Sat., July 14, 2018
Woodstone to Limbaugh Canyon
Start - ~6550'
High pt 8900'
Lo pt. ~6250' ?
End Elv ~8300?
Climbing ~2900'??
Miles ~27.3
Total time 6:00 ish
Ride time 3:57
Limbering up in Limbaugh Canyon.
Limbaugh Canyon is one of the more backcountry ish trail loops near town(15 miles up I-25), plus I can ride to it from home on a trail. It is a beautiful canyon with wildflowers, pine and aspen groves, plus it almost always has water. The trail itself is mostly flowy single track, at least until one gets inspiration point (a break stop in the morn no doubt). Wanted to try some single track with the new bikepacking setup on the Marin pine mountain 2 AND do a shake down night camping to see what working, missing, how the new tires respond, how Dan responds, etc.
As usual, lots of last minute tweaks delayed departure til about 10:30 am, it is was already hot. 15 miles up the Sante Fe rail trail was good, steady grade though not much shade. Stop at a park in monument to cool off in the shade, have a bite, and refill water before the 6+ mile climb up the much steeper Mt Herman road.
Did I mention it was hot?
Took a break every mile or so to drink and squeegee the sweat running off of me. Passed the trailhead to Limbaugh, but thought I would go further, you know, good training; and if it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger.
But did I mention it was hot?
Well mile or two past the trail head, decided I was done getting stronger, and starting to worry about that old sayings other alternative. So at about 23 miles into my climb, and reaching 8900', time to turn around and head for the single track trailhead. Nice change to use my brakes instead of my legs and lungs.
Single track went fine, though didn't let her rip much. The first stream crossing was completely dry however, and that got me thinking of various plan B s.
Did I mention it was bloody hot, and am depending on local water?
So now I am a little distracted checking for water as the trail follows the stream. Can't see much for the forest of small willows, though I note with envy that they don't look thirsty.
Reach a good campsite (the "F" campsite) not too far from the last stream crossing before climbing out of the canyon. Checking reveals a small amount of running water, so I am gonna stay and camp.
Still sweating and thirsty so I go down and get 2-3 quarts of water.. drinking some while filtering. I'm really thirsty, but need to setup camp. Decide not to cook and munch on bagels and fruit. Still kinda thirsty, and I haven't peed since Monument 6 hours ago. But I need to hang my food aways from tent so bears don't mistake me for some food, like jerky .
After that I go ahead and water a tree- a wee bit only. However the term water is a bit misleading, since water is clear. Guess I need to be drinking more.
And that is what I am doing while composing this log.
slurp
CODA - ok, got home after a very modest cruise down canyon. Single track is good, did have to walk a bike up and down a few stretches I'd normally rode, but still pretty amazed about where I can ride this steed. I did notice that having pannier can really cramp yerr hike bike style, on narrow paths.
Btw, it looks like it was 87 degrees in town for my man versus nature challenge. Still rehydrating
