The top of Searle pass on Day 5 and my favorite picture from the Journey. To me this one says it all.

Wow what can I say about this adventure. Well it was one of the best experience of my life! I was in the best riding shape of my life. I had my best bike ever and rode what seem like endless incredibly buff single track trail for 5 days straight. It all started in ’05 when my dad bought me The Colorado Trail Official Guide Book and spent may days and nights studying the sections and dreaming that one day I could ride a multiday adventure on this amazing trail system. The Colorado trail spans 500 miles from Denver to Durango over the best parts of the Colorado Mountains. We chose to ride the first 9 sections of the trail from Denver to Leadville. These first 9 sections are considered some of the best for Mountain Biking.

The Colorado Trail had it all. Long descents grueling climbs, high alpine meadows and plenty of buff single track. There were several occasions where I caught myself gasping at the amazing beauty of the trail and the scenery surrounding it. I was in love!

Mechanical
Believe it or not we rode 180 miles without a single mechanical. Not a flat tire, broken spoke or chain. Hats off to our Mechanic Chis Kuhn for setting our bikes up perfectly for the ride.

Food
Our food planning has gotten really good. Although we were running low on day 4 prior to getting to Breckenridge to resupply. My favorite would be the tuna wraps I have been bringing on my backpacking and bikepacking trips. It consists of a packet of albacore tuna, tortilla wrap, and mustard/mayo packet. Mmmm good stuff!

Camping
My favorite camping spot was in Lost Park. Such a beautiful valley tucked away next to the Kenosha Mountains.

Best Day
By far day 5. I felt like superman this day. Somehow everything was clicking and the riding was phenomenal this day. There was a 4 miles stretch of alpine riding from Searle Pass to Kokomo Pass that was to die for.

Worst Day
By far day 2 when we made the choice to disassemble our bikes and strap them to our backs to cross a 6 mile wilderness section. It took 5 hours to cross this and was one of the most painful experiences in my life!

Most Memorable Moment
Before Kenosha pass I remember zipping through this aspen grove that was lush with thick green ground cover all over. There was mist floating along the ground. It almost seemed almost supernatural.

The Gear

I really feel like I got my gear dialed in. Most bike packers these days are running bike bags to carry most of their gear. Personally I feel bike bags are going to take away from your bike handeling. By using backpacks and a small seat bag I could rip the descents like no other. Also since we had two people we could divy up the gear between the two of us. In the past we each had a stove, waterfilter, tools etc. Now we share and just bring one of what we need. This really lightens up the load.

Packing List:
REI quarter dome 2 man tent minimalist set up. This means just the rainfly and footprint.
Katadyn water filter
Jetboil Stove
Jacks Quilt with a Thermolite liner (awesome warm comfy combo)
Big Agnes Insulated aircore pad
Maps Tools and Headlamp

Day one Waterton Canyon to Buffalo Creek

Here we are at the official CT Trail head. We left the day before the closed Waterton Canyon for a reclimation project. We were pumped!

One of our few wildlife encounters on the trip. This scraggly looking goat needs to eat!

I have never ridden section 1 of the CT. We finished riding the 6 mile dirt road though the canyon and started the singletrack. Good stuff!

The Colorado Trail was marked ok. I had brought my GPS and downloaded the official waypoints that corresponded with my map. Turned out to be very handy and made navigation a breeze.

Here overlooking the South Platte Canyon. Off in the distance you can see the burn area which we hit at mid day. I knew we were in for a hot climb.

Indeed it was hot. And the heat was taking its toll on both of us.

Still some really nice trail. The climb through the burn area was about 4 miles.

Mike taking off his helmet to try and stay cool.

After what seamed like forever we reached the top of the world area and we were making a good pace again.

Here we are at the day one campsite in buffalo creek. It felt good to rest after battling the heat all day. Next time I will plan the ride differently so we don’t hit the burn area at the peak of the day.

Day two Buffalo Creek to Lost Park

It rained non stop the first night. For the most part we stayed warm and dry. Our gear ended up a bit damp but no biggie. Here I am filtering water for our next segment.

Buff single track that seemed to run forever.

Les Grills says “A positive mental attitude is key to survival”

Being minimalist bikepackers we used our cell phones as cameras.

We stopped for a minute to let our gear air out and prepared for what turned out to be the most difficult part of the journey. We are at the Lost Creek Wilderness boundary and you cant ride a mechanized vehicle in the wilderness. So we took the wheels off our bikes, strapped the frames to our pack and hiked for 6 miles over some tough terrain. This turned out to be a bad idea and we should have taken one of the suggested detours from the guide. Our packs were not designed to carry the weight of the frame and the straps dug into our shoulders with excruciating pain.

