Indian Creek

Indian Creek is a special place for me. It is a huge area that is generally contained in the Pike National Forest. The trails are very good and there is plenty of climbing and descending to be had so it is a great place for me to train. It is close enough to my place that it is easy to get to with out too much hassle.

I find it a great place to escape to so that I can ride my mountain bike and most times I never see any people when I'm there. Tonight I left from the Waterton Canyon Parking lot at 5:40. I dropped the hammer out of the gate. My intent was to get about 20 - 25 miles in before dark.

The legs didn't have the snap and pop that they normally do. I suspect that it was the 2 days off the bike, the travel to and from Chicago and sitting that took it out of me.

Anyhow I was headed up Stevens Gulch which now has a bunch of dead fall in it due to the last big heavy snow that we got. I had to keep getting off the bike to climb over the down trees. At about 3/4 mile up the trail from the Waterton Canyon single track loop I spotted another rider ahead of me, pushing his bike. When I caught up to him I scared him... he never heard me coming. Anyhow, he was very happy to see me as he was lost and definitely headed in the wrong direction. I got him straightened out and redirected him back to toward Waterton Canyon. It would have been a very, very long night for him if we hadn't crossed paths.

About 10 minutes after sending the lost biker on his way I spotted a bobcat in the trail! This is a first for me, I've seen their tracks in the snow before but never seen one in the wild. He was moving away from me and I only saw him for a second or so but I got a good enough look to tell exactly what it was. I think that I crept up on him because of the flowing water in the creek and the damp ground kept my bike tires quiet.

I saw a bunch of mule deer in different spots on the trail and also ran across 4 elk that were grazing in the meadow on my way back down towards the dam. I don't often see elk in this area so it was neat to see them run gracefully out of my way.

I finally reached the dam and the dirt road when it was near dusk. It was fun riding down the 6 miles of dirt road next to the river in the near dark with no lights and no people. I think how fun it would be to share some of these cool experiences with someone else. I got back to the truck after dark happy to have done 25 miles in 2 hrs and 45 mins.