Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Horse Gulch Trail System

In case there is any confusion let me say: Durango kicks ass for mountain biking.

I got up to the sounds of lots of happy birds up in the Junction Creek Canyon, ate some breakfast, brewed some Maté, and then put on my lycra and headed down to the middle of Durango. My plan was to park somewhere free, and then roll onto one of the trail systems that can be found at the edge of town. I found a lovely little park called Rotary Park right near the roaring Animas River. I parked got the bike out, clicked in at 8:30 AM, and found my way to a trailhead within 5 minutes.



At first I climbed up to a trail that my map showed skirting around the Mesa that Ft Lewis College is on. The picture above comes from that trail. There were shrubs blooming, a great view of the town, and lots of pretty women walking dogs. What can be nicer? And the singletrack? It was climbable.

As I came around to the point of the mesa, I found this pump track and a few dirt jumps. Ft Lewis is a mountain biker's school. Seems like it might be hard to actually go to class or study though.



After I left the Ft Lewis College area, I crossed a road that went up to a place where many earth-moving machines were creating Progress. It's hell to see a place as beautiful as Durango suffering progress, especially when it takes the form of trophy homes, huge condo complexes, and the like. But it's understandable. Durango is pretty &*%@$ nice.



The trails that are found out off of the Telegraph Trail are utterly killer. They are not difficult. They tend to be smooth, swoopy, utterly hard-packed, and of course, climbable. What a pleasure! Imagine being able to ride out there on a whim, any time.



I did not return to my truck until almost quarter to 1. I was riding the whole time. Over 4 hours. And I had a fabulous time. What an asset.

When I got back to town, thunder was rumbling and a big dark cloud was looming. I was going to just re-fill my HEED bottle and hydration pack and head over to the Test Track, but it looked like that would be a recipe for wetness. So I ate a ham sandwich and went to the library.



Looks like things are improving now though, and I'm burning daylight.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Team Velveeta,
I really enjoy viewing the photos on your blog, as they make me dream of getting dirty riding single track. Right now the County is proposing to build a road across 4 prominent trails in the Telegraph trail system and I'm trying to fight the power. At Horse Gulch Blog, I've documented the issue and the players, and now I want to start a petition. It would help me if I had a picture to go along with the petition. Since the area I wanted to shoot is closed due to the seasonal wildlife closure, I'm limited. Would you allow me to use your picture tom-purvis.com/images/blogFoto/horseGulch2.jpg of single track, or some other Telegraph/Grandview Ridge related picture on my petition? If you're undecided, that's fine too. Just let me know. I'll send you a copy of the petition if I can find your email address.
Best,
Adam Howell athowell@gmail.com