Front Range question

[skaredshtles]

Might be inclined to park at the upper lot next time and avoid the communal connector down low.

You'll regret that decision if you ride Longhorn.

[jm2e]

/\ /\. Because it’s always more fun to end with a descent vs a climb? Agree in most cases.
Just thinking it’d be worth avoiding skipping both the climb and descent of 1 mile and 400 ft of vertical that’s quite congested.

[skaredshtles]

/\ /\. Because it’s always more fun to end with a descent vs a climb? Agree in most cases.
Just thinking it’d be worth avoiding skipping both the climb and descent of 1 mile and 400 ft of vertical that’s quite congested.

Hey... don't let me talk you out of it.

I did Longhorn back in the mid-90's when there was no connector (Whippletree). I learned my lesson and didn't do it again until the connector had been put in.

[smmokan]

/\ /\. Because it’s always more fun to end with a descent vs a climb? Agree in most cases.
Just thinking it’d be worth avoiding skipping both the climb and descent of 1 mile and 400 ft of vertical that’s quite congested.

Yeah, you don't want to do that. The best way to avoid the clusterfuck that is White Ranch on the weekends.... is to not ride it on the weekends. Unless it's super early, or just before sunset.

The best route out there (IMO) is to park down low, ride up Belcher, over to Mustang and head down, then back up Belcher to Sawmill, do a Rawhide loop, and come down Longhorn back to the lot. It ends up being about 16 miles with some seriously legit descents. But the climbing does suck.

[jm2e]

Point taken.

[skaredshtles]

<snip>
The best route out there (IMO) is to park down low, ride up Belcher, over to Mustang and head down, then back up Belcher to Sawmill, do a Rawhide loop, and come down Longhorn back to the lot. It ends up being about 16 miles with some seriously legit descents. But the climbing does suck.

Concur - that is *the* good "big" loop there.

And yeah... I wouldn't go anywhere near WR any more on a weekend. Or on a weekday during post-work hours.

[wkd-rdr]

You can park at the upper lot of WR, just be sure you have a ride back... 😉

Sent

[skaredshtles]

You can park at the upper lot of WR, just be sure you have a ride back... 

I'm sure that I have NO idea what you are talking about.

[scrublover]

The long and stupid option is to start at the bottom, and after topping out, pedal over on the road to Goden Gate Canyon SP. Do a nice loop/ride then reverse. Finish of course by descending the good stuff.

[skaredshtles]

The long and stupid option is to start at the bottom, and after topping out, pedal over on the road to Goden Gate Canyon SP. Do a nice loop/ride then reverse. Finish of course by descending the good stuff.

This is insanity and I would STRONGLY discourage anyone from following this insane advice.

That said - it definitely is the long and stupid option.

The correct (i.e. less dumb) way to do this is to drop a car at the bottom of WR, one at the bottom of Mt. Lion, and then shuttling up to Panorama Pt.

[jm2e]

You can park at the upper lot of WR, just be sure you have a ride back... ��

Sent

I keep thinking of this idea ............ UberShuttle. Golden/Boulder seems about urban enough to pull it off. I'd pay $10-15 in a heartbeat for that shuttle.

[adrenalated]

Earlier this summer we ran into a very confused looking older couple (hikers) at the bottom parking lot of WR, studying the map. We got to talking to them and eventually realized that they thought they were finishing their hike, but were at the wrong parking lot. They wanted to know if there was very much climbing to get back to the other parking lot so we suggested they call an Uber (and I'm pretty sure they did).

[scrublover]

This is insanity and I would STRONGLY discourage anyone from following this insane advice.

That said - it definitely is the long and stupid option.

The correct (i.e. less dumb) way to do this is to drop a car at the bottom of WR, one at the bottom of Mt. Lion, and then shuttling up to Panorama Pt.

Yes, it's a whole lot of dumb. I only did it twice...

Shuttle wasn't an option those days, sadly.

[skaredshtles]

<snip>
Shuttle wasn't an option those days, sadly.

Ahhh... the Good Ol' Days™

Amirite??

[Name Redacted]

I keep thinking of this idea ............ UberShuttle. Golden/Boulder seems about urban enough to pull it off. I'd pay $10-15 in a heartbeat for that shuttle.

That could be a valid business in many places. Moab, CB, Breck, FR, etc. Throw a North Shore rack on a truck and go. I could see permits being a hold up anywhere the FS is involved I guess.

[funkendrenchman]

White Ranch. Glad to ride some new trail outside of The Fart.

Golden Welcome Mat

I hope they have a sign for discourteous hikers and dog owners as well.

[The SnowShow]

I hope they have a sign for discourteous hikers and dog owners as well.

There's definitely both but I have been almost flattened on numerous occasions while hiking Longhorn - one time some asswipe was airing off rock drops, going 40mph downhill, with no