Temporal Brachiation.
Remember when you were a kid and you would be carted off to visit grandparents and you would feel like you were being transported backwards in time? Whisked out of the relatively cosmopolitan feel of the 1970s, (for example) to the museum like quality of your Grandparent's crib, where the '50's, '40's or even '30's are preserved with a docent's eye for detail.
That's how it felt yesterday when we got out of the car up at Golden Gate Canyon State Park and immediately began rummaging around for more layers. The sudden appearance of summer here in the front range made us lower our defenses a bit. We were subject to ambush. Heck, even some of the aspens hadn't yet leafed out. Luckily the sun came out to play and we set off to x us some c.
There area wealth of trails out here. I usually do a big loop clockwise which allows you to hit almost every option. The elevations wander from 8400 to 9500 and never stay in one place for very long. And the terrain is constantly changing as well. Smooth "rolling thorugh meadows" singletrack. Rocky descents. slow speed technical stuff. Now here's the weird part, ready?
Hardly
anyone
rides
out
here.
Maybe because it is pay to play. But on a perfect Sunday we saw exactly one other rider.
We headed out onto the trails and layers were quickly shed.
About a third of the way into things, we arrived at Panorama Point. Lovely views of the continental divide.
A cookie break, and then it was back to work.
And of course, there is the payoff.
Sweet delicious payoff.
