Surprises in Steamboat

Sometimes the best laid plans are to have none and see where it takes you.  Well that sort of planning brought us to Steamboat Springs for the next stop of our trip.  You see last fall while I was camping at Lows Lake I had accidently ripped the stuff sack for our tent and had yet to get around to contacting Big Agnes for a replacement.  Well it just so happens that BA is based out of Steamboat Springs so we figured we might as well just swing into town and pickup a replacement on our way to the Tetons.  Our original plan was to breeze into town, camp for the night, pick up the stuff sack, and maybe do a quick mountain bike ride before heading out the next day.  We found a nice Forest Service campground perched high in Rabbit Ear Pass and set up camp. 

The following morning before we set out for the day I had a little bike maintenance to do.  I had just rebuilt my fork while we were in boulder but something still just didn’t seem right with it.  After some research I determined that I had put it together incorrectly when servicing it previously so it all had to come apart again.  Now I assume most people reading this blog don’t know much about working on mountain bike forks but this is a task that bicycle maintenance purists will tell you should be done in a clean room with lots of rubbing alcohol and rubber gloves, not the sort of task you do on a picnic table in a dusty campground but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. 

After I wrapped everything up we headed into town and stopped by the Big Agnes store.  It turned out in the end that we were in the wrong place but we didn’t mind since it gave us a chance to check out this sweet tent greenhouse while waiting for the awesome people at BA to drop by and bring us our stuff sack.

We swung by a local bike shop to find out that Steamboat was billing itself as “Bike Town USA” well I guess that confirmed it we had to ride here.  How could we do a trip across the country with our mountain bikes without spending some time in Bike Town (we later found out that this was a title claimed by several towns but I don’t think either of us regrets feeling the need to see what Steamboat had to offer).  Our first ride in Steamboat was right out of town on the local “after work” trails.  We climbed around 1,000 feet out of town on fun twisty single track with some great views, finishing with a grueling blast up a trail rather aptly named “little moab”. 

Then it was time to turn and head down, the decent was nothing but pure bliss, buff single track snaking it’s way down the mountain like a skier arcing through powder, big GS turns, tight fall line turns, it was all there and it was all a blast.  We ended up back at the car worn out but grinning from ear to ear and set on staying just one more day to see what else Steamboat had to offer. 

Hot and sweaty we returned to our campsite just as some thunderstorms were rolling in.  We quickly heated some water and put our shower tent to use for the first time.  It seemed like such a good idea at the outset but when we emerged from the shower dripping wet into 40 degree rain we started to wonder what we were thinking.  We scrounged some quick food and then curled up in the warm dry camper to hide from the rain. 

Morning dawned cool and damp but forecasts were good for the valley and the weather between our mountain top perch and that of the valley seemed to differ greatly.  We headed into town with plans to ride the other side of the mountain we had ridden the day before.  With the bad weather, a small detour to the local farmers market, and a bit of getting lost trying to find the trailhead we were a bit late getting started and were surprised to find that while the parking lot was pretty full no one seemed to be headed up when we were.  We later surmised that the afternoon heat and threat of thunderstorms in Colorado in late August were probably why we had the place to ourselves.  Today’s ride was a bit more of an undertaking meandering out of the valley around 2,000 feet before turning onto a long gradual ridge for a fast and flowy decent.  Nothing shows how we were feeling after all that climbing in the hot afternoon sun better than this picture of Jess near the top of the climb.

By the time we made it back to the car we were starving and Jess was starting to question whether she was going to be able to survive my route selections in the coming months (this would seem to become a recurring theme).  We headed into town, devoured some food at the local Wendys, and headed up a long winding dirt road to check out a local hot spring.  We paid our 10 dollars to get in and were told by the attendants that at this time of evening attire was optional so there were no lights in the pool and any lights we brought should be kept pointed at the ground so as not to disturb others.  We wandered off down a long gravel path with instructions to turn left at the end of the fence and walk down the stairs and we’d eventually find ourselves at one of many bathing pools.  Needless to say we were a bit scared and weirded out but off we went.  It turns out the place had lots of large stone pools each slightly warmer than the last and was probably a beautiful site to see during the day.  We were able to have a fantastic soak and relax our tired muscles while staring up at the starlit sky.  What at first seemed like a rather sketchy and intimidating adventure with me seriously questioning Jess’s ideas turned out to be a perfect end to a fun filled weekend in Steamboat Springs.