Well, Spring break is over. I had to work most of the week, but thursday night I set out with 20 of my closest friends for a weekend of camping and mountain biking at Fruita, CO. This was my third trip out to Fruita, and I really love the area: it offers really amazing scenery and super unique terrain, and is always a relaxing good time with friends.
We camped in the North Frutia Desert, at the end of Road 18. The campgrounds out here are awesome, but seem to be getting more crowded every year (A sign informed us that soon there will be a 10$ fee to camp). After a long drive, we arrived and spread out our sleeping bags behind a strangers campsite, deciding to wait till morning, to find a more proper campground. Once that mission was accomplished we made some breakfast and started riding the Road 18 trails. I've ridden all these before, but it was great fun getting to hit some of my favorite fast, non-technical, roller-coaster like trails around. My favorites include Kessel Run, Zipity-Doo-Daa, and chutes and ladders, these trails offer a great interaction between bike and landscape with super steep drops and fast bermed up turns. After a hard day of riding (and a quick afternoon nap) we cooked up some Zatarains with sausage (one of my all time favorite camp meals) and enjoyed an amazing sunset followed by beers around the campfire.
The next morning, after a quick warmup on some of the 18 Road trails, we felt like a little more of a challenge and headed over to the (new to me) Kokopelli trails, about a 45 minute drive from the campsites. These trails were AWESOME, slightly more technical than the Road 18 trails, they were still suitable for the beginners in our group but also offered some great challenges for the more advanced riders in our group. (I was proud I only had to dismount for a few of the harder sections). The most awesome thing about these trails was the breathtaking views of the colorado river. The trail would sometimes be right on the edge of a few hundred feet drop down to the river below, but really never felt that sketchy.
Sunday we packed up and on the way out of town decided to swing through the Colorado National Monument. We did a great hike for a few hours, eating lunch at the bottom of the monument before driving back to Boulder. All in all, and amazing weekend! Just too short: I need more long weekends in my life!
(P.s. I didn't take many pictures on this trip: I was too busy biking, but I'll upload some when Kyle and William share theirs).