This is how it went for 5 hours. Walk 100 feet. Stop and lean forward to shift the weight off your shoulders because they were screaming in pain. Rest for a minute then repeat.

This picture shows how beat down we were. Talk about suffering. But looking back you forget about the pain and remember the adventure.

Tired and weary we set up camp in lost park. Here we are inside our tent. It was roomy and often we cooked inside because it rained every night.

Day 3 Lost Park to Middle Fork of the Swan River

So we woke up to one of the most amazing views. Lost Park was beautiful. Day 3 was off to a great start. We aired out our gear, ate some breakfast and got ready for another day of adventure.

Right off the bat we had a sweet descent.

We exited the trail briefly to detour a short wilderness section.

A quick check of the GPS and we are back on trail.

The Section of CT on the East side of Kenosha pass was really nice. We were running a bit behind schedule and was hoping to make it to Breckenridge this day. Judging by our pace we were not going to make it. We were worried about the amount of remaining food we had. Lucky we met a very cool thru hiker named Tony that was kind enough to part ways with one of his dinners. The extra food turned out to come in very handy. Tony if you ever read this Thanks!

We hit another really good descent before crossing Kenosha Pass. Zipping through aspen groves is one of my favorite things you can experience on a bike.

We crossed Kenosha Pass and came upon the “real South Park”

Here we stopped for some lunch. Spagetti!

We are climbing again. This time up to the 11,800ft Georgia Pass.

The air was getting thinner and we crossed treeline. A little hike a bike never hurt anybody.

Ahhh! Nothing feels better than reaching the summit of a high alpine climb.

We descended a few miles on the backside of Georgia pass. It was getting dark so we found a cool campsite and got some rest. Day 3 was great. Lots of great trail and I recall 3 amazing descents all in one day.

Day 4 Middle Fork of the Swan River to Breckenridge

Here is a shot of our Campsite. It only rained a couple of hours that night. Not bad compared to the nonstop rain we were used to. For the most part we were lucky and the rain would hit us as soon as we would crawl in the tent.

Getting some much needed water.

So we had one good climb before getting to Breck that took us over 11,000ft. We ate the last of the food that Tony had given us the day before and were very anxious to get into town for a real meal.

The descent down to Horseshoe gulch was one of the best. You could tell this section of the CT was ridden frequently and there were lots of fast buff sections of trail with nice banked corners. We both had huge grins on our faces during this section.

Finally! Heading into Breckenridge for some much needed R&R. I couldn’t peddle my bike fast enough on the 4 mile bike path into town.

After eating a plate of nachos and a huge hamburger in Breckenridge we found a hostle to stay in for only $31 a night. An easy choice after A cold front had moved in and it was rainy and quite chilly. A warm dry bed sounded to good to pass up.

The folks at the fireside in were very nice and even washed our clothes and let us use wear some comfortable threads while we stayed. We grabbed a six pack of PBR’s and relaxed in the hot tub for for a few.

Picture of our room.

Day 5 Breckenridge to Leadville

So we skipped Segment 7 of the CT and took the 10 mile bike path detour to Copper Mountain. It was nice. Here we are starting to ascend the first part of the Copper section.

Here we stopped for some water before climbing some more.

The climb up to Searle Pass was really chill.

Dank Trail!

The Carins were huge!

We crossed tree line and were feeling the anticipation of reaching Searle Pass.

Alpine Time!

We had reached the top of 12,040ft Searle Pass and celebrated a bit. Also we made a furry friend! We knew from here the hard part was behind us and were going to make it to Leadville this day.

After Searle Pass we were treated with about 4 miles of smooth Alpine riding to Kokomo Pass. Mikes having such a good time his tounge is sticking out!

After what seemed like a quick descent we stopped for a rest at a waterfall by Camp Hale.

Mike contemplating his life on one of the CT bridges.

Some final Single track before reaching Tennessee pass.

Hy 24 off in the distance

And here we are at our finish line. Completing one of the most amazing journeys of my life. After this we rode about 10 miles of highway into Leadville. We stopped at the Pizza Hut and waited for Mikes girlfriend to pick us up. 180 miles total!

At our campsite on North Bever Mesa and my favorite shot from the ride.

Unable to shrug off the upset of not 100% completing the Kokopelli supported last April Mike and I gave another attemp this time self supported and in the last week of September. I really got my pack weight down this year. My pack weighed about 12 pounds dry. Last year it probably weighed 20 lbs. 8 lbs makes a Big difference over 150 miles.

