Fatbike ride up Middle Cottonwood Canyon.

As winter presses on I’m getting more and more used to my fatbike and what one can do with it. We’ve had a good bit of snow so far this season but not that much in the past two weeks so it is getting packed down well by foot and ski traffic and this allows the fatbike to really roll on the snow.

I did the Middle Cottonwood Canyon ride today and took the little point and shoot camera along and took a few photos –

When I leave the house I do a long and gradual climb up a snow covered gravel road and in the photo you can see where we are headed – it’s the canyon behind the house in the foreground.

After the longish grind up the gravel road things change dramatically when you make a hard turn onto the access road that heads to the trailhead and onto forest service property. This access road goes up pretty steeply and it no longer plowed or maintained at all in the winter so I’m riding on snow packed by trucks and skiers.

The ride then continues up the access road and has some great views straight ahead of the Bridgers and high peaks.

After about a mile and a half of access road you get to the trailhead and then roll right onto the single track. The trail follows a creek bed and crosses it a few times. This time of year one can ride right over the frozen creek and not get wet.

Following the single track up one eventually gets to a juncture where one can choose a few different ways to go. For me, today in the snow, it’s straight and up.

After leaving the juncture things get very technical as you pass through a rock garden single track section. Ironically this is actually easier to ride in the winter as the snow fills a lot of the wheel stopping holes in. Once through that the view opens and is simple stunning.

Once up high the views open but the trail gets very steep – so steep that it’s hard to ride in the summer on dry dirt let alone on snow with a near 40 pound bike. So this is my turn around point. This high point is about 1100 feet above my house and near 6100′ of elevation. The ride down is wonderful, fast and curvy and the fatbike does a great job making you feel like you are on dirt the grip and float are so good.

Once headed down things move quickly down the few miles of single track and then dump you out onto the access road. I don’t have too many good photos of the single track as it was a bit too dark for good photos………but you can see really well and let it run. Once out of the single track it’s out onto the access road for the long free ride down. The cool thing about headed down is not only is it easy but the views are to die for.

The final leg of the ride is more downhill and is a single track trail that runs through my neighborhood. A great way to wrap up the ride.

So that’s it. About 11 miles and 1100′ of vertical. About 1/2 is in snow covered road the the other half is on trail and single track. Not a bad way to spend an hour and a half on a sunny winter afternoon. Come out on and join me for the next one…………tomorrow maybe? I look forward to it.

Thanks for looking,

Dave

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3 responses to “Fatbike ride up Middle Cottonwood Canyon.”

1. Chris says:

   January 5, 2013 at 5:49 pm

   I enjoyed this posting a lot, Dave–thanks for taking the time to document your ride. That access road looks f-a-s-t.

2. Jim Collins says:

   January 7, 2013 at 8:05 am

   Dave,

   Wonderful post – almost as good as doing it in person!

   Sounds like you really like the “big-tire special” – might get you thinking about a Kirk version:)

   All the best,

   Jim

3. jim says:

   January 8, 2013 at 3:51 pm

   Yeah, maybe you will try building one someday?