new sign, same old Sargents
Today we rode and hiked Sargents Mesa. It really wasn’t that bad.
Sure, expectations were appropriately low, that helped. We were riding it backwards, so it was somewhat new to us — that helped too. Being in tour mode, with some good sleep and rest banked — yeah, that aided us, too.
We didn’t have to ride it, but it was the most logical choice. Riding the La Garita Wilderness detour meant we had already riding lots of roads. Riding even more roads would have been more sucky. So we chose to ride trail, even if it is sub-par.
It’s a means to an end, and also official CDT that’s open to bikes.
If you haven’t ridden it, here is a brief description. The trail is full of rocks and goes out of its way to reach every little high point. So it climbs and descends endlessly and often in an unrideable fashion. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
There are spooky woods, creepy meadows and cows that just don’t seem quite right. Something about the whole area just isn’t quite right.
But if you stop and look around, it’s beautiful forest. Lots of nuggets of great riding are interspersed. Flowing creeks, flowing trail, even a little on the contour rather than the fall-line.
There are far, far worse ways to spend a day.
Especially when that day takes you to the top of the Silver Creek trail, one of the most frequently ridden and shuttled in the Salida area. Getting to drop down it at the end of the day was a just reward for enduring, well, the rest of the day.
We saw a number of CT hikers and even a father-son duo that are section riding the CT–on bikes! They didn’t seem to enjoy segs 22/23 so I can’t imagine what they are going to think of Sargents.
I don’t know quite what else to say about it. It was easier than I remembered, and less rocky for sure. I really enjoyed many of the descents. It was best not to look ahead on the GPS to see all the 400ft climbs the trail was about to take you over and down.
It was also best not to stop for too long — the mosquitoes were out in full force throughout most of the Mesa.
up to Windy Peak
The descent to Tank 7 creek was a hoot. Caught air, carved corners. The creek itself was an oasis where we dipped our feet and cooled off before attacking Windy Peak’s hike-a-bike. The cooling was much needed due to what seemed like a crazy hot day. We were roasting even when we were above 11,500 feet!
It may have been a warm day, but we lucked out on trail conditions. Someone had cut out dozens and dozens of trees. It was nearly completely clear. That sure made things easier.
Would I look forward to riding it again? Sure, if it made sense in the context of some other ride. Would I ride it for its own sake? Nyet.
We were going to roll into Salida late tonight but opted to make camp at the Rainbow Trailhead, giving ourselves the option to take the trail in the morning if our stomachs haven’t eaten the rest of our bodies by then. We made the first fire of the trip and attempted to cook Pad Thai noodles by it since our stove ran out of fuel yesterday. It was semi-successful and we aren’t at all going to bed hungry.
Rainbow or no, we’ll be at Patio Pancake for breakfast in Salida tomorrow — YES!
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