Friday July 26th thru Saturday August 3rd, 2002, Ward Combs and myself embarked on a mountain biking adventure to Durango, Colorado and Red River, New Mexico. This is the story of that trip.

Day 1…left OKC and drove to Durango, set up camp at Hermosa Meadows Campground, north of Durango.

Day 2…woke up and went for an acclimation ride to get used to the altitude. I knew a road loop from the campground, so we went on that, only I missed a turn, so we had a “bonus climb” of about three miles, but also had a screaming downhill. We rode 20 miles, went back to the campground, and decided it was time to ride a trail. So, off to a trail system called the Log Chutes, just outside of Durango. Log Chutes is almost 100% singletrack, with only a few tough climbs, even for our newly arrived bodies. The last couple of miles of the trail is part of the IMBC downhill course, full of steep drops, whoop-de-doos, and is extremely fast if you let it be. We missed the turnoff to the main trail while having too much fun on the downhill, and ended up below where we should have, so had another “bonus climb”.

Day 3…got up and went to the west side of Durango to the Dry Fork Loop. I had ridden here before, and told Ward that once we got to the top we would have a “16 minute ride to the bottom”. We rode up and up for about 4 miles, (for over an hour) then reached the top section of the trail. This couple of miles is part of the Colorado Trail, and is extremely sweet singletrack through the Ponderosa Pines. Just past where the turnoff for the return downhill is, there is an overlook called Gudy’s Rest, where you can see for miles. While at the rest area, we say Ralph and Cindy Taylor from OKC riding up from another direction…amazing who you’ll meet along the trail. From there we returned to the downhill section, and true to my word, we were back to the car in 16 minutes.

Ward contemplating the view from Gudy’s Rest along the
Colorado Trail section of Dry Fork Loop.

After a break for lunch, we decided to ride Animas City Mountain, on the north edge of Durango. We started up the initial steep switchback climb when Ward blew up his derailleur hanger and broke his chain. So, back to town, dropped off his bike at a local shop where they replaced his derailleur, chain, hanger, and put in new derailleur cables in less than 3 hours (OKC bike shops take note). So, back to the trail. Animas City Mountain is a 6-mile loop, with the first half consisting of 1400 feet of climb up steep loose rocks. The views are tremendous; as you climb the eastern rim of the “mountain” (really a tilted mesa) you can see all of Durango and the Animas River Valley. When you finally reach the top, it’s a quick 12-minute ride to the parking area, unless you have to change a blowout as we did.

Steve climbing Animas City Mountain, the Animas
River in the background.

Ward along Animas City Mountain trail, the
Animas River Valley on his right.

I’m not one to stand on the edge of oblivion, but here I couldn’t resist…that is the view looking north
from the Animas City Mountain Trail.

Day 4…time for some serious altitude. We drove north to Molas Pass, where the elevation is 10,970 feet. We did a bit of hiking on the Colorado Trail, had a quick lunch at Molas Lake, and then hit the CT at Molas Pass, to the west toward and past Little Molas Lake. The Colorado Trail is a very nicely built trail, with an excellent flow. The section that we rode was about 5 miles long, mostly uphill (and up to about 11, 750 feet elevation) from where we started, but of course, only 16 minutes back to the car once we started back down!

Molas Lake

Steve and Ward on the Colorado Trail.

Day 5…time for an Epic Ride! We had arranged for a shuttle to the north trailhead of Hermosa Creek Trail. So we had to get up early and we were on the trail by 7:30 and the temperature was 43 degrees! It didn’t take us long to get warmed up. Hermosa Creek
Trail starts off right along and in the edge of Hermosa Creek, then eventually climbs away from the creek. The first 6 miles of the trail is doubletrack and wide singletrack, but once past this point, it’s all singletrack, and sweet it is! The beautiful thing about this trail is that if you start at the north end, you have a net loss of over 1000 feet, with only one major climb.

Getting ready to ride.

That’s Hermosa Creek on the left…

Ward riding the wrong way (anything for a picture!)

A brutal climb awaited us at mile 15, but once over this, all downhill again. From the end of the trail to our campground was about 6 miles, and we hit close to 40 mph on the paved road down the mountain.
Day 6…Pack up and move. We loaded up and headed to Red River, New Mexico after vowing not to ride today, and let our legs rest. They needed it by now. We camped just outside of town along Pioneer Trail in a primitive campsite. My sister, Melissa and several of her mountain biking friends were camped there, so we joined them.

Day 7…time for another Epic Ride, the South Boundary Trail. Little John joined us for this ride, and showed us all how to ride while bleeding. We shuttled to near the top (being wusses) and rode from there. The trail was a great mix of doubletrack, singletrack along the edge of the mountain, and wide open fast whoop-de-doos. The views from the trail are great!

The group: Robyn, LaDonna, Steve, Little John, Ward, Melissa, and Karen

Melissa flying down the pine cones and rocks.

Ward picking his way through the rocks. I won’t
tell you if he fell at the bottom of this.

I had to take this picture three times to get it right, much to Ward’s dismay.
He actually liked flying this whoop-de-doo, but the third time (this picture)
he whipped out on the landing and semi-taco’d his rear rim. Oh well,
it’s all worth it to fly the OEF colors.

Day 8…last day to ride. We took the ski lift in Red River to the top of the mountain and from there rode down Goose Creek Trail. This would be a really great trail, except for the fallen trees that are too big to ride over…all along the trail. Must not have OEF to maintain this one. Still a great ride with lots of aspen-filled meadows and nice singletrack.

Steve and Ward riding into the sunset?

A fine trip, a fine time. The trail summary:

First day road ride: 19.8 mile loop
Log Chutes: 7.6 miles with 900 feet of climbing
Dry Fork Loop: 8.0 miles with 1200 feet of climbing
Animas City Mountain: 6.4 miles with 1400 feet of climbing
Colorado Trail from Molas Lake: 10 miles with about 800 feet of climbing
Hermosa Creek Trail: 25.9 miles with about 500 feet of climbing but a net loss of 1100 feet
South Boundary Trail: we rode 18.4 miles of it, mostly downhill
Goose Creek Trail: 12.4 miles mostly downhill

Almost 110 miles in 7 days, and almost a vertical mile of climbing. Whew, I need a rest!