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Bruce
& Betsy Blais |
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Mountain Biking - Special Trails - PEAKS TRAIL, COLORADO On July 12th, 2014, Bruce rode the Peaks Trail from Frisco to near Breckenridge with the Not-Over-The-Hill-Yet Group out of Denver. The trail runs from Frisco to Breckenridge. This is a favorite for the summer because it is above 10,000' for the most part, and tends to be cool, even in July and August. The trail starts out at 9,100 feet and climbs to just over 10,000 feet. It follows the Tenmile Range, a ridge of 13,000 foot peaks to the west. Below is a map showing the track, profile and statistics for the The Peaks Trail ride. This track and profile is for the "back" direction only. Reverse it for the "out" direction. 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 9.4 miles. Climbing was 1,638 feet and was concentrated in the first half of the ride. The average grade was 6% and the maximum elevation was 10,057' AMSL. This is the kind of trail on which you will use all your gears, and spend a lot of time in 1-1 at the beginning. The grades are not impossibly steep, but go on for some distance, making it necessary to slow down to a sustainable climbing pace. After a short initial climb, you arrive at Rainbow Lake. Below is Bud, Pat, Bruce and Aaron at the lake.
Below is Bud by one of several streams along the way.
The photo below shows Aaron further up near another stream.
Below is Pat catching his breath at the junction with the Great Divide Trail. It is here they hit 10,000' and stayed over 10,000' the rest of the way to Breckenridge. Since this was an out and back ride, they crossed the Continental Divide twice. The Peaks follows the Great Divide Trail for slightly less than a mile.
Below is a photo of Bruce at one of the markers along the trail.
The ride group yielding for a climbing rider.
Brian at a small waterfall near the turn-around point.
This was a great ride. Next time it will be all the way into Breckenridge even if means double the climbing.
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Version 0.1, September 18, 2014 |
