One year after taking possession of a new Ventana “ECdM” (El Conquistador de Montana) full-suspended tandem mountain bike, Karen and I were feeling pretty cocky about what we could do with it and we really, really, really wanted to head out for grand adventures.
It didn’t take long to learn of one out in the San Juan mountains of Colorado. We discovered that San Juan Hut Systems offers a really beautiful mountain bike route between Telluride Colorado and Moab Utah. The seven day, 200 mile route is famous for not only the scenery, but also for the support you get from staying overnights in a series of six “huts” that are stocked with food, water, and have bunks and sleeping bags, thereby making an otherwise near-impossible journey across some damned remote territory VERY doable. Convincing our tour buddy Todd to join us took about 15 seconds. So off we went.
Day One - Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 11 Miles
Telluride to Last Dollar Pass
A Short Ride. ONLY 11 miles. All we have to do today is ride from Telluride, elevation ~ 8700’, to the Last Dollar Hut … at 11,000’! If you live in Colorado, that might not seem like a big deal, but for flatlanders like ourselves, that’s a shock. We arrived in Telluride a couple days early to acclimate to the altitude, but that only made it marginally tolerable. We actually made it to the Last Dollar Hut in the early afternoon … but we left Telluride about 9:30am! Not exactly typical touring speed. But the rewards were worth every drop of sweat!
It didn’t take long to learn of one out in the San Juan mountains of Colorado. We discovered that San Juan Hut Systems offers a really beautiful mountain bike route between Telluride Colorado and Moab Utah. The seven day, 200 mile route is famous for not only the scenery, but also for the support you get from staying overnights in a series of six “huts” that are stocked with food, water, and have bunks and sleeping bags, thereby making an otherwise near-impossible journey across some damned remote territory VERY doable. Convincing our tour buddy Todd to join us took about 15 seconds. So off we went.
Day One - Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 11 Miles
Telluride to Last Dollar Pass
A Short Ride. ONLY 11 miles. All we have to do today is ride from Telluride, elevation ~ 8700’, to the Last Dollar Hut … at 11,000’! If you live in Colorado, that might not seem like a big deal, but for flatlanders like ourselves, that’s a shock. We arrived in Telluride a couple days early to acclimate to the altitude, but that only made it marginally tolerable. We actually made it to the Last Dollar Hut in the early afternoon … but we left Telluride about 9:30am! Not exactly typical touring speed. But the rewards were worth every drop of sweat!
Day Two - Wednesday, August 1, 2007 - 28 Miles
Last Dollar Pass to Spring Creek
Excellent Day! Easier riding. Comfortable temps. Minimal rain but windy. We left after 9am and arrived at the Spring Creek Hut around 1:30. Chicken and noodles, peas and mushrooms pot meal for dinner with pears and pineapple for dessert. Yes, I’m reading from Karen’s paper notes. I didn’t take notes, but I sure remember every inch of the route.
Day Three - Thursday, August 2, 2007 - 41 Miles
Spring Creek to Columbine
More miles and less climbing (only 2500’) ‘cause, well, we’re UP there now in the aspen forests, way up in the Uncompahgre Plateau above the Paradox valley floor to the southwest. This plateau is the source of FOUR main tributaries of the Colorado River: Dolores, Gunnison, San Miguel and Uncomrahgre. Yeah, it’s UP there and it matters! We had just a little rain while we overshot, backtracked, and found our hut in the woods for the night. Spaghetti, salmon, red bell peppers and green beans for dinner. On a bike tour? Really? Wow!
Day Four - Friday, August 3, 2007 - 36 Miles
Columbine to Graham Ranch
It rained overnight, and was overcast all day. We out ran some showers and sought shelter in the aspens to wait out a passing storm that just blew by us. Mostly easy cruising along the plateau but the highlight was reaching Windy Point with spectacular views of the canyons and valley way below us. Beef stew, noodles with corn for dinner. (Oh … have I mentioned the Tecate Beer?) Our hut, placed at Graham Ranch which is privately owned, was pretty cool. They had a herd of horses (ambiance!) and a shower facility where signage taught us an important lesson in water conservation SOOOOO important to the western states: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” Get it?
Day Five - Saturday, August 4, 2007 - 28 Miles
Graham Ranch to Gateway
Wild Day! Leaving Graham Ranch, we opted for “adventure” and took the Ute Creek Trail (singletrack) option and had a more than exciting time! And to top it off, the descent to Gateway Colorado via the Notch 6 Road (why the hell does THIS road even exist?) was way more fun than we could describe. But eventually, it dumped us out onto the highway into Gateway where we stopped on the way in to enjoy some real caffeinated beverages before heading to our hut for the night under the “Palisades”.
Day Six - Sunday, August 5, 2007 - 22 Miles
Gateway to La Sals
OK … 4500” of climbing today. Yes, the last few days were kinda easy but today, we have to have to get up into “The Obstacle” … the LaSal Mountains which are the barrier between western Colorado and the Canyonlands of eastern Utah. 22 miles, but 4500’ of climbing makes for “Legs of Steel” catagory riding. But the low mileage meant we still got in early enough to the La Sal Hut for lunch (chili and hash) as well as dinner (Mac and cheese and peas) and check out some local canyon viewpoints. Thunderstorms rolled thru intermittently, but it was a good day!
Day Seven - Monday, August 6, 2007
La Sals to Moab
They said it was all downhill from here.
They lied!
Admittedly, perhaps the most visually stunning days of the route, it wasn’t without a couple small challenges. The La Sal Mountain Loop Road is a super scenic road ride that twists and turns, up and down, and for our purposes, connects to the Kokopelli Trail and Sand Flats Road leading into Moab Utah.
The Wrap:
It’s kinda hard to categorize this adventure in any typical genre of cycling. It’s a tour, not a race. It’s not technical mountain biking in the single-track way, although there are options. It’s not even a classic tour in the sense that much of the logistics that are provided push this more into the “glamping” category, at least during your overnights. But the riding can be challenging due to high altitudes, inclement weather and near zero support facilities on the route. If you are healthy, adventurous, and know how to use a camera, this tour can be a dream!