{"id":3023,"date":"2012-07-04T03:29:26","date_gmt":"2012-07-04T09:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/?p=3023"},"modified":"2012-07-04T09:08:06","modified_gmt":"2012-07-04T15:08:06","slug":"co-trail-segment-8-tennessee-pass-to-elk-ridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/co-trail-segment-8-tennessee-pass-to-elk-ridge\/","title":{"rendered":"CO Trail Segment 8: Tennessee Pass to Elk Ridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Colorado Trail’s 8th segment stretches from Copper Mountain all the way to Tennessee Pass. Last fall, however, I had ridden the stretch between Copper Mountain and Elk Ridge<\/a>, the high point of this segment, so I only needed to ride between Tennessee Pass and Elk Ridge to complete the segment. While this strategy worked, if I were to do it over I would ride from Copper to Camp Hale (with a shuttle or a large road loop), and then ride from Camp Hale to the Holy Cross Wilderness boundary on the 9th section. See my CT guide<\/a> for more info. The primary reason I would do it differently is that the climb from Camp Hale to Elk ridge is fairly difficult, with a number of hike-a-bike sections. The ride:
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The section from TN pass to Camp Hale is incredible and worked well in both directions. It’s one of the “don’t miss it” sections of the CT.
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Camp Hale<\/a>:
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Well, that’s what 3,000′ in five miles looks like. This is going to be tough:
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Despite the occasional hike-a-bike, the ride up Kokomo pass was still mostly rideable and eventually led to great views of the Holy Cross area:
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Kokomo Pass:
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Elk Ridge, slightly above Kokomo:
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From the highpoint, I could see one of Colorado’s many wildfires burning that day (June 25)- the Treasure fire outside Leadville. Later that day, when I was riding the 9th segment, there was a lot more smoke. More on that with the 9th segment’s TR.
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Finally I was able to turn around at Elk Ridge and enjoy some downhill. The steep descent goes by quickly. Near treeline, I ran into a swarm (for lack of a better word) of Miller moths. Apparently, there are more this year<\/a> due to the mild winter and spring. It’s an interesting sensation to ride through these things and have them ping off your helmet. Here’s a short video:
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