Here we are at the start. We stayed in Moab the night before and got up at 0 dark thirty to take a shuttle back to the trail head in at Loma. There was a group of girls that were getting ready to ride the Kokopelli the same time we were at the trail head, they were from Taos NM. One of them took this shot. Thanks! We never saw them again.

This year my pack consisted of the following.
1 Down Summer Quilt
1 REI Minimialist Bivy
Big Agnes Air Pad
Katdyn Hiker Pro Water Filter
Silk Thermals
Hat
Tools
3 water bottles (one on bike)
Food

My Bike Preformed unbleivelbly well. My suspension was soft the first day but after I gave it several shots of air from my new uber light shock pump it made for a perfect ride. We had 0 flats no broken chains nothing nada….

Here we are in Rabbit Valley already. Seems like we are making good time but it is HOT!! Its has to be in the mid 90’s and water conservation was a must.

We had made a costly wrong turn in Rabbit Valley getting about an hour off course. We were already low on water and had the toughest part of the day ahead of us since we take the Western Rim option. Western rim is a blast but there is a tough hike a bike out at the end. I cramped on this one since I was out of water by the time we got to the hike a bike. The first day was the most difficult due to the wrong turn and heat.

Releived we arrive at our night one campsite at Westwater. Westwater is a drop in point for rafters on the Colorado River. Lots of rafters camp there and its always an intersting crowd. Plust there is a water spout there. This year we got offered free beers and and some of the best brownies I have ever had by the rafters.

I had my first rattlesnake encounter. There were tons of lizards and snakes on the Kokopelli. We camped night 2 at Cowskin Campground about 4 miles up Entrada blufs road. It made for a nice slog finish for day 2 but was well worth it. Cowskin was peaceful and very beautiful. We had stashed water food and some cans of Old Chub. It was one of our better improvements made vs. the self supported trip in ’08

Les Grills says we have reached the national forest boundry. I rode with my helmet in my pack most of the trip. It was just so hot and the bandana kept my head cool and the sweat out of my eyes.

This is the third day. Even though it was a full day of climbing it was probably the best day.

One of the zillion lizard friends I made on the trail.

At the top of Fisher Valley looking out at sundown. This was our night 3 campsite. We ended up getting rained on and I was not prepared for it and ended up getting wet in my bivy. Should have brought the rain jacket oh well.

So it was a great Kokopelli adventure. Self Supported is way more fun. The elements were the most challenge on this run. Scorching Temps, getting rained, Hailed, sleeted on made it that much more interesting. We made it!

This year was a new approach to the Kokopelli adventure that turned out to be an action packed highly relaxing fully supported multiday mountain biking adventure. Those of you that are not familiar with the Kokopelli Trial it is a 150 mile routh the the desert following much of the Colorado River through dusty, twisty, rocky, ledgey exposed single track and jeep road. This route packs some of the most rugged unforgiving yet spectacular terrian I have ridden. I love spending time in this part of the country. Our crew was fourtunate to find campsites with the most amazing vistas right along the Colorado River boxed in by steep canyon walls.

We started our adventure at the Loma Trail head. This year I was much more relaxed.

Jen is on the right our support driver. Steven Mike and Myself on MTB’s. Oh and of course our Kokopelli Mascot dog Roxi.

And we are off here is Mike leading the way on Marys.

Steven just getting done ripping a techy spot on Horsethief Bench.

Wow look at the Colorado Down there!

Notice my pack is much smaller this year. They joy of having a support vehicle is you can carry much less stuff and really rip the trail.

Handcuff Loops is a fun section that included one of a billion cliffs we rode along.

You can see the Handcuff loops down there. If you ever have a chance to ride this section I would recommend it.

We stop for some traffic. You can see the riders off in the distance.

No complaints so far.

Dont ask me what this guy was thinking!>!??

Here is that crazy hike a bike out of the canyon that Salt creek runs through.

Here we all arrive at our totally kick ass day one camp spot. I cant believe how lucky we were to get this cool location. It was in Knowles Canyon Overlook Campground and had amazing views of the canyon below and the Colorado River.

Not a bad way to wake up on day two.

And we are off for Day Two. This was one of the best sections because we were able to hit the Western Rim trail for the first time with perfect weather. Last year we missed it due to no trail markers and strong wind.

I cant begin to tell you how fun the Western Rim trail was to ride. Easily one of the best singletrack options in the region.

