photo courtesy San Juan Hut Adventures.
On Friday I’ll be setting out on a week-long mountain bike odyssey from Durango, CO to Moab, UT on my mountain bike. The trip is organized by San Juan Hut Adventures which provides mountain huts along the 215-mile route, each stocked with food, water, and sleeping bags (among other items). Think of this trip as bikepacking lite – nothing to carry but extra clothes and spare parts.
Although I won’t be able to post about the trip while I’m out, I will be taking along a SPOT transponder that plots our group’s progress on this map. Five of us will be making the trip: Nate and Matt are driving over from SF and Jake and Dan are flying in from NYC.
While the default hut-to-hut route from Durango to Moab is mostly dirt road with some singletrack, most days feature an alternate singletrack route that we’re hoping to make use of. Here’s what we know about the route so far:
Day 1
Staring from Durango Mountain Resort (formerly known as Purgatory), we’ll head up FSR 587 to Hermosa Creek trail. Day 1 features some of the most climbing (3,590 feet) but it’s also one of the shortest days mileage-wise (just 18.7 to the hut).
Day 2
This route takes us from the Bolam Pass hut to the Black Mesa hut – 28.6 miles and 3,377 feet of climbing. There are two singletrack options along the way: East Fork of the Delores Trail and something called the Groundhog Stock Driveway Trail. Sweet.
Day 3
On the third day we finally get to do more descending (5,198 feet) than climbing (2,003 feet) which always makes for a fun time on the bike.
Day 4
This 34.6 mile section crosses through mining and gas exploration areas and we’ve been told to watch out for dust storms, hot sun, and/or nasty mud in the Dry Creek Basin area. There are 3 potential alternate routes on Day 4 but the description of multiple “bail out” points makes me think this may be one of the more uncomfortable days in the saddle.
Day 5
Our first taste of seriously technical singletrack on the main route. The “Catch-Em Up Trail” descends 1,100 feet in just a mile and our guides recommend hike-a-bike for all but the most skilled riders. 33 miles and 2,800 feet of climbing.
Day 6
Only 24.4 miles to ride but 5,320 feet to climb! Based on the pics, Buckeye Reservoir should be pretty amazing.
Day 7
Descending into Moab. The singletrack options for the last day include jaunts on the Kokopelli’s Trail and Porcupine Rim. 35.6 miles and nearly 7,500 miles of descending – every bit of it earned!
Can’t wait to get started, should be an epic trip!
12 Comments
Aug 25, 2010
Trek, this sounds like an awesome trip. I hope you guys have a blast, and I can't wait to read the ride reports!
-Greg
http://gregridestrails.com
Aug 26, 2010
Miramonte Reservoir on day 3 is worth the stop. We all washed our clothes and went for a swim. Buckeye Reservoir on day 6 was CLOSED! How do you close a reservior??? It was cold and breezy when we got there so a swim would have been out of the question. Hope you have good weather and a great time!
Aug 25, 2010
Aug 26, 2010
Aug 26, 2010
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0EV9nKnBFHUIgBJDs7W11nTFpkpZqyURL
Aug 25, 2010
The mileage and climbing are pretty low most days, curious how long you'll be riding every day, keep detailed notes please! Of course most folks, myself included, aren't used to 7 days of riding in a row...take plenty of butt butter!!
Day 6 looks like a long slow day...hope you've got a 36T cog on your cassette lol.
I'd recommed taking a spare set of brake pads, just in case you get some nasty weather. And obviously, someone needs to bring along some chain lube.
Be sure to take good notes of how each day goes, and I'd love to see how everyone has their bike set up. Lots of pics please!
Have fun guys! I'm jealous.
Aug 25, 2010
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Aug 26, 2010
Feb 6, 2017