I was taking to a couple of friends the other day and we both realized none of us had ridden Fossil
Ridge yet this year. With the days growing shorter and the first snow already behind us, it seemed
like we'd better get to it before it's inaccessible for until next year. A plan was made and we met
at my place on Sunday morning. It was Koz, Carolyn and their friends (whom I'd just recently met)
Leora and Darryl. This seemed like a good, easy-going group. We drive to Ohio City, parked, and got
ourselves ready. It was chilly, but this climb can always warm me up. A cold spin on the road for
about a mile and we hit dirt as we started the climb up Willow Creek Rd.. Willow Creek is a hell of
a climb. It's mostly a jeep trail, but still pretty technical in spots. Koz is sure it's harder than
Canyon Creek's ascent (a bold statement - and a tough call). I bet I spent 50% of the climb in my
granny gear, and I generally try not to use it much. We climbed and climbed. The sweat dripping of
my face made me forget about the chill I had after we left the cars. The air was relatively cool,
and the aspens were in their full, fiery glory. The sky was almost cloudless. I chatted with Leora
and Darryl a bit. They're a nice, younger (early 20's) couple who are going to the local college.
She pours coffee at the coffee shop next to my office. It comes out that this is her first season of
mountain biking. She's bringing up the rear of the group, but only by a small gap. Her strength is
very impressive. Darryl is a lucky guy and he realizes he's captured a rare creature. She apparently
even skis well too. After about 10 Miles of steep, hard, climbing we hit treeline. The road narrowed
to a 4-wheeler track and a sign indicated we had one Mile until we hit the Fossil Ridge Trail. The
last Mile is the toughest. There was some walking when the trail was too steep and the air was too
thin. We were just under 12,000 Ft and I was feeling it more than usual due to a chest cold I'm
getting over. Finally we hit the top and it's beautiful. 3400' Ft. of climbing is paying off. The
golden aspens way down where aspens grow were sprawling over the mountains in a tapestry-like
pattern alternating with red scrub oak and green pine trees. After a snack and a little rest we
start traversing this ridge: (this is an older pic, yesterday was bluebird):
mattb.netrick%20steve%20storm.jpgOpen ↗. The descent gets pretty fast and
rolling right off the bat, but then after another small (hard) climb it gets very steep and loose.
I'm chasing Koz, who is flying ahead on his Stinky with 7" front & rear. We stop after another
short, steep climb so we can regroup. Nobody else shows up. We wait and thought we heard laughter,
so we figure someone flatted. We wait some more and try to yell back to them - no response. Then, we
decide something must be wrong and start heading back up the steep rocky section we just flew down.
Carolyn meets us on the trail and tell us that Leora had crashed and broken her arm. I asked "Are
you sure it's broken?". She said she had the same question and had a look. No question it was
broken. Really broken. Darryl had splinted it pretty well. So the plan now was that Darryl and Leora
would start walking back towards the road we had climbed and we'd take the trail down and get the
truck to meet them on the road. I'm worried about shock. She could end up in very bad shape and it
was very important we got her out of there ASAP. We tried to descend as fast as possible, but I was
now a little paranoid about crashing too. I've had to drag my wife out of this area with bruised
insides before. Fossil Ridge strikes again. To add to all of this, my cable tension screw comes
loose on my read derailler and we have to stop and fix it for the final (grueling once again) climb.
When we finally get down to the cars we moved as much stuff as possible from the truck to my car to
free up some space. Koz and I went door to door in Ohio City to find a 4-wheeler to add to the
rescue. The first people we tried had one but didn't think it was trail-worthy. They directed us to
someone down the road who put Koz on one and he got on the other to head up. We decided I'd better
just shuttle our stuff and bikes back to Gunnison. It was hard to go, but there wasn't anything else
I could do at this point. We didn't want to have passengers on the 4-wheelers so we'd have the most
flexibility for carrying the wounded and gear. A surprisingly short period if time passed after I
got home and Koz and Carolyn showed up for their stuff. Darryl and Leora had run into some four
wheelers while hiking and got a pretty quick ride down. She was apparently in pretty good spirits
and was already taking about conquering this trail next year. She got some pain pills and a
temporary cast at the hospital last night. Today she goes in to have it set, which they hope will be
done without surgery. So it was almost a perfect day, except for one little broken arm. She's a
tough girl (more so than her pretty outward appearance would reveal) so I hope she makes a speedy
recovery. She'll likely be able to ski like I did with my shattered elbow back in '89. It's not as
good as being healthy, but it sure is better than staying home. I think the problem here was that
she was so strong it wasn't hard for her to get into a had spot to get out of. Her limited
experience surely played a hand in her crash. Normally someone with such limited experience would
have never been able to do this climb. Something to think about next time I'm on a group ride with
people I don't know very well...
Matt
--
Matt
"Gravity. It's not just a good idea, it's the law!"