Crested Butte - Day 3

On the third day, Heather and Chris got an early start and took their tandem for a ride on the 401 Trail. That's their story and I'll let them tell it.

Scaq stayed behind with Cailan. We started our day with plenty of coffee, a leisurely breakfast, and some laundry. The kids played with dinosaurs, told stories, and built robots. After breakfast we went into Crested Butte to play at a park. Cailan was most interested in the musical playground equipment at one end of the park, while Quinn and Abbey focused on climbing a large boulder at the other end. The weather was nice, the park was full of well-behaved kids, parents, and dogs (not ours), and it was a good chance to relax.

Heather and Chris got back a little after noon, I think. After lunch, for our afternoon ride we decided to make another trip around the Lower Loop Trail. There aren't too many short, easy trails in the Crested Butte area, so we made good use of this one. In the parking lot before the ride, we played musical bikes. Abbey really liked the little orange (taxi yellow?) Kona, but she often took the opportunity to grab her mom's Superlight.

This time, rather than pedal up Peanut Lake Road, we backtracked a little and jumped on a fun piece of single track that ran parallel to Peanut Lake road on the hillside above it. The trail must have been on an old road bed or railroad grade; probably the latter, since it was in places covered in coal. There were a few steep spots and a few wet spots.

This was one of my favorite places further up on the Lower Loop Trail. The steep hill and smooth path made a nice opportunity to generate some speed. Careful though, the trail gets pretty narrow at the bottom...

The big climb to the upper trail was on a piece of road that sees some four-wheel drive traffic. It was steep, but probably only for a quarter mile. Here at the top we took little break to catch our breath before heading down. An old fence ran along the top, and there was quite a bit of barbed wire scrambled about on the ground. I worried that Amos might get entangled. A woman passed by on a dual suspension 29er and asked us for directions while we refueled.

This time, Scaq led the descent with the Diddiwah train bringing up the rear. I wish we'd had a video camera on Cailan's handlebars. I'd love to see what sort of expressions crossed his face while their train negotiated some of those rocky sections at high speed. Did he feel fear? Excitement? Indifference? Rarely could I see him while we were riding. I never heard him complain.

At this point, Abbey and Quinn were really having a blast on their bikes. They seemed to be growing more comfortable with the rocky trails and steep slopes, and they were tackling obstacles with increased confidence. Their confidence and the sunny weather made the second trip on the Lower Loop even better than the first!