Smoked Out!

With Joannie visiting family in Socal, Wyatt and I had to escape. The forest was completely closed including all trails and access. The air was hazardous. I put the camper on the truck and we headed east. We made it out to near Ely and camped for the night.

Old freight wagon, I think?

 

The following day found us camped in the San Rafael Swell. I was still set on making it out to Colorado to ride in Crested Butte, so the next morning we were still headed east. We made a stop so Wyatt could swim in Blue Mesa reservoir then headed up to Crested Butte. I drove out to the trailhead for the 401 trail loop to be sure I knew where to go in the morning. Then headed back and just barely managed to find a place to camp along the Slate river near 10,000 ft. 

401 Trail Loop

Sadly Wyatt had to sit this one out so I gave him a doggy cookie and headed out from the Judd Falls trailhead. I had about 6 miles and 1400 ft to climb on Gothic road before reaching the single track. At the top where the single track begins there were quite a few folks with the same goal in mind. The single track trail starts off climbing breathtakingly steep but mellows out a bit as you climb, however being at over 11k, it definitely did not feel easy! Soon enough I got to the top and then had about 5.5 miles of blissful downhill with incredible views before hitting the lower half of the trail with its roughly 500 ft climb. The trail ends at an upper parking area for Judd Falls trail and then I rode a bit of dirt road back to the camper at the lower parking area. For all the hype surrounding the 401 trail I was mildly disappointed. It's certainly a good trail but I guess I was just expecting more. The photos below are not in chronological order as this blogger platform flatly refuses to co-operate with me.

 

 

I actually wanted to ride more in the area, namely Teocalli Ridge, but the camping situation just pretty much turned me off. It is so crowded. I'm sure the locals could turn me on to all the sweet spots. Note to self: develop relationships in Crested Butte! So after the ride I decided to head back to Utah. We stopped again for another swim in Blue Mesa Reservoir, then continued west. Nightfall found us at the Westwater Rim west of Rabbit Valley in Utah. I felt that Wyatt had been patient enough and it was his turn to rampage. We did a ride along the rim and he got to burn off some madness.

The next morning we continued on, back into the Swell. The goal was the area around the Wedge where I had heard of a great trail around the canyon rims called Goodwater rim. We found found a campsite at "camp 4" which had some nostalgic value for me as Yosemite Valley camp 4 was the traditional home of the valley 'stonemasters'. Google it. 

Goodwater Rim

Due to the length of the ride I elected to have Wyatt sit this one out as well. Because we had lots of open territory he would get his turn upon my return. So From camp 4, I started my ride up the road to the start of the single track. This was different than the 401 trail start. Just a couple miles of basically flat dirt road. When I hit the single track it was immediately on the rim of the canyons and I couldn't help stopping for photo op's. I literally said out loud to myself "well that didn't take long, this could be a long day". 

This is a superb, relatively easy trail and I'm super glad I made the trip back into the Swell to nab it.

After this there is not much left to say. I spent the rest of the afternoon messing around camp and riding with Wyatt out along the dirt road. The following day Wyatt and I reluctantly turned toward home.