Bikepacking The CT: Lost Creek Wilderness Detour

Started the second day on the trail feeling pretty good and it wasn't long before we came across the three dog girl from Manitoba. I couldn't help but think that taking care of three dogs, for a thru hiker, on this trail might be a little over ambitious. One of her dogs was not doing too good so she had left him with a local hiker. She was planning to walk to Durango and then back to Denver and would retrieve her dog on the way back.  The cultural vibe of this place was starting to become more evident to me now. It was almost west coast culture like but different.

This day was to be all about The Lost Creek Wilderness Detour. Five miles of The CT passes through an area that's designated as "Wilderness" and bikes are not permitted. Our detour around this area was about 70 miles of primarily forest service roads. Ouch! The detour passes through an area devastated  by the largest wildfire in Colorado history. The Hayman wildfire in 2002 affected more than 137,000 acres. 

The detour started with seven climbs, each about 500' in elevation, as a warmup. By noon it was around 30 celsius and now there was almost no shade for about 137,000 acres. We had lunch by a lone pine tree. The turkey vultures waited patiently nearby. We carried on and found some water. The mid afternoon storm clouds rolled in. We made  it to highway 77 and it started to rain.

I was thinking we might be able to resupply at Tarryall but there was nothing there. The rain was starting to come down heavy so we took cover under the canopy at the front entrance to an unmanned fire station and had coffee.  Once the rain slowed down to a sprinkle we packed up and rode on as far as the Tarryall Reservoir before running out of daylight. We camped at the picnic area shelter.

The original plan was to be through the detour on this day and positioned for an assault on Georgia Pass.  Didn't make it but we're writing it off as a rain delay. Hopefully better weather tomorrow.

Tarryall Reservoir Picnic Shelter