Back in the summer of 1987, we vacationed for three weeks in Steamboat Springs, where we hiked 15 miles on what I later discovered was the Continental Divide Trail. I noticed what were obviously campsites along the trail and realized you could backpack and camp wherever you wanted in the national forests. That began my love of backpacking, and I eventually backpacked 60-plus times in 50+ wilderness areas across the country.
We also rented mountain bikes in Steamboat, and following the directions of the bike shop proprietor, we biked up Buffalo Pass Road which involved some walking the bikes on steep sections of the gravel road (cross training I call it!) We then turned off onto Spring Creek Trail and had a marvelous long downhill ride on nice single track with gorgeous views. You can see the ski slopes in the distance in this photo.
My son was 15 and took right to what was a new sport for us flatlanders from Chicagoland!
I enjoyed it so much, I eventually bought a mountain bike back home and began 25+ years of biking gravel trails in the prolific forest preserves around Chicagoland, something I still do now to the tune of 2500+ miles per year. Here I am coasting down the mountainside. Too bad you can't see the huge smile on my face!
Ever since my youth-years in Cub and Boy Scouts, I had a deep passion for the outdoors in general and forests in particular, and scenery like this still fuels that passion.
You can check out all my adventures at my other blog called Bike, Hike, and Paddle.
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