The very finest of COLORADO

That pretty much sums it up. A Pro AMA road racer got down it with assistance on a loaded GS. I got down it solo on my XR350 and was very careful to keep my speed down to a crawl and kept my feet on the pegs.

The problem is that it is very steep, very loose in spots, and a very long way to fall if you go over the edge. There really isn't a graceful way to lose control so you really just need to be very careful and keep the speed way down. Treat it like a trials section.

You will know you are there when you start a steep descent with a small waterfall running along the left side. It slowly turns right and gets steeper as you descend. By the time you get there, you have no choice but to keep going.

Knowing what I know, and having made it down before, I would take Imogene Pass. However, if you feel that you are capable of tackling it, it is a very beautiful trail and is actually pretty easy except for the steps.

Look on YouTube or Vimeo for some videos on Black Bear on a MC. You'll find a lot of them out there.

B - that's some real good stuff. Thanks for the post up. Been saying I'm going to work less and play more one of these summers and now a CO trip is on the horizon.......... less than 2 weeks away .
Thanks for the teaser pix and personal take on the trails - a lot of those places are on my "list" - including the pubs .

CMF

Last year as a ride leader out of the Rendezvous, my group went over BBP.

In the group were two DRZ400's, a DRZ250, a couple of big Honda 650's, an 800GS, and two 1200GS's!!!!!!!!

The issue for anyone on a "big bike" is gearing. This section in particular is a steep loose decent. Doing that, while distracted by the scenery, with little or no engine braking is difficult. To do this while effectively freewheeling and only using the brakes on loose surfaces with turns around obstacles is a test of the riders ability. My 16 year old daughter on the 250 chose to walk it down. The 400's made it. The 650's tried it some and then walked. The very good rider on the 800 made it. The VERY good rider on a very stripped down 1200 made it with some mild drama, and the other 1200 was an epic failure.

So, a bigger bike makes it harder, but the better the rider, the better your chances. I really think that a big component is the visual intimidation that you experience when you come around the corner and see what lay ahead!

It will be a ride from the Silverton gathering, so if you want some buddies along for support, that would be the time to do it!!

Saw Imogene Pass as alternative to BBP so I did some homework :

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=BLk4Dv-qhk8&desktop_uri=/watch?v=BLk4Dv-qhk8

I'm wondering if that snow on the trail is gone by August? The more I research the more I feel I should trailer a 250 behind the 1200. I'm 5'9" & on my toes in the driveway. Haven't really been tested on the "T" yet, guess I'll just have to do Engineer Pass & judge from there. Everyone's RR with heavy bikes in mind really helps. All good stuff!

Sasrocks: Good feedback. Sounds a little spooky and a little awesome. I definitely need to try it w the 800.. But I think the take home message I'm getting here is don't go alone, which I wont. And wear diapers, which I will.

Goofaroo: Also good feedback, best I can do is walk every obstacle before hand and go with a buddy. Assuming I have enough of a flat spot to put a stand down.

eddyturn: Will do. I hate to ruin the surprise by watching ahead of time but that beats falling off a cliff, or even worse, dropping the bike off the cliff.

Colemanfu: Glad I could help, have a great trip.

Zg: Good advice and I may try it with the group. That sounds ideal for that kind of poor decision making.

As I sat down to work on the next days RR.. I realized when I was moving pictures into folders between phone and computer.. I managed to lose all of the final days pictures when I prematurely cleared my phone. So unfortunately, I have nothing to show you of the ride back from Ouray through Owl Creek Pass where the original True Grit was filmed, the Red Stone clay ovens, pictures of the sandwich I ate at Jerry McGuires in Aspen, Independence Pass, the topless Swedish girls I saw at the river, the oatmeal stout at Tommyknockers or the storm I rode through on the way home...

For someone who's not typically a technotard, I'm genuinely quite embarrassed as I should be..

So instead of the trip home from Ouray, here's where I went today

I wanted to check out Argentine Pass as it looked close and easy? I took off up hwy 70 from Denver, got irritated with the construction traffic before Idaho Springs and pulled off to go through Central City to Oh My God road(pronounced Ehr-mhe-gherd) and sneak in the back door of Idaho Springs. So to speak.

Out of Central City I took Russel Gulch and checked out some remnants of the ghost town.

















These broken old buildings are all over the place, most are near people's houses so I didn't want to get too close, but the area is lousy with 'em.





Virginia Canyon Aka Ermhegherd road.








F yeah..








Of course..





Headed up to Georgetown to grab a little lunch then jump on Guanella Pass road to find the trail.


Great spot and awesome food.


Less then 2 miles up, right on forest rd 352.



Cool little river, sure glad I don't have to cross it...


Shit. Looks like half the river is in the river, and half the river has decided to take the trail...






Thank jebis. riding upstream isn't too bad, it's just irritating as you can really see what you're hitting. Luckily this section didn't last too long.

Easy Peasy



Now the tough part... This next crossing was a rude awakening.
I've read other ride reports and have seen the rivers people take their pigs though.. I'm sure this doesn't look too impressive but keep in mind a couple of things.. A) This is my first river crossing.. B) I'm by myself. C) As I'm learning the hard way, I didn't check to see how deep the middle truly was before I started in. It didn't "look" too deep so I thought I'd give it a go. D) I grossly underestimated the current on some fairly quick moving water.

1/4 the way across, I have to get off the bike as the current is too much for one leg to hold up as footing is getting difficult to maintain with the current against my legs.

1/2 the way across I kill the engine because the water is almost in my air intakes with the bike straight up.. a little tippage would have the bike sucking water. Nevermind the fact that it's taking every fiber I've got to keep the thing upright, which the bike now is literally dragging sideways downstream with me scrambling to keep her upright.



A little panic, a ton of cussing and every ounce on grunt has the bike safely on the other side.


The other bank is steeper then I would have liked but it beats trying to dead lift a bike in the middle of mid-thigh moving water.


If you look close you can find my favorite thing about my Heidenau 150's. I'd throw them away tomorrow if they weren't so tasty on the road yet flaccidly mediocre in the dirt. As for chewing up the mud, I think I'd get better traction with racing slicks. Pos.


Aaaand another wider and maybe deeper crossing. I give. I'm going back to take a higher trail I saw earlier. I'm begging for a swim.


My answer to going back through the last crossing that kicked my ass? Go with the flow. I rode with the river downstream and worked my way over to a good spot to pull out and towel off. If you follow me.

At the top of the picture is where the deeper part of the river follows the true river and the shallower part hangs a left to take the trail for a while.


The higher trail has snow, I can do snow.






A short time into this dryer and higher trail has the trail getting pretty rocky with plenty of loose, larger rocks.

I feel myself getting sloppy. I'm beat. The water crossing took it's toll and my knees aren't happy. I'm ashamed. Very ashamed. I'll try this trail again a little later in the season when there's less run off and a little less excuses. Back to Denver..


A parting shot of Georgetown


One for the road


Home.


Beer:30

Loving your pictures man, a lot of these areas are places I've visited in the Jeep. Not sure I'm up for taking the KTM up there.

Your penchant for micro brews has me wanting to link up for a ride. I'd be slabbing it mostly though as I have basically no off-road experience on a bike.

Keep it coming.

You're on.. Rumor has it there's one or two micro breweries along the front range. I'll pm ya. And no worries on slabbing it, but sooner or later you need to get that hoss dirty.

Definitely, I'll be getting it dirty once I've had a chance to learn dirt on my father in laws 250, no need to deal with 500lbs plus of bike as a newb.

Plenty of micro brews up in Firestone, Longmont, Lyons, Estes Park, and Fort Collins.

Good stuff! You are aiding and abetting my Escape from Dirty Jersey caper.

I'm always up for a brew on the front range. Living and working in Longmont has me visiting Oskar Blues and Lefthand quite frequently...

you had me at beer

BRUTSQD, I love it!!!! Absolutely STUNNING!!!!! Thanks for taking the time to post this; these things are a lot of work!!! Hope to run into you on the trail one of these days!!!

I so hope that you don't mind if I take the soap box for 2 seconds. I can't possibly think of a better platform than your stunning photos here as a backdrop.

But the sad truth is that access to these beautiful vistas is disappearing at an alarming rate and we are about to get shut out of the Grand Junction area if we don’t do something about it.

You can learn more about the topic here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=897372 and other ways to help here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=878092.

If you have ever been here to Colorado or ever want to come ride here one day, this affects you directly no matter where you live, please help us, otherwise there may be no reason to come one day if they have it their way.

Please send an email to gjfo_rmp@blm.gov and tell them how you love to come to Grand Junction to utilize the beautiful off-road opportunities provided and how you spend a lot of money when you come. We have until the 25th.

Again, BRUTSQD,my sincere apologies for the hijack, please direct all further comments on this subject to one of the links found above.

My family and I lived 13 years in Westminster, just north of Denver. I loved the time we lived in Colorado, but the state became just to damn liberal for me. We moved to Houston last year. I still plan on riding back to the mountains every few years though. Some of the best trails and views in the country in my opinion. Colorado is an awesome place to visit, but not live. At least for me. Great pictures sir.

Where's the updates? Don't tell me you've become bored with CO riding already.

+1

I take off next week for the COBDR. I'm concerned about the fires interfering with the route.

I haven't been able to find any info to validate or assuage my concerns. Does anyone have any insight you can share?

Tony Huegel (Byways) has been kind enough to post links and updates on the 2013 Wild Fire watch thread. It is in the Rockies section. Just scroll a couple of pages and you will see it.

It is in the Trip Planning section