How I spent my pre-summer vacation (part5)

[stjunkie]

Day Twelve:Hermosa Crk.
I talked Larry into shuttling me to Purgatory ski resort. From that point there is a 5 mile dirt road to the trailhead. The trail starts out as a doubletrack for about 5 miles and then turns to singletrack for another 10 miles. It is motorcycle legal but saw nobody else on the trail all day. 50ft around the first blind turn was an elk in the middle of the trail which bolted as soon as it saw me. There was more climbing than I had expected, but nothing real tough. At the end was a 5 mile dh dirt road to the town of Hermosa and another 9 miles of pavement back to Durango.

Meadow before the trailhead


Side action through the Meadow


High water overflowing the trail


Doubletrack along the creek


Typical singletrack


Lots of lupine everywhere


Day Thirteenurango_Mesa Verda_Phill"s World
Larry thought he would be able to ride so we did a paved rid on the Durango bike path. Checked out a bunch of kids at the town BMX track for awhile and then had lunch at the white water park. Got on the road and headed to Mesa Verde. Temps got into the 90's but Mese Verde was at higher elevation so not so bad. About 6:30 we headed into Cortez to get some info from the bike shop. They gave us the scoop on Phils world so we headed over to check it out. Larry didn't feel like riding so he droppd me off and went to get a hotel room. I gotta say this was one of the funnest trails I've ever been on. The bikeshop has a "club" that leases the land and they built the trails just for biking. Lots of twists and turns,g-outs,jumps and some rocky sections for tech. I took my lights just in case but didn't need em. Some sections were like a roller coaster for bikes. No long or too steep climbs and lots o fun. The guys at the bike shop told us about a new "more technical” 5 mile loop that I skipped because it was getting late. I did the main 10 mile loop in a little over an hour and got back right as the sun was going down.

One of many cliff dweelings at Mesa Verde


Slickrock section on Phill's

[dstepper]

Scott, very nice, thanks.

Dean

[CalEpic]

That looks like an incredible vacation you had. Thanks for the pics and story. I hope your buddy is OK.

C

[jfromlv]

I can't wait to go! I'll be there in two weeks, great pics to get me all revved up!

[ECOdork]

WHOW!!!! Simply incredible! Hard to believe you were able to drag yourself back from that! I'd still be there camped out next to that river, eating tubers and berries!

[stjunkie]

Thanks for all the replies. ECOdork: I actually thought about looking for jobs in Colorado and not coming back.

[Ladd Jasper]

Awesome pics. and report, stjunkie. My Moab experience consisted solely of Slickrock Trail, and was around 15 years back. Much too limited and long ago.

I'm newly inspired. Thanks.

Originally Posted by stjunkie

I actually thought about looking for jobs in Colorado and not coming back.

Did you happen to notice a Home Depot, say, somewhere near Durango? Yes, it's important...

[royta]

I think we know where Ladd Jasper works now? When I was in college, Durango was the spot I wanted to settle down.

[TitusChick]

That's what I want to do. Ride all of the best and see the west.

TC

[roadkillross]

i would huck that cliff dwelling