Colorado Adventures

The Monarch Crest Trail is one of the best mountain bike trails in Colorado, maybe even the United States.  Starting from the summit of Monarch Pass, west of Salida, the Crest Trail follows the spine of the Continental Divide  as it winds across the mountain tops.  On a good day, you can see all the way across the western side of Colorado, to the San Juan Mountains in the distance.  It’s beautiful. [Read more →]

Stretched along the whitewater of the Arkansas River, below a high string of 14,000 peaks, lies the Upper Arkansas River Valley. Locals call it the Valley of Fun and it’s home to some of the best mountain bike trails, road rides and hikes in Colorado. Time for a road trip!

The singletrack dipped and swooped across the hillsides, splashed into a small stream and tightly turned back uphill. I shifted down and stood to power up the small hill. At the top I tucked back into the flow of the trail, leaned loosely into the corners, dropped through easy rock gardens and it all felt perfect. All mountain bikers want to find trails that flow fast and smooth through the woods and I’d found one – a prime stretch of singletrack above Buena Vista.

Mountain Biking the Colorado Trail near Salida, Colorado

Below me, the green Arkansas River Valley stretched out into the horizon, but I didn’t have much time to look as I gave in to gravity as it rolled me into the next section of trail. I was riding the “Hot Springs Ride”, a fun section of the Colorado Trail that connects two hot springs. After pedaling a few miles of this perfect singletrack, I fully planned on stripping down to [Read more →]

Text and Images Copyright Nathan Ward – All Rights Reserved

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
- Chinese Proverb

“Trespassers will be shot on sight” threatened the weather-beaten sign hanging on the gate that blocked our path. Brad and I looked down the closed road and saw it passed a ranch house where smoke curled from the chimney. “Let’s try to make the next road” I urged, not wanting to argue with such an ominous warning. Plus, I wanted to make more miles.

In falling light we pedaled into 6 miles of difficult Colorado singletrack with less than 45 minutes of light left. Like a modern day Hansel and Gretel (or Hansel and Hansel), we followed the bright stones that marked the path until darkness came suddenly, like someone pulling a shade over a window. We were still 2 miles from our destination.

The night became inky black without the hint of a moon and visibility dropped to nothing. We carried on, pushing our bikes with one hand and waving the other in front of us to ward off branches. Things started to go sour as I walked face first into a pine tree. “I don’t think this is the trail” I said. The darkness became so pervasive that I couldn’t even see my bike below me or Brad in front of me. It was like the darkness had crawled inside us, and besides sound, we ceased to exist.

Brad Goettemoeller riding on the Rainbow Trail above Salida, Colorado

[Read more →]

Salida Singletrack: Mountain Biking in Colorado

Salida Singletrack was the first mountain bike guidebook to the excellent singletrack trails of Salida, Buena Vista and Leadville. It details trails for beginners all the way through expert with maps, mile by mile descriptions and elevation profiles for each trail. [Read more →]

Ice Mountain (13951ft/4252m, 38° 55′ N/106° 26′ W) lies at the heart of the Three Apostles massif in the Sawatch Range of Colorado.  It’s a beautiful peak that catches the light perfectly at sunset and is also known to be one of the toughest climbs in Colorado.

Ice Mountain Colorado from the north