"Curtis Creek Manifesto"

...Its hard to keep secrets in a small town and with that said, I'm not mentioning the creek we explored this weekend.  Its easily recognizable if you've been there... It was wild how high the water still is this late into the summer.  I think it will be fishing really well up there in a couple more weeks but it was still great!  

Big Hole Crest

Mountain Biking the Big Hole Crest Trail has been a goal of mine since I first heard that it was possible.  The route is a 18-20 mile mountain bike ride on single track, contains over 6,000' of elevation change, mostly above 8,000' in elevation, and its not a frequently travelled mountain bike route.  I set off to do this with a buddy from work, John "the python" Slaughter, and Chloe "the dog".  

There are more hike-a-bike sections than I had anticipated and some of the climbs are just brutally sustained.

About halfway through the ride we got off the correct trail and ascended Red Mountain... Then Descended the wrong ridge down some of the most difficult riding I've ever encountered.  On top of all this we were already out of water and the mid afternoon sun felt hotter than ever.  It was slightly desperate.  

We had to hike our bikes back up the loose, steep, terrible trail we had gone down... About a 2,000++ vertical foot error!  It was painful and we still had 8 miles of riding ahead.  I don't think I have ever ridden a bicycle so tired and dehydrated in my life.  

Once we found the trail again we had a steep downhill-hike-a-bike to Government Pass.  Then a beautifully long downhill until another hike-a-bike up Squirrel Mountain.  This is my last photo from the day.  We were all tired after this ride but we made it!! Certainly a ride that tested me in many ways! 

Munger Moto

Munger Mountain... and all of its glorious singletrack has just opened to motorcycles as of today. Clark, Carter, and I went out and rode every trail in the area; putting 36+ miles of singletrack riding on the bikes.  It is so great to have such good riding out my front door!