Getting High on the Divide

After last year's West Empire Death March, I swore to never do the Bard Creek Trail by bike again and I have stuck to that line of thinking. There are still great treasures west of Empire though and Lubes, PBR and myself adventured to seek them out. Lubes mentioned doing Jones Pass last weekend when I was camping at Twin Lakes with my girls and when I later learned he hadn't, I came up with a route that included Jones Pass and Herman Gulch ending with Silverdale back into Georgetown. Lubes was game and when we talked PBR into it, the good times were rollin.

It began with a mean and nasty climb regularly maintaining a 15% grade and sometimes jumping up to 25%. Even with a granny while the other two suffered singlespeeds, I walked a little

Wildflowers and the views kept our eyes on the prize



least the cornice was smaller then last years



and that cornice still holds strong



The Continental Divide Trail appears and is as grand as I remember







Do you see Lubes and PBR on the Ridge?



and there was hike a biking, lots of it



But when we reached 13,215 ft, our highest point for the day, it was all worth it
(notice the Goat now has a backup ride, an Origin 8 Scout 29)



From there it was a 3,000 or so feet descent









a short bike and hike up and we arrive at an ancient glacier lake



and some more magnificent scenery



then it was in and out of the woods to below 10,000 ft





Connections are a must, PBR found a way to enjoy this one



Legs were starting to get heavy, can we catch a ride Thomas?



Guess not, time for a nap before that last bit of great singletrack



and what fun it was





Lubes with the killer guns!