The Iconic Trail 401 in Crested Butte

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Matt Hunt

I could not ride for 6 days in Crested Butte and not hit Trail 401! It always comes up whenever I read an article about mountain biking in Crested Butte. I considered it a must for this trip!

Trail 401 is a bit longer in distance than Teocalli Ridge, but the elevation gain is about the same. The difference is that it’s split into two climbs on Trail 401. I knew it’d be another tough climb, regardless. I live in flat lands 500 or so feet above sea level, so being over 11,000 feet at the peak of these trails after climbing roughly 2,000 feet was going to be difficult no matter what!

It’s a little over 6.5 miles from the parking area to the start of the downhill, and most of it is on the road. This road climb wasn’t too bad. I was actually able to pedal the majority of it. At one point I passed a couple who were driving up the road and stopping to take in views along the way. The guy asked me, “is that fun?” I replied, “Not yet!”

Even if it was just a workout at this point, the views were spectacular. I think that’s really the case no matter what trail you ride in Crested Butte!

Once you enter the singletrack, it really starts to go up. I had to walk a lot on this section. After venturing into the forest, with the wind picking up, and my body drenched in sweat from all the exertion, I started to get quite chilly! I’d take my jacket off to try to dry up some of the sweat, but I really needed the jacket on to cut that chilly breeze. I was also a little paranoid. It was very quiet. I was all alone. There are bears and mountain lions in this area. My head was on a swivel. Suddenly, my heart skipped a few beats as I heard a loud cracking & crashing, ending with a low-pitched thud! A tree had fallen nearby! I didn’t see it, but it couldn’t have been too far away. As if I wasn’t paranoid enough about animals that could eat me, now I had to worry about trees falling on me!

Needless to say, despite my gasping for oxygen-depleted air, and rubber-like thighs, I continued to pedal as much of this singletrack as I could. At this point I was getting mad at the fact this climb wasn’t over yet! But a little anger is always a good thing when you need to push yourself physically!

There was no rain in the forecast on this day, but as I approached the top, there was clearly rain off to my west. I better hurry up, I thought. I wasn’t too worried about it once I got going downhill, as I’d be going fast, and I’d be moving away from the dark clouds. Luckily I was soon starting the descent, and I never looked back.

The descent starts on a lot of straight trail, but it’s fast, and has some great views of the valley! In the summer, this part of the trail is lined with wildflowers, but in the autumn they have all turned brown and lost their will to stand up straight.

After kindly asking a couple cows to remove themselves from the trail, I got into a bit more flowy section with loamy hero dirt! I was really working on my cornering all week, focusing on leaning the bike, while keeping my torso upright and fighting the urge to squeeze the brake levers. I felt really good out there on Trail 401! The primo dirt conditions certainly didn’t hurt matters.

I made it down the initial downhill in a hurry! As a matter of fact, close to the top 10% on Strava! Well, I’m sure most people stop a million times to take in the views and snap a few photos, so take that with a grain of salt. Though I do think at this point in the week I had already gotten faster than I was on day 1.

On the second climb I came across one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve seen looking over toward Gothic Mountain. Goodness! Just look at it!

Do you smell that? Oh wait, I can’t send smell through blogs. Dang it! I really wish I could. The wonderful aroma of the pine forest is one of my favorite scents! You won’t hear this from many people, but… I must say, Trail 401 smells great!

The rest of the downhill was more great cornering practice, with a few more rocks thrown in for good measure. It was over a little too fast, and then it was back to the car park, as the Brits would say. My bike had enough mud splattered on the frame to certify this as a legit mountain bike ride!

I had that runners high feeling after completing that trail! Yeah, I mountain biked it, I didn’t run, but I never hear people talking about a mountain bikers high. Why is that? Actually, a mountain bikers high is much higher than a runners high. At least for me. Screw running.

Anyway, check out the video, if you will:

#LiveTheAdventure

New Favorite Trail!

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Matt Hunt

What can I say about Teocalli Ridge? It’s downright awesome! Okay, let’s start from the bottom.

After a brief steep climb, it levels out for quite a while. It remains pretty mellow the whole time you’re on the road. If you’ve got a couple of 4×4’s, you could shuttle this road section, but it’s not that bad to pedal. The best part is that you’ve got killer views the whole way, especially in the fall! It is so pretty out there!

Once you get on the singletrack, however, the grade instantly gets steeper! I was walking a lot, but I had no qualms about doing so. I had already decided on this trip that I’d be taking my sweet time on the climbs, since I had all day anyway! I wanted to save my energy for the downhill!

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There wasn’t any rain in the forecast, but at one point on ominous cloud was coming over the mountains, and I thought I might be in trouble! I got a few sprinkles up near the top, but that was it.