This trail scared the bejezeze out of me. We got off trail and it squezed us right up aginst the exposed ledge!

More of the Western Rim

Yes the trail skirts along this cliff

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=

Wesern Rim from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

This section of the western was highly fun. Whoop de doos everywhere and lots more small drops.

Steven, Mike, and myself stop to have lunch. It was hot and sunny this was the only patch of good shade for miles. Steven and I packed tuna sandwitches. What a bunch of dorks.

Here I am cleaning a nice tech climb section. We decided to finish off the day on the Overlook trail that turned out to be a bitch. It was had to follow and had lots of soft sandy sections combined with rocky ledges and tech sections. It ended up finishing us all off for the day. Good thing camp is only a few miles away.

Day 2 camp site at West Water. Not quite a senic and remote as Knowles but still fun. There was another group of riders taking a guided tour through one of the small tour companies and they had along with them a talented singer/guitarist that played some great songs till bed time then woke us up again the next morning at 7:00am sharp. I slept about 10 yards from the shore of the colorado river.I feel like a I am starting to bond with this river a bit.

Ahh the joys of a supported trip. Fettachini Alfreado! Self Supported I would be eating a frezed drid bag of somthing. All of our meals turned out excellent and our breakfast mostly consisted of breakfast burrito stuff.

So here we are ready to tackle another section of the Kokopelli. Today we had Westwater to Cowskin Campground This was a tough day battling strong head winds and hot sun. It was a constant push for about 30+miles.

We managed to have a blast despite the windy conditions.

Wide open spaces. For some reason this is the most erie section of the Kokopelli to me.

Good ole county road. I drafted mike as much as possible this day.

Here is an old foundation that we came across and took a break in the cellar.

Here we are taking a break from the wind gusts. It was creepy down in this old cellar.

It was nice to have other people carrying the camera on this trip. I got lots of good shots with me in them.

Mike and I pressed on the complete the Yellow Jacket Canyon section. This turned out to be one of the trip highlights.

It was late in the day and I shoud have been beat from riding head on into wind all day but some how I was energized and had a great climb and amazing decent down YJC. Lots of slick rock and really cool sandy section that you can surf over.

I was getting low on water.

Here is our cool campsite for Night 3. This was by far my best nights sleep. I had the rain fly off and fell asleap to the stars. We were not at cowskin but at a campsite by the Delores River.

So we ended up skipping a day on of the luxuires of a supported trip. We were all tired after 3 days straight of riding and the day prior was full of harsh wind. Also we got bad reports that the Polar Mesa section may be closed and still coverd with snow. So we skipped a major part from basically Dewy Bridge all the way to the Beginning of UPS, LPS, Porcupine rim trail.

Rested rechared and full of excitement we got dropped off by Jen at the start of the commonly shuttled Porcupine Rim. Lying before us are some of the best sections of the Kokopelli route, the Kokopelli connector, UPS, LPS, and the classic Porcupine rim trail.

This is the only picture I got on the super fast decent on the Kokopelli Connector Trail. The Kokopelli Connector trail is the trail between Hazard County and UPS. Last year this was muddy but quite the oppisite this year, hard packed, smooth, and scary fast!

Oh lookie here the UPS is official it has its own sign. This section of singletrack is to die for. Whom ever laid out this trail did an amazing job of utilizing the terrain for maximum fun.

Time to reflect…….

Steven skirting along the Procupine Rim.

Ummm group photo I guess.

And its time to wrap up the Kokopelli. When we got to the bottom we met Jen and got a ride back into town.

My first trip up and down Pikes Peak. I am goinng to try and add Data to my trip reports from now on.

One thing I will never forget is camping at 13,000 feet and having a Pika attack my bivy all night. He did not like me camping up in his patch of rocks.I also made a wrong turn about 2 miles up the trail and ended up climbing the top half of the Incline in the dark. Also there was the Pikes Peak Challenge going on. You cant tell from the pictures but there was easily about a 1000 hikers climbing the peak that day.

America The Beautiful
The lyrics to this America the Beautiful were written by Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) an instructor at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, after an inspiring trip to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado, in 1893.

Here I am after making the Summit. Even though I have been to the to via car in the past this one had much more meaning.

The Cirque, its scary to look over this edge.

Here is my camp site at 13,000 feet just 1 mile from the summit. I was attacked by a pika all night and it was extremely windy all night hence a night of camping that I will never forget.

Here is the GPS data layerd over google earth. Pretty Cool! Round trip was 26 miles and tons of vertical. I was beat and did the whole trip solo with a cast.