Today, the clouds are creeping down the towering mountains into the valley and I know that high country exploring on my dirt bike is coming to a close. Soon, the soft brown dirt will turn to white and what were recently roads will be platforms for layers of snow. I’d normally be pretty disappointed if Copper Mountain pushed their opening day back, however, this year is different. Unlike most moto enthusiasts, I don’t get endless summer days in the hills on two wheels. I try to take full advantage of the short Colorado fall season and this year I’ve fallen more in love with my dirt bike than ever before. The warm fall days are bittersweet, as I know that every day that passes, we are one day closer to cold and snowy winter explorations.
Last week, the crisp morning turned into a warm afternoon and Tyson and I left Buena Vista for Tincup Pass. The winding canyon past Mt. Princeton is tunneled by huge cottonwoods and evergreens and whips along side Chalk Creek whitewater. It smelled of dense forest and the temperature fluctuated next to the water. You’ll pass Agnes Vaille Falls, where a beautiful Buena Vista Family surrendered to the power of Mother Nature a year ago. You’ll chase the sun through Chalk Creek Canyon if you’re there in the late afternoon. The road opens up at St. Elmo and you will be warmed again by the early evening sun.
St. Elmo, a ghost town built in 1880, definitely embodies the ghost town title, as we seemed to be the only souls throughout the block-long town. It’s a peculiar feeling as the quiet town sits at the base of 14,000-foot peaks. A few minutes after parking and admiring the historic and quiet community, chipmunks will crawl from cracks and crevices of the town. It’s funny how they know to give you a minute with the eerie silence, and then come running to your feet begging for a snack. They were curious enough to interact with us even though we had nothing to offer them.
Old ghost towns are intriguing but I much more admire the open high country and was anxious for the views that awaited. The day before this ride, the mountains had been socked in. We weren’t sure if we would hit snow or not but it had been warm all day so we thought we would be fine.
Early on, the pass was pretty wet and as we got higher, the shaded areas of the road had a thin layer of snow—enough to keep you on your toes but definitely not enough to turn anyone around! That dense, fresh forest smell was persistent, too.
Once above tree line, the road opens back up to a basin and at this point you can see the top of the pass (North/Northwest) and will know you are close. The views from the basin are incredible and photos do not do justice.
We crested the top of the pass. If you’ve ever heard of golden hour, the magical time of day when the evening light embraces the land infusing everything with amazing colors and shadows, you’ll understand how this meant two important. First, our photos would look nice thanks to the perfect natural lighting. Second, golden or magical hour come right before dark. And we were, after all, on the top of the pass for this “magical hour.”
I had a pretty good idea of how far we were from home if we decided to go down the backside of Tincup. Our ride would persist for easily another 2-3 hours. If we went back the way we came, we’d still get caught in the dark but not for nearly as long. Of course, retracing your steps isn’t nearly as fun and Tyson argued that we really were not that far from Cottonwood Pass.
I knew what we were up against in my mind but agreed to the adventure. The backside of the pass was much muddier, rockier, and wetter. Drainage basically flows right down the center of the road. It was quite rocky so our speed was slowed on the way down.
You will know you are at the bottom of the rough pass when the road opens up to a small lake. If your timing is right, the reflection will perfectly mirror the treed mountains and you will not know where the mountains end and the water begins. It seems fitting that the name of this lake is Mirror Lake. It was a truly spectacular view during nice evening light as the sun continued to disappear further behind the hills. The road transitions from rough and rocky to grated and smooth. We picked up our speed, as darkness chased us.
The town of Tincup seemed to be more populated than St. Elmo but smoke only rose from one chimney. At this point, the last little bit of sun hit the mountain summits high above and my vision grew grainy like my IPhone photos.
Past Tincup, the road straightens out and eventually opens up into Taylor Park. We stopped for one more photo, as the mountains to the North were purple like majesty. In an instant, as quickly as the mountains were engulfed in purple, they were a deep blue again. It reminded me that if you close your eyes for a second, a beautiful scape could change completely.
We were cold at this point. Hitting pavement in Taylor Park was bittersweet, as we knew now we were getting closer to home but higher speeds meant colder fingers. We turned on to Cottonwood Pass and were only about 15 minutes away from complete darkness.
Once at the top of Cottonwood Pass, my fingers were past the point of frozen. Normally we’d stop at the top of the pass to admire the vast views but this particular time we stopped to warm our hands. We huddled our hands around Tyson’s exhaust for a few minutes trying to get feeling back. It felt good to summit the pass, as I knew while it would only get darker, the further down Cottonwood we traveled the warmer it would get.
We took it slow because the area inevitably crawled with wildlife. The lights of Buena Vista finally excited us and the temperature felt so warm compared to the 12,000-foot elevation we had come from.
Tincup Pass was by far the most beautiful section of the trip but sunset reflections on Taylor Reservoir and Cottonwood Pass mountain views are worth mentioning too. Overall, the trip took us about 5 hours and we clocked right around 80 miles. We took our time and stopped for occasional photos, admiration of ghost towns, and spectacular mountain views which makes me confident that one could do this in less than 5 hours. Like I said, we took on the descent of Cottonwood pass pretty slowly as we were weary of wildlife. If you’re looking for high mountain views, solitude, and a fun loop near Buena Vista, I’d highly recommend this one. Don’t forget your camera, lots of extra layers, and expectations of never wanting to get off your bike.
