Argentine Pass

Somebody once said that "any day above treeline is a good day." I think I will have to slightly alter that. "Any day above treeline in fall is a great day."

Spent yesterday up in the high country riding what aught to be a fall pilgrimage to argentine pass. We might have been a week or so early, as not all of the leaves were in full splendor, but nonetheless there was plenty of splendor to be had.

The weather forecast called for rain turning to snow after above 10,000 feet, but much to our delight, the sun was rarely covered by the occasional cloud. the weather was, in fact, balmy until we began the slogging hike-a-bike up from waldorf mine, during which, we still were treated with sporadic spots of sunshine lighting up the snow or the reddening tundra.


Nearing the top, the temperature dropped significantly, as did the amount of snow blanketing the jeep trail. it was a little frustrating because there was little snow anywhere around the road, yet the road its self had accumulated enough to force all walking to be done on the fringe. bummer : )


After dropping the bikes for the final hundred meters, we made it to the top, and took a moment to enjoy the stellar views all around, including a very imposing face of grays, and not to mention the elk range and bierstadt/evans. Ate some food, put some extra clothes on for the descent, and hurried on down.


As much as I would have liked to, I don't have any pictures from the way down... we pushed our timetable a bit too far on the way up, and had to make it down before the two thirty cut off. The descent from the pass was a little hectic with a mix of rattling loose rock, and awkwardly tripoding down the snowbanks, wary of weak patches of snow that suddenly appeared and swallowed your front wheel. the rest of the descent down the road was just that. trying as hard as possible to book it down a very rough and rocky dirt road. My knuckles are still sore.


The final drop down had to be one of the most fun sections of singletrack this season. We opted for a short cut that, while not much shorter, provided more opportunity to rally down the ribbon of dark earth winding its way through the tunnel of yellow. This fall riding is truly spectacular.