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Bruce
& Betsy Blais |
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Mountain Biking - Special Trails - ELK MEADOW, COLORADO On July 13th, 2014, Bruce rode the Elk Meadow Trail with Anne and Jim, friends from Dallas now living in Colorado. This was supposed to be a "recovery ride" after having rode The Peaks Trail from Frisco to Breckenridge the day before. Bruce thought Elk Meadow would be a short, relaxing ride. As he has done in the past, he picked a trail for recovery that was more difficult than the ride he was trying to recover from. Bruce rode it again on October 25th, 2014 just for "fun". Below is a map showing the track, profile and statistics for the Elk Meadow ride in October, 2014. This track and profile is for the clockwise direction. Reverse it for a counter-clockwise ride. You can right-click on the image below and use the "Save Target As" option to down-load a 1MB 11x17" PDF version of the map. You can also click on the image and zoom up to 200% for a detailed view in a separate window. Right click here to down load the GPX file for this ride. The file may want to save as an XML file, so if it does, change the extension to gpx before you save it. The file is a high-resolution track created on the Delorme PN-60W GPS.
The distance ridden was 8.9 miles and the ride time was two hours and two minutes. Climbing was 2,278' feet and was concentrated in the first half of the ride. The average grade was 9% and the maximum elevation was 9,252' AMSL. This is the kind of trail on which you will use all your gears, and spend a lot of time in 1-1 on the way up. The grades were fairly steep, and seemed to go on for some distance, making it necessary to slow down to a sustainable climbing pace. Bruce made a video of the run down "Too Long" which can be seen here. The trail map. Our ride included the big loop to the west WITHOUT the climb to the summit. The way up on the Bergen Trail was brutal in spots. The way down on Too Long was full of rocky, switch-back descents.
A female elk spotted grazing on our way up during the July ride.
Bruce and Anne at one of the first scenic overlooks in July. That is Evergreen in the distance.
Anne showing off on the July ride by clearing a rocky ascent.
Another overlook shot with Bruce and Anne during the July ride.
Anne getting "feminine" with some wildflowers in July.
Jim attempting a switch-back and rocky ascent in July. There were far too many of these on the climb up to suite Bruce.
Bruce, Anne and Jim at another scenic overlook during the July ride.
More rocky, rooty ascent. Walked most of this. Way too much hike-a-bike on the way up.
It only got worse as you went up. Below is a photo from the October 2014 ride.
Below is yet another photo from the October, 2014 ride. This trail shows no mercy.
And just when you thought it couldn't get worse, you encounter this!
You finally reach the top, and get a view of the summit. Below is a photo of the bike with Bergen Peak in the background. The bike is at 9,250' AMSL. Bergen Peak is at 9,708' AMSL.
There is a video of the ride down from the photo spot above at this link. On the way down, got a good look at our destination.
Bruce and Anne finishing the the last technical descent before reentering the meadow.
The name of the trail is deceiving. Elk Meadow suggests something gentle and scenic. This is only true for a small amount of trail at the bottom. The Sleepy S, Meadow View and Founder's Trails are pleasant, but the Bergen Peak and Too Long trails, which make up the majority of the ride, are down-right demanding.
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Version 0.2, October 27, 2014 |
