Alpine Bliss

#followcamfriday wandering around in the alpine high above Silverton, Colorado with Colin Pickett

Lately, I have been spending much of my time above 12K, riding bits and pieces of world-class singletrack. The harder to access and more raw and natural, the better. Boulder Gulch, high above Silverton, Colorado ticks off those boxes nicely. This would be considered type-2 fun by most. My happy place. 

Yes, this one is hard. No, it is not everyone's idea of "mountain biking", but this is exactly what I am looking for in my life. Boulder Gulch starts just above 13K, before descending almost 4K in 4 miles. "Brake burner" is the understatement of the year. Throw in some microwaves and toaster ovens on the side of a cliff, and things get even more interesting. 

To make this one even better, there is no easy way to get to the top. This involves a huge hike a bike to access the top. Not big on carrying your bike? This may not be for you. Fortunately Colin Pickett is one of the fittest humans in existence, so our alpine adventure team was strong. 

We filmed this in July when abundant moisture was contributing to rapid flower growth and perfect dirt conditions. I would imagine that these hills are starting to show their fall colors as we transition seasons. The trail was barely discernible in spots from lack of use. A delicate game of follow the cairns and try not to fall off of the side hill. 

The San Juan remains largely unspoiled due to its proximity to a major city. This place is hard to get to and the riding is hard once you are here. These two factors will always be appealing to me. As the old adage says- "nothing worth doing is easy", and this certainly rings true in this rugged and remote terrain.