Way back in the 1860’s and 1870’s, back before Colorado even became a state, survey crews from what is now called the U.S. Geological Survey fanned out across the Rocky Mountains to catalogue, measure, map and name the mountains. Imagine that, being given the authority to name mountains! Most of the names we use to this day came from those 19th century surveys.
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Continuing with my plan to work out a loop linking the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail I set out to test ride another segment this week. This time around I started where I left off here, at the narrow-gauge railroad grade above Mt. Princeton Hot Springs.
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Next up on our 14er climb list was Huron Peak. At 14,003 feet Huron just makes the list of Colorado 14ers but what it lacks in altitude list-topping, it makes up for in remoteness and rugged beauty. Huron has the distinction of being the Sawatch 14er farthest from a paved road. What that means is that when you approach it from the lovely Lake Ann basin you are surrounded by nothing but wilderness for miles in every direction. No towns, highways or civilization of any kind are visible from Huron’s slopes. A perfect place for quiet seclusion.
Or so we thought.
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It’s been almost a year of riding the trails here in Salida and I still can’t get over how good they are. But lately, what’s really got me interested is the prospect of linking together the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide trail into a single big loop doable in a day.
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It’s mid-June and most of the snow has melted from the high country so it was time for our first 14er of 2021. I picked La Plata Peak as our objective for the day. La Plata Peak sits deep in the central Sawatch range near Mt. Elbert and Twin Lakes. At 14,336 feet, it is the fifth highest mountain in Colorado.
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In recent years I’ve come to really enjoy hiking. While cycling takes up most of my time and energy, hiking has become the low-impact alternative for getting outdoors in the summer.
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It was way past time to give the road bike some love. It’s funny, in Houston I practically lived on my road bike. Pre-COVID my routine was long group rides on weekends, recovery ride on Monday, hammerfests on Tuesday and Thursday, summer races on Wednesday, rest day Friday. Like clockwork. For years. About the only time I rode my mountain bike was to race. But that makes some sense. Houston is pavement rich, trail poor. Here, the equation has been flipped and I now find I live on my mountain bike while the road bike mostly collects dust on a hook in the garage. It was time to right that wrong.
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When I’ve mentioned to my new neighbors that I’ve been riding the dirt roads and trails in the Arkansas Hills a couple of them have asked, “Have you been to Turret?”
Huh? Where?
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After my Fooses Creek ride a couple of weeks ago I began thinking of other places in the area where I could get the fat bike back into the mountains in snow. Preferably someplace with a well-packed trail that goes a little deeper into the woods.
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