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| Hiking | 15.72 Miles |
4,030 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.72 Miles | | | |
| 4,030 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This trip was supposed to be mountain biking to the Crags to do Pikes Peak. What it ended up being was me pretty much dragging or pushing my Godforsaken mountain bike through washed out trails and roads along the Ring the Peak. Hindsight is 20/20 and I should have rode my bike to Crowe Gulch and taken the toll road back to my house after experiencing Mt. Esther trail which will need some extensive repair. I could have just driven to the Crags. In all fairness this would have been a nice hike in itself w/out the bike. Great views of Pikes Peak. There are also tons of beautiful creekside campsites, by the Crags trail head.
Mt. Esther and the Ring to Peak trail as well as all the utility roads saw their fair share of water damage from the recent epic rains. The few times I attempted to get on the bike it felt like two flat tires riding in several inches of sand.  I kept telling myself the trail would get better. It didn't it got worse. The map I purchased with trails was not very good and although I'm glad to say I found and downloaded a gpx track someone posted for the Ring the Peak trail I wish I would have seen it before this morning.
The limber pine trail had a short spot where I could ride and as I rounded a corner a black thing startled then growled and I did what I suppose would be my go away bear roar. Needless to say it was a 100lb + lab mix and I'm pretty sure I scared the owner as well. 
Other than that the weather was great saw lots of deer. The scenery is great. The distance is much farther than I estimated from my last exploration hike and the last 5 miles are pretty significant uphill. I had already committed to getting to the crags and was not about to go back the way I came. I knew during the last couple miles I was going to be too late for a Summit attempt.  I planned on bailing out to the highway 67 and the 24 through Divide, Woodland Park, and Green Mountain Falls for the return on PAVEMENT! No way I was going back the way I came. I'd probably still be on my way home. FYI the shoulder is lame on the 67, but the 24 has a bike lane all the way home.  |
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