Mapping the Miles: GORC Crested Butte Trip

Our second full day in Crested Butte is when we started hitting some of the trails this area is known for. Today we packed our bikes up and drove several miles south of town to the base of the Doctor Park Trail. Our plan of attack would be to park at the base of the trail, then ride up to the top before we would get to bomb down the singletrack back to our cars.

Unpacking our gear.

After following the road paralleling the Taylor River downstream for a mile, we then headed up Spring Creek Road, which we would follow for about 8 miles, climbing about 1200 feet. This part of the climb, while grueling for a flatlander, really wasn't that tough, and it was nice paralleling the creek on the way up the valley.

Views of the creek along the road.

About 5 or 6 miles in though, there was one little sudden climb, where due to the altitude and all of the climbing I had been doing, I just had to get off and walk for a couple minutes.

A few rapids.

This is the climb that broke me (for a few minutes). From this picture, it doesn't look that bad.

The climb did a pretty good job of spreading us all out, and up until this point, I had been riding about the same pace as Lisa, though there wasn't much conversation because both of us were gasping for air while we were grinding up the climb. However, when we got here, she kept going and for the next few miles I would be riding solo.

Over the crest of the hill. At least it looks that way from this picture. Notice how I've been dropped.

At this point, the road was in a pretty narrow valley for a few miles, but then all of a sudden we came around a curve and the valley opened up some and became a little greener.

Quite a difference from the last picture!

Looking upstream.

Finally, I saw the rest of the group at the creek crossing we'd been warned about. Some of the people had attempted to ride across this, but not really wanting to soak my shoes, and knowing I probably wouldn't be able to make it, I just pulled my shoes and socks off and walked across the creek. The water was cold, but it felt good on my toes! Wish I could say the same about the rocks at the bottom.

Creek crossing!

After I crossed the creek (the picture above was taken after I'd crossed), I started to put my shoes & socks back on when I realized one of my socks was missing. Uh-oh! I was told that if it fell out in the creek, it'd probably be several hundred feet downstream by then, but I walked back across just to see if it had maybe caught on something. Luckily , I found it on the opposite bank. It must've fallen out as I was stuffing everything into my Camelbak before I crossed. By the time I dried my feet off and got my shoes back on, people were heading on up the trail. I let myself fall to the back of the pack here, and starting grinding up the rest of the climb with Doug, his wife Diana, and Rob.

Time to start the serious climbing.

At this point, the roads starting getting even steeper, as we had about 1600' left to climb, but only about 3 1/2 miles to do it in. Except for one steep stretch though, it was pretty rideable. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy, but at least there wasn't a lot of hike-a-bike. However, with all of this grinding, my left knee was getting a little tender by the time we reached the top.

Looking at the other riders uphill. The picture doesn't do the steepness justice here.

Lots of mountain still left to climb.

The view keeps improving!

Closer to the top.

Starting to flatten out, but where's the singletrack?

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I reached the top.

Summit!

Resting and regrouping for the downhill.

At this point, the stronger riders opted to add an extra 3 mile loop to the ride, but knowing I was not in the strong group, I headed straight for the downhill. At first, I was wondering if I'd made the wrong decision, as there were some areas that were the sloppiest I've ridden in since Cedar Cross. Fortunately, those only lasted for a mile or so, and then it dried out as we got into some sunnier & rockier areas.

Downhill, but not conducive to speed.

Looking out over the trees.

Probably the best picture I have showing the steepness of the slope.

I think this is the spot where a lot of the riders from the fast group caught up with me. Not being the type to let it all hang out on the downhills, I was running pretty conservatively and riding my breaks a lot on the downhills. My mantra for the trip was, "I'm savoring the downhills!" While most of these pictures don't show the most technical parts of the trail, this first section was as tough as anything at Greensfelder here. I'll be honest and say that I could've lived without this part of the trail. Fortunately, after another couple turns, we headed into a forest of aspen trees and were rewarded with some of the best singletrack I've ever ridden!

Sweetness!

More sweetness!

Taking a break to absorb the sweetness!

Have I mentioned how awesome this part of the trail was?

This mile or so of the most awesome singletrack I've ever been on was good enough to make you forget how much your legs hurt on the steepest parts of the climb up. The only bad part about sections like this is that if you aren't careful, you'll blow through them so fast they'll be over far too quickly. Fortunately, at one point I lost control and ran off into the weeds, so I had to stop and rest for a minute, giving me the chance to savor the awesomeness of this section.

However, we did have one more technical section before the trail ended. With about a mile or so left to the trail, we came through an area that looked like it had been burned in the not too distant past. Following that, we had a rocky decent to the cars. While there were definitely some tricky areas, most of it I could handle without too much of an issue.