@gungriffin, @J1000, @MarcusW and I met up off of 285 and 470 Friday morning, and headed out from there. We opted to take 285 instead of I-70, which was an awesome drive (albeit long!). We made it to Corkscrew Pass around 4:30 in the afternoon, and headed up to find a good camping spot, which we found about 3/4 of the way up - amazing views and excellent campfire chats.
We left camp about 8:30AM Saturday morning, and headed for the Black Bear trailhead. To our dismay, the trail was temporarily closed, as a club was running it backwards. Thus, @gungriffin suggested we go run the "Super Secret Trail" from HIH, just across 550 from the Black Bear trailhead (still can't find the trail number - I think it was Ouray County Road 20, or something. We also met a cool couple (Bill and Tiffany) from Utah, who were wheeling a white 100 - they fit in perfectly with us, so they ran Super Secret Trail and Black Bear with us. Super fun and scenic trail, and it looped right back onto 550, so once we were finished, we just hopped right onto Black Bear.
This was my first trip to Black Bear, and it definitely didn't disappoint. @gungriffin was nice enough to lead, since he was the only one in the group who had run it before. The Steps were terrifying, but an absolute blast. The switchbacks weren't as bad as I thought they'd be - just a lot of 2-3 point turns! Imogene was gorgeous - at points it was like being on the moon or Mars - with all the grey and red colors.
After ending Imogene, we headed up Camp Bird road, and found a campsite off the northern entrance/exit to Imogene. Not as flat as we would've liked, but we were definitely exhausted after a long day of wheeling.
All in all, it was an awesome trip! Great people, cool rigs, and amazing trails. We'll definitely make this an annual trip - I'm addicted!
The campsite off Corkscrew:
Sunset at the campsite:
The rigs on Super Secret Trail:
The Steps:
The rigs at the bottom of the Steps:
My 100, with Telluride in the background:
Some cool wildflowers at the top of Super Secret Trail:
We left camp about 8:30AM Saturday morning, and headed for the Black Bear trailhead. To our dismay, the trail was temporarily closed, as a club was running it backwards. Thus, @gungriffin suggested we go run the "Super Secret Trail" from HIH, just across 550 from the Black Bear trailhead (still can't find the trail number - I think it was Ouray County Road 20, or something. We also met a cool couple (Bill and Tiffany) from Utah, who were wheeling a white 100 - they fit in perfectly with us, so they ran Super Secret Trail and Black Bear with us. Super fun and scenic trail, and it looped right back onto 550, so once we were finished, we just hopped right onto Black Bear.
This was my first trip to Black Bear, and it definitely didn't disappoint. @gungriffin was nice enough to lead, since he was the only one in the group who had run it before. The Steps were terrifying, but an absolute blast. The switchbacks weren't as bad as I thought they'd be - just a lot of 2-3 point turns! Imogene was gorgeous - at points it was like being on the moon or Mars - with all the grey and red colors.
After ending Imogene, we headed up Camp Bird road, and found a campsite off the northern entrance/exit to Imogene. Not as flat as we would've liked, but we were definitely exhausted after a long day of wheeling.
All in all, it was an awesome trip! Great people, cool rigs, and amazing trails. We'll definitely make this an annual trip - I'm addicted!
The campsite off Corkscrew:
Sunset at the campsite:
The rigs on Super Secret Trail:
The Steps:
The rigs at the bottom of the Steps:
My 100, with Telluride in the background:
Some cool wildflowers at the top of Super Secret Trail: