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

Canmore Mountain Biking

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Matt Hunt

“We yell on the trail, because the bears come close.”

That’s what the woman at the bike shop told me when I checked out my rental bike at the Canmore Nordic Centre. By the way, we’re talking about grizzly bears, not black bears! A bit nerve wracking, but certainly not enough to stop me from riding! Besides, I had bear spray with me. 😉

I screwed up by not ensuring that my gimbal batteries were fully charged, nor did I bring the spares with me, and the result was a gimbal that didn’t work as well as it could have. That was disappointing to me when I watched the footage back, because the riding was outstanding! The dirt was amazing. I know that sounds weird to anyone who is not a mountain biker. Let me try to explain. It wasn’t mud, but there was enough moisture to keep it soft, and prevent loose dirt from laying on top of the hard-packed trail. This is what we call “hero dirt” because you can go ahead and be a hero riding it! It has a high amount of grip, but it’s not tacky like mud. You can get a lot of speed.

Even without the great dirt, the trails were well designed, and being in that pine forest is what dreams are made of! Although I was somewhat adjusted to the elevation at this point, my legs were still sore from hiking two days prior, and the amount of climbing I did on this ride wore me out after 13+ miles.

It sure was a great time, though.

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!