When you think you’re at the top, you’re not. There’s a short downhill section, then it’s back to climbing again. It isn’t until you’ve arrived at the overlook that the real downhill begins.

And my, oh my, how great is the downhill?! 6 miles and about 2,000 feet of descending through rooty, rocky bits at the top, flowy forest in the middle, and switchback city through the aspens near the bottom, finishing it off with more flow through a sagebrush-filled meadow at the end. With perfect temperatures and beautiful bright yellow aspen leaves everywhere, seriously, what more could you ask for?!

The combination of all of that makes this my new favorite trail. Outstanding scenery, and probably the most fun descent I’ve ever ridden. It took me a total of nearly 3.5 hours to complete this ride, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat! If you’re in Crested Butte to ride your bike, this trail is a MUST!

#LiveTheAdventure

Perfect Start to the Perfect Week!

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Matt Hunt

It was just after sunset in Crested Butte. I had left a muggy Dallas morning 13 hours prior, and just arrived in the high altitude chill of the Colorado rockies. After getting the car unloaded, I got in a bit of social media time before hitting the sack. I had planned on taking it easy tomorrow, giving my body a chance to acclimate to the elevation before doing any big mountain bike rides.

However, my social media time would reveal that one of my favorite YouTubers, Alex aka The Singletrack Sampler, was going to be riding at Evolution Bike Park in Crested Butte tomorrow! Well, there is a chair lift. I wouldn’t have to climb. So while the elevation would still affect me from muscling the bike on the downhill, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity! I’d been wanting to meet & ride with Alex since I discovered his channel, and the chances of him visiting north Texas to ride our flat XC trails are slim to none!

As far as how that day went, I’ll let the video do most of the talking! I had a blast, and felt as though I learned a few things from Alex, as well as local shredder Dakoda (Taggalong MTB), who has a few KOM’s at the bike park, so needless to say he’s a hell of a rider!

For the second day, I was still figuring I’d take it easy and continue adjusting to the elevation. It takes a good 2-3 days to acclimate, so I wasn’t trying to do any epic rides on day 2! I learned from my mistakes a month ago in Angel Fire!

Strand Hill was the perfect trail. 7.5 miles long, less than 1,000 feet of climbing, and it was only a short drive down a dirt road from where I was staying. I read that it had a fun, flowy descent. I’m in!

I started my morning early with a drive down Kebler Pass. I drove through here two years ago, and it was one of the most beautiful drives ever! I got some drone flying in, but as I got to the spot that had the most color a couple years ago, it appeared it was still too early. There was still a lot of green left. I was still able to find some good shots, though!

No doubt, the highlight of the early morning was getting to see a bull moose! It was on Kebler Pass that I saw one two years ago, but it was a long way down a steep bank on the edge of a creek, and before I could put my telephoto lens on, he had slipped back into the woods.

This time, he was right off the side of the road! I was frantically trying to adjust the settings on my camera to allow a fast shutter speed, while maintaining adequate exposure. The moose was in the woods, so it was only through small openings that I had opportunities for shots. But as luck would have it, there was a gravel road coming up! I repeated, “come out on the road, come out on the road!” The moose obliged!

At one point he was rummaging through the brush next to the creek very close to the road. I could hear twigs snapping, the moose grunting, and I could smell his B.O. It was not much different from that of your common cow. And not that it was a pleasant smell, but it added to the experience! Up close & personal with the King of the Forest!

My goodness, what an amazing creature! So huge, so powerful, and yet so beautiful.

Okay, so onto the bike ride! The climb up to Strand Hill wasn’t too bad, but I still had to dismount and walk several sections. The descent was as good as advertised! Flowy, fast, and fun! A lot of it went through thick aspen groves as well, and up here the leaves were at their peak! It was so beautiful! This, to me, is as good as mountain biking gets!

#LiveTheAdventure

Horseplay

Posted on April 21, 2018 by Matt Hunt

The place I was staying in Moab for Outerbike didn’t have any rooms available on the first night that I had planned to be there, so I stayed in Grand Junction, CO instead, which gave me the opportunity to ride the very popular Horsethief Bench trail in Fruita, CO!

I’ve seen quite a few videos of this trail, so I had a good idea of what to expect. The beginning is a super difficult “drop in” which trail guides actually call a hike-a-bike section, but advanced riders are able to ride the whole thing. What you see on video versus what you see in person, however, are vastly different!

The biggest thing to me that video failed to portray is just how steep the whole thing is. It wouldn’t take much of a stop of your front tire to send you over the bars!

The rest of the trail was a blast, and there was only one short section that I skipped, being that I was riding alone, and it was a weekday, meaning the trail was pretty empty.

Check out the video!

Bells and Aspens

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Matt Hunt

Every trip I take, there is really one big shot I’m after, and in my trip to Colorado in September it was a shot of the Maroon Bells at peak fall colors, and hopefully some snow on the mountains. After a brief stop at the Great Sand Dunes National Park, I made my way through Kebler Pass, McClure Pass, Marble & Crystal Mill, and up to Snowmass Village, which is basically right next door to Aspen.

I was spending three nights there, just in case the weather didn’t cooperate, but I ended up with pretty good conditions the very first morning. Not only that, but it had snowed over the weekend, so the mountains were frosted! The only issue was, I got there a little too late! I had to park way back and walk up to Maroon Lake. As I was walking up, the first light was already hitting the top of the peaks. When I got to the lake, holy moly, it was PACKED! Literally hundreds of people, so initially I wasn’t able to get an ideal spot, but I made do.

After the sun got up a bit higher, the crowd started to thin out considerably. I was able to move back to a better position in order to get the shot I truly wanted. I really think the best light here is mid-to-late morning. This was the shot I was really after.

Conditions were nearly identical the second morning, but I had arrived much earlier, so I was able to get the very first light. I actually prefer the shot prior to the sun hitting the peaks, however.

Since I already had the main shot I wanted, I did a little bit of hiking, in search of some moose. I didn’t find any, but did add another shot I was hoping to get looking through the aspen grove.

Also on this second morning I decided to take a quick shot of the crowd! It wasn’t even as crowded on that morning as it had been the previous day, but as you can see, this is a pretty popular spot!

If you don’t get there early, you won’t get a good spot. I’m sure it’s not so bad at any other time of year, but with the bright yellow aspen trees, the fall really is the best time to photograph this incredible place!

Independence Pass

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Matt Hunt

The word independence means a lot to me. I’d consider myself a pretty independent person, going on all of these trips alone, and absolutely loving it! It’s also a goal of mine to reach financial independence so that I can take even more trips. And my evening at Independence Pass was one of my favorite evenings in Colorado.

It was really a spontaneous decision to go out to Independence Pass on my final night in Snowmass Village, as I had already captured all of the other spots that I wanted photos of. So with a free evening, I decided I’d head out east for sunset.

In Goggle map searches, I found there was a trail that led out from the parking lot to an even higher peak. There were a couple 360° pictures along this path, and the view looked pretty good. I wanted to get a sea of mountain peaks in front of the setting sun.

The drive out was gorgeous! One of the most scenic roads I’ve ever driven, with the bright yellow aspen trees, dark green pines, and snow-capped peaks amidst deep blue skies and sunshine.

I still wasn’t very well adjusted to the elevation, and in this case I was starting from an even higher elevation of 12,095 feet! While the view from the paved overlook area was good, I was in search of better.

Frequent breaks along the hike were necessary, as I was getting short of breath after about 10 seconds of hiking! Seriously, that thin air is no joke! No big deal, as I had given myself plenty of time before sunset, and there were some great spots for photos along the way.

I made it up to the peak I was shooting for about an hour and a half before sunset, so I had time to just enjoy the views, and hunker down to try to stay warm! It wouldn’t have been that bad if not for the wind. I had left my heavy coat in the car, so all I had was a sweatshirt, light jacket, and hat & gloves. On the eastern edge of the peak, I was able to escape some of the wind, especially if I laid down flat!

The thing I enjoyed most about this spot was… there were no other people anywhere to be seen! All week I had been in the more popular touristy spots, including the Maroon Bells, which was absolutely packed. Here was a different story. Two guys had passed me on the trail, but I’m not sure what happened to them, and they may have even turned around and gone back to the parking area, and I just didn’t see them as I was snapping photos.

The scene to the west at sunset wasn’t actually all that great. The foreground was nice, but there was not a cloud in the sky in this area to add interest.

No big deal, however, as the clouds to the south and east lit up after the sun had set! I was literally pumping my fists with excitement as I captured these images! What a great call to come out here for sunset!

That first photo is one of, if not the favorite sunset photo of mine that I’ve ever captured. It’s funny how my favorite photos rarely get the most likes on Facebook and Instagram, but I think there’s a different perspective when you are the one who captured it, and actually witnessed that scene in person.

While I prefer to stay behind the camera, I decided to record a little vlog during this hike:

In my next few posts, I’ll cover the Maroon Bells, Crystal Mill, Capitol Peak, Kebler Pass, McClure Pass, and Rocky Mountain National Park. So check back if you want to see some of the beautiful fall colors!