2011 Spring Dirt/Road Tour

[Marshal]

I am working on a Spring Dirt/Road Tour and am looking for 1-4 or so fellow bikepackers who might be interested in joining me for all or part of the tour. 

This would be a tour, not a race.  The tour would be done self supported style.

Tentative route overview:

Start—Woodland Park CO     
Finish – North Rim, Grand Canyon AZ

Ride through remote parts of Colorado-Utah-Arizona

About 750 miles total
355 miles dirt (mixed dirt roads, low-non technical) (semi fat tires required)
385 mile paved (Most of the Hwy miles are from ACA’s Western Express route)
10,800 ft high, 3950 ft low elevations

7-8 Days (firm pace of 70 to 125 miles/day)
6-7 Nights (4-5 Camp, 2-3 Hotel or RV Park)

Date—TBD (May or June, note: early date and/or heavy snow pack could force re-route around 2, maybe 3 dirt sections, later date could make the desert section a bit hot)

Map of tentative route:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=117855475667098765716.000493c6ab97c09b4321e

Marshal Bird

[donkey]

I'm extremely interested.....that's a good time of year for me. I have the perfect bike for that type of trip as well.

Logistics would be fairly easy for me as well.....Fly into Colorado and then have a friend pick me up at the North Rim.

B

[wdlandparker]

Marshal,
I was planning a tour of my own around that time, so I would love to ride with you for a bit!
Taz

[verve825]

Hey, Marshal-

Looks like a superb route! I'd be real keen on joining you for this one, pending finalization of dates. (I'm very familiar with the snowpack/snowfall dynamic, and don't need or expect firm dates until we're much closer to the trip...)

Keep me posted, if you would.

Thanks and regards,

Jeff

[riverfever]

This looks good Marshal. I'm in.

[vaporjourney]

That route looks nice, but I'd like to give a piece of advice, without trying to ruin what you've already planned.  I did a route pretty similar last spring, riding from Crested Butte, CO to Zion then looping down to GC and back up thru Durango.  I'd HIGHLY recommend not going into Hanksville from the north end of Natural Bridges NM.  Instead, maybe stick with that awesome FR route north of the National Monument, then find a way to Bullfrog.  It's slightly slightly out of the way, but the point is to ride the Burr Trail.  It's a nice dirt road, definitely a tad washboardy, but really quiet, and full of beautiful scenery in Capital Reef NP.  You ride next to the Waterpocket Fold, cross over it via the infamous Burr Switchbacks, ride thru beautiful Long Canyon, and back on pavement up in Boulder, which was already on your route.

also, heads up on those Forest Roads west of Blanding.  I had intended to ride south from the Needles District in Canyonlands and then wind up on those roads to get to Bullfrog.  The rangers in Canyonlands tried to scare me off from doing it, claiming there was still snowpack in May up high in the forest, especially near Bear's Ears pass.  Even if the snow wasn't there, which I doubt it actually was, there may be serious mud up high which would definitely slow you down, so plan accordingly. 

same could be said about your route on Marshall Pass Rd, which I've never ridden before.  Many high passes around Crested Butte/Monarch Pass are closed until June...  Doesn't mean you can't be a legend and push your bike thru the snow, but don't exactly expect fast travel because the road exists on the map.

enjoy the trip.  It's such beautiful country and nice riding

[Marshal]

That route looks nice, but I'd like to give a piece of advice, without trying to ruin what you've already planned.  I did a route pretty similar last spring, riding from Crested Butte, CO to Zion then looping down to GC and back up thru Durango.  I'd HIGHLY recommend not going into Hanksville from the north end of Natural Bridges NM.  Instead, maybe stick with that awesome FR route north of the National Monument, then find a way to Bullfrog.  It's slightly slightly out of the way, but the point is to ride the Burr Trail.  It's a nice dirt road, definitely a tad washboardy, but really quiet, and full of beautiful scenery in Capital Reef NP.  You ride next to the Waterpocket Fold, cross over it via the infamous Burr Switchbacks, ride thru beautiful Long Canyon, and back on pavement up in Boulder, which was already on your route.

also, heads up on those Forest Roads west of Blanding.  I had intended to ride south from the Needles District in Canyonlands and then wind up on those roads to get to Bullfrog.  The rangers in Canyonlands tried to scare me off from doing it, claiming there was still snowpack in May up high in the forest, especially near Bear's Ears pass.  Even if the snow wasn't there, which I doubt it actually was, there may be serious mud up high which would definitely slow you down, so plan accordingly. 

same could be said about your route on Marshall Pass Rd, which I've never ridden before.  Many high passes around Crested Butte/Monarch Pass are closed until June...  Doesn't mean you can't be a legend and push your bike thru the snow, but don't exactly expect fast travel because the road exists on the map.

enjoy the trip.  It's such beautiful country and nice riding

Ferry Ride anyone?

Thanks for the tip on the Burr Trail!!!!  Is this sort of what you had in mind? (see new option on map) Ferry runs every day and is 5$/bike--that also sounds sort of fun.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=117855475667098765716.000493c6ab97c09b4321e

As far a snow/mud/dirt passes I will look at snow pack come departure date and plan accordingly. I am not opposed to a bit of push-a-bike in some snow or mud but also see no reason not to detour/back-up around as best fits on-ground conditions.

[vaporjourney]

yes, this is exactly the route I took to get over Lake Powell.  The ferry is definitely a pretty nice ride.  There is a campground if you get to Halls Crossing and need to spend the night as the last ferry leaves somewhere around 4:00 pm.  The CG is a self-pay system, so you can choose your level of honest... 

The route on Cottonwood Canyon road south of Kodachrome Park is an awesome route...nice choice.

[wdlandparker]

I looked at  the sarellite view of a good portionof the route, and suffice to say, I am very much interested!

[Marshal]

(there might be a better way to do this  but.....)

The current route is just a ‘draft’ right now and not really ready for downloading, but if anyone wants a copy of the 'in-works' gpx files send me a PM and I can email them as an attachment

With this draft gpx file it’s easy to lay the track onto google earth and then look at all the ‘tourist’ photos right on or close to the track/route.  Good winter time evening fun, at least I think so.

(or you can do the little “re-name file extension” game and lift the published track directly from google maps and then paste it to google earth)