As sick of my job as I am, I have a great schedule. I only work three days a week. Three long days, but I only work 12 days a month. What’s better, is that every 12 weeks when I switch from M,T, W to Th, Fri, Sat, I get a week off in between.
This past week was one of those turnarounds. This was one of the best weeks off I’ve had in a long time. I had already signed up for a 4 day hockey camp in Vail. So why not head to Fruita after camp since I’m already half way there? Why not, because it was about 100 degrees outside – in the desert. Or maybe because I tried to keep up with a bunch of Canadian hockey coaches at the bar after our banquet Sat. night… then waking up late and playing a scrimmage Sun. morning. If I was any less of a masochist (did I mention I’m a goalie?), I’d have headed back to Denver after hockey camp.
I love hockey, and I love to ride. I love CO, and when I get a week off, I take advantage of it.
I arrived in Fruita late afternoon on Sunday, and headed out 18 road to the North Desert Campground at the foot of the Book Cliffs. It’s beautiful out here, the camping is free, and the trailheads are all within a quarter mile of camp.
While camping alone can be a bit boring, the high desert is awe inspiring. Incredible sunsets, shooting stars galore, satellites drifting across the night sky… Light a campfire, kick back with a brew, and thank god for the Ipod and sattelite radio.
The trails at the Book Cliffs are hardly epic, but they pack in some serious fun per mile. Super narrow hardpacked singletrack. Spines and ledges with hundreds of feet of exposure. Flip-over-backward climbs and sixty degree decents. Very roller coaster like.
Received a helmet cam for Christmas and this is what I came back with…