Fall creeping down Gothic Mountain up valley from Crested Butte.
Gunnison Trails had planned to hold an event on Trailriders 401 near Crested Butte in early August. Unfortunately, we got rained out and had to reschedule. With the event happening tomorrow, I headed up there today to check out the terrain. It’s crazy hazy around here due to all of the wildfires and it was a bit stormy, too. Raindrops half way between Gunni and CB; I was wondering what was in store for me.
Trailriders 401 alone is about an 8-10 mile trail. You access it from the Gothic Road so the whole loop must be around 15-20 miles and it climbs a little over 2,000 feet. I parked at the bottom of the trail and rode the dusty road up past Mirror Lake to the top of Schofield Pass. From there, I jumped onto the singletrack and that’s pretty much my story ’til I arrive back at the Exploder.
The first part of the trail continues climbing. There are some tough little poppers in tall pines. The wind is howling in the tree tops and the weather seems to be getting worse. I’m in a sweaty cotton tee and the trail soon comes out of the trees and is essentially above treeline. I was getting chilled just thinking about it. I’m thinking I might have to put my jacket on at the top. But no. That little squall moved on and when I broke out into the open just minutes later, a hazy sun was shining through and there wasn’t a breath of wind. I had a couple of signs to post and it was simply amazing up there. Warm, I could see forever and not a soul around. Finally, I remounted and started into the really fun part.
A couple of short jeep roads break it up, but from the top, the trail has two distinct characters. The upper is wide-open and the trail smooth, a contouring descent on a steep nearly treeless slope. You can mach this section but there are surprises. Lower down, numerous sudden switchbacks test your braking as you ply gladed aspens.
This photo actually isn't real. I created it in photoshop.
Descend, descend, descend. Finally, you come out on Ruster’s Gulch jeep road and fly down it just a few hundred yards before picking up the singletrack again. Now it’s deep, dark pine forest, a few drainage crossings and a bit more technical riding. Undulating here, not just ripping down the hill. A couple of short, stiff climbs and some rutted, fast descents and it’s done; you pop out into the Judd Falls trailhead parking lot.
Looking down the descent from the top of the main, singletrack climb. This is where the fun begins in earnest!
401 gets plenty of use in the summer, and if you’ve ridden it, you know why. Some people call it Trailriders I-70. I’ve heard tell of knobby to knobby traffic jams during prime time on peak summer days. But today I saw zero bikers, zero hikers, zero horsepeople. Nothing, nada, nobody. It was very cool. I hope the weather holds because whoever is lucky enough to make it up here tomorrow is in for an epic afternoon. I’ll try to write about it.
High up on 401. You can see a fourteener, I'm not certain which one, in the background. All the wildfires made for a hazy day.
All of the road is behind you now as you hit the singletrack at the top of Schofield Pass.
