GET YOUR SIGNED COPY! After 2 seasons of research, and one year of a lot of writing and editing, Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes: Colorado, was released in October, 2017! Published by Mountaineers Books, a foreward by Chris Davenport, and featuring 102 routes, we think you're sure to enjoy it. Buy your copy here and we'll personally sign it for you!
When most people think about riding in the Salida area, they think of riding off of Monarch Pass / Monarch Crest, or maybe even the Arkansas Hills area off S-Mountain, right on the east edge of town. But, south of town lies the Methodist Mountain system of trails that is generally less challenging, but still equally fun. Little Rainbow Trail is the backbone of this system of trails.
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So, since we’re on a mission to ride lots of obscure miles, we found ourselves down by Needle Creek reservoir, east of Gunnison in the Cochetopa Hills. It’s an area that I haven’t been to all that often, or all that recently. In fact, I couldn’t even remember how I accessed the Flying Dutchman downhill the last time I was there 15+ years ago. The area is steep, rugged, poorly marked, and mostly the home of ATV’s and dirt bikes.
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Back when I was growing up, camping and hiking used to be a lot more challenging than it is today. One of the reasons is that hiking trails are far better maintained nowadays, but it is also because of the fact that technology has significantly evolved in the past two decades, and now we have access to a wide array of gadgets that can make spending time in the wilderness much easier and much less of a hassle.
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And that’s when the third world happened. We stopped. And we went nowhere for a long time. And people tried to drive forward in the wrong lane, and on the shoulder, and it was general chaos. And it was hot, so we kept idling with the A/C on, watching the needle drift towards “E”.
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June is always an amazing month in Crested Butte because we always see such fast change. At the beginning of the month, many of the trails are often snow-covered and not rideable. But, every day, the snow melts a lot more then you think it will. And every day you spot more and more wildflowers that weren’t there the day before. The rate of change is remarkable. And, aside from the astounding beauty, the sheer change is part of what makes the month of June so amazing.
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The last two years, we have been posting photos of wildflowers on Wednesdays through our social media accounts under #wildflowerwednesday. Now, it’s time to do something with those posts. Hence, the birth of our guide to Crested Butte Wildflowers!
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It had been an number of years since I had ventured over to Monarch Pass to ride. But, Monarch Pass has a lot of great options for mountain biking and last summer, I made it a mission to ride many of the trails there. First we started out with the standard Monarch Crest route, following the Colorado Trail until we descended via Silver Creek trail and then Rainbow. But, we took two more trips there later in the season – then checking out a descent of Greens Creek Trail and then another trip to descend down Starvation Creek Trail. This report will feature the last two of our Monarch Crest adventures on Greens Creek Trail and Starvation Creek Trail.
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Of course, there were more water taxis coming, right?
“Oh no,” Eddy said. “There is only one more water taxi. The teacher’s taxi. It leaves in a few hours. It takes the teachers back home to Cartagena. If it is not full, you can take it. But, if it’s full, then….”
Then we’re stuck. We’re spending the night on the beach most likely. Where we would eat, who knows. To make things worse, this island worked on cash, and we hardly had any cash left. Eddy had most of it.
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A beautiful city right on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, this city feels like you’re on the set of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. But, none of this series of films was actually filmed here. What inspired us to come was Romancing the Stone, in which some of the plot took place in Cartagena. Again, however, none of this movie was filmed her either. That didn’t stop us from coming to soak in the charming and colorful Cartagena this past April, though – after continuing on from our trip to Panama. Founded in 1533, this colonial city is as rich in history as it is in color and diversity.
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