I arrived at Vail and finished the work I had to do by 5:30. So I
headed across the street to Red Sandstone Road. I gueess I don't follow
directions very well because I was supposed to ride up a fire road, see
Piney Lake, and then bomb down some singletrack (don't know the trail
name) back to the village. Well , I get to a trailhead parking lot
(yeh, there was a sign that said trailhead) and I figured this must be
it. It seemed wierd though. It was all singletrack. Very steep
singletrack with tight switchbacks all the way up. After riding for
some distance and still seeing Route 70 below, I figured this was the
wrong trail. So I turned around and headed back down. I didn't want to
be stuck up there after the sun went down and there was a thunderstorm
coming in. Once at the bottom I found the trail sign and read it
(should have done this first). It was the North Trail. It was also
listed as advanced, which it certainly was by my standards. Then I
noticed that Red Sandstone Road did continue up. Oh well. I have some
time tomorrow morning (3 hours), so I'll attempt it again with the
camera this time. I have to say that the trail was very well maintained
and true singletrack. The switchbacks were killer though.
Having not acclimated to the altitude, it was a very rough climb. I
stopped quite often to get my breathing and heart rate down. I should
sleep good tonight!
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