As my wife reminded me upon my return, I've been trying to get out and immerse myself in Colorado's glorious aspen colors for over five years, but my brain or daughters births prevented it. Not this year!
The spot will look familiar to you if you've been gracious to view other trips -- but not these colors. Wow. Visual symphony of color. Glowing gold and orange with brilliant deep blue sky above and deep rich evergreen dappled around and behind with grasses of tan and rust all combine to delight the eye and feed the soul. I base camped, having a lazy ride in as my family hiked in (more technical than they all like to ride -- yet) to spend the day with me before they departed back home (we don't yet have gear for everyone for the 20˚F nights). They departed in the late afternoon of day one and I settled in for a few days of solitude and brain cushion recovery. Day 2, I woke at dawn, though the sun would still be 2 hours peaking over the hill (what I get for camping on the west side of a 14,000 peak!). My choices were to be lazy in my warm bag or get up and ride myself warm. I rode. Climbing that next ridge will always warm you up! Once I couldn't ride up the steep trail of Sentinel, I tied off the Hunqapillar and hoofed it the rest of the way to the tundra. Amazing views of the Sangre de Cristo and Collegiante ranges, as well as Lost Creek Wilderness, and South Park. After returning to my bike, I felt good so headed to Horsethief Falls, getting back to camp about 5pm. Standard day's food for dinner of beef jerky, butter, and dried potatoes. Day three: a leisurely breakdown of camp as I wanted things to thaw/dry before I hauled out extra weight, then up and over the three ridges before the trail ended and I rode Edlow road and Hwy 24 back home. Amazing trip and my brain has a bit more cushion again! We'll see if the snow allows more overnight trips or not this year. My second eldest daughter had a blast taking photos of me riding, and she has a real artistic eye emerging. http://www.flickr.com/photos/32311885@N07/sets/72157636166222556/ With abandon, Patrick www.MindYourHeadCoop.org www.OurHolyConception.org -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
