shots of Larry on the Wyoming Trail.
Instead of taking the turn off the trail toward the Steamboat ski area, we continued on the Wyoming Trail to Buffalo Pass.
Approaching Summit Lake.
We stopped for a rest near Summit Lake.
We continued up on the Buffalo Pass Road where we veered off on a single track to head up toward Soda Mountain. The single track is unmarked, not well-traveled, and pretty hard to find.
We climbed up the thin trail toward the top of Soda Mountain. Larry.
Me.
Then the trail got really faint.
Then there was the down – a fun descent off of Soda Mountain.
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