I have a crazy idea.
Since I now have a mountain bike I’ve been looking for an opportunity to combine riding with hiking 14ers. It just so happens that next weekend (17-19 July), I’m heading down to the Lake City area to hike Handies peak on Sunday with my friend Josh.
Because it’s such a long drive down there, I’d also like to hit Redcloud and Sunshine Peak on Saturday. The crazy part is, I want to partially ride and partially hike to these summits. Does anybody want to go with me?
Here are the details…I’ve included links of the route with photos:
- We’d probably leave Colorado Springs at about 2-3 p.m. on Friday, July 17. That would get us to the trailhead at about 9 p.m.
- Camp Friday night at the Redcloud (Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch) trailhead (i.e. free)
- Entire Redcloud to Sunshine round trip is 4,800 vertical feet and 12 miles
- Ride our mountain bikes as far as possible up Redcloud (probably to the Redcloud saddle/about 13,000 feet/photos 7 & 8)
- Walk our bikes up to the summit of Redcloud the last 1,000 feet or so (this part will suck)
- Hop on our bikes and ride over to Sunshine Peak as far as possible (probably to the Sunshine saddle/photos 5 & 6)
- Leave our bikes at the saddle and hike to the top of Sunshine
- Hike back down to our bikes and ride back over to Redcloud
- Ride downhill (as much as possible) all the way back to the trailhead
As I mentioned above, 12 miles is easily doable walking, let alone riding a bike. The only challenging part will be the short sections where we have to walk our bikes. If I don’t get any takers I’ll still probably attempt to do this on my own. If you don’t have a bike but would like to hike, I can be persuaded to walk.
The hike up Handies on Sunday is also open to anyone interested. I’ll be driving back to Colorado Springs Sunday afternoon but we can work out the logistics if you’d like to head back Saturday instead. This is going to be a great time on the mountain. Let me know!
