Geek's Guide to Colorado.

[MaParkerColo]

Geek,

This is terrible, no wait I mean great, no I uh...crap. I have been itching to get a dual sport to play in some of the areas you're highlighting and now you have really made me want one BAD! I wonder if I could trade someone the old Suzuki for a serviceable older XR or something? Anyone want a great old 450 road bike

[woodzrider]

I've been making Colorado my annual sabbitical since 1992 only missing one year since. Stayed in Silverton for the first time last year and going back again this year. Will be staying at the Red Mtn camground july 3rd-10th, then going to Taylor Park area july 10th -16th. I ride a plated KTM exc 450 and it works great up there also have atv's as well -1 day on bikes, next day on kwadz. Can't wait! Everything Geek says about alt alt sickness and dryness is TRUE. You can't drink enough water up there. I have also experienced all 4 seasons in a days ride up there. Take it easy for the first few days if your a flatlander like me and you'll be okay! If anyone is in the area during these dates, come look us up! We'll be in the largest toyhauler in the campground!

Great thread Geek! Keep it up.

Robert

[jimmy73]

Geek,

This thread is great! I moved to Colorado springs in May '08, deployed to Afghanistan in June '09. Did not have time to ride too much due to train up and such. As I sit here in Afghanistan reading this it is giving me so much more information than I would have gotten on my own.

Thank you for taking the time to put this together.
Jimmy

[GoDoMore]

This is one of the greatest...I grew up in Evergreen and rode a dirt bike and camped around the hills all the time, left in the mid 70's and have been trying to get back every since...I now have a 08 KLR 650 and this is making me want to get back even more...

Thanks Geek and keep up the good work...look forward to seeing many mor pics and maps

[rrittner]

Being from Steamboat, this thread is giving me ideas for rides this summer, we get summer right??!!.

How about a Guide to Utah? Moab?

I still have 3 feet of snow to melt before I can get my bike out of storage.

[Wasser]

From a native to a non-native, ya done nice work Geek!

Welcome and glad to have great people like you sharing the awesome sights, trails, and reporting! Keep up the great work.

Hope to run into you one of these days. Cold beer is on me.

You do need to add a disclaimer though......

Please enjoy your visit and riding in Colorado but, you can't move here. Their is no more room for anybody else.

Looking forward to more posts.

[grub]

great job Geek, those black bear pictures still kill me

[Geek]

Hondo coming down Mosquito Pass. Mosquito is one of the highest passes in Colorado which will take you over 13,000 feet, but you need to be on a bike that you are comfortable riding over "baby head scree" for a couple of steep stretches.



I've been trying to decide how to rate a Pass's difficulty? I've had many different ideas but none seem to be a "best solution". Perhaps the easiest might be a simple scale of 1 to 4... I am open to suggestions? Then there is the issue of some routes being inconsistent... Black Bear might only be a 2 for most of it but could be a 3 or 4 for about 150 yards of it.

Then there is an issue of what I find easy someone else might find hard or vice versa...

Off the top of my head, some of the passes I'll be writing about include:

Guanella Pass
Webster Pass
Redcone
Radical Hill
Middle fork of Swan Creek
Georgia Pass
Lasalle Pass
Independance Pass
Weston Pass
Boreas Pass
Tomichi Pass
Hancock Pass
Hagerman Pass
Taylor Pass
Cottonwood Pass
Hayden Pass
Cinammon Pass
Engineer Pass
Corkscrew Pass
California Pass
Hurricane Pass
Ophir Pass
Black Bear Pass
Imogene Pass
Mosquito Pass
Kingston Peak
Tincup Pass
Kebler Pass
Scholfield Pass

...I am sure there are more.. but those give you some idea of the scope of what I'm working on. I'm going to try and take some time to map each one out so non-locals can actually have a hope of finding them if they are so inclined.

I'll also talk about some great routes/areas like Peak to Peak Highway, Riding up Mt. Princeton, The Poudre Canyon, Taylor Park, Four Mile, etc.

...and then I'll see from there.

Sure there are plenty of more "involved" rides that Colorado locals like Enduro-ince, Unaweep, Esteban, Doug Render, Hellsickle, etc know.. but I'm aiming this at someone who is wanting to come to Colorado and be able to find some "epic stuff" on their own. Stuff that they can enjoy without a tour guide.

None of these passes are 'secret'. They are all public access routes that you may or may not happen upon if you were to exploring Colorado on your own. Many of them are very technical. Many of them your granny could enjoy.

So with that in mind, I'll also try and give indication on what a specific route's appeal is be it stunning views, technical challenge, etc. Maybe I should put some sort of "desirability" rating?
Like which ones are the most impressive, must do, etc ?

I'm open to suggestions before I delve in as I'm hoping to come up with a "format" I can use consistently for each route as opposed to just babbling on randomly about each...

Is more information better or is less information better?
Thoughts?

Perhaps I'll just wing it. I'll get started tomorrow.

American Flag Mountain in the heart of Taylor Park is a ride you won't soon forget!

[tele-steve]

Great thread Geek!

For a rating system I would look at the river classification for rafting and kayaking. This is done on a system of Class I-V, with a break down of +/- for another level of detail. Check out this link for an example.

Class I would be "easy graded dirt road, easy 2-up", Class V+ "remote, very difficult, break down or injury can lead to extended (multiple hours) evacuation times or impossible recovery of vehicle"

You can then also rate the passes as "mostly Class II with a short Class III section of 100 yrds".

A really great guide book for reference is Colorado River and Creeks. This was written by some local (Boulder) guys who know a thing or two about boating, but also know how to write a guide book.

I know this is a lot of work, but I know a lot of people will find it really helpful.

[Brian-M]

Well... this thread has successfully engaged that 'itch'...





bastard. Doing that to someone with no money (and nothing but time).

[Geek]

You just need to get your priorities straight Brian and trade that crotch rocket for a big thumper with some knobbies

[eakins]

drinking alot of water & taking ginkgo is key
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...titude&spell=1

QUOTE=CA Stu]Altitude:
Does spending a couple of nights acclimatizing at intermediate elevation (i.e. Durango, Ouray) before venturing up to the highest peaks and passes mitigate the effects somewhat?

Thanks
CA Stu[/QUOTE]

[eakins]

since geek is spacing on steamboat/nw colo area i'll write about that.

buffalo pass (routt nf) comes from north park over the mountains to steamboat. i'd rate it a 2. it's scenic and could be done on a big gs. plenty of camping up there. steamboat area has a ton of graded county rds to explore. north of steamboat is hahns peak/little red park area. this is dirtbike heaven as it's sparsely populated. there is plenty of technical jeep rds & ample single track. you can camp and base outta little red park for days on end of mtn riding. steamboat has 2 natural hot springs: strawberry park & old town hot springs/health & rec. steamboat has alot to do in the summer if you bring the family & you go ride.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/mbr/recreati...vumindex.shtml
http://www.steamboat-chamber.com/
http://www.strawberryhotsprings.com/2005/
http://www.steamboathotsprings.org/

west of steamboat is dinosaur n.m. & browns park. this is wild west stuff. very remote & scenic. craig is the base town. gas is avail in craig, town of dinosaur & the browns park store till 7pm. dino has a ride down to the confluence (echo park) of the green & yampa rivers with camping. unreal canyon ride that should be a must do for anyone. imagine riding to the bottom of the grand canyon & camping. few people outside of the area even know about it. the yampa bench rd is a great ride that follows the yampa. north of craig is the bears ears district with jeep rds & single track. it's the western continuation of the hahns peak forest area. nwcolo is a member here and he lives in craig & knows the nw part of the state.

http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/maps.htm

[Geek]

I'm not spacing on it at all Bill... I'll be putting info about it and I'll be appending that info as I go deeper into Dinosaur on my 950 this summer than I got doing 80 miles of dirt around there on my R90 last year I can't wait!

I'm going to make an effort over time to make sure this report includes bits of all of Colorado (some of it will be written while I'm off exploring Montana ).

That said.. I appreciate your input!
I've not ridden Buffalo Pass and will pop over and check it out sometime soon.

[eakins]

oh good. us mtn folk way out here were feelin left out.
let us know when you want to camp down there.
it's a spring thing like moab as it gets hot in the summer.

Originally Posted by Geek

I'm not spacing on it at all Bill... I'll be putting info about it and I'll be appending that info as I go deeper into Dinosaur on my 950 this summer than I got doing 80 miles of dirt around there on my R90 last year I can't wait!

I'm going to make an effort over time to make sure this report includes bits of all of Colorado (some of it will be written while I'm off exploring Montana ).

That said.. I appreciate your input!
I've not ridden Buffalo Pass and will pop over and check it out sometime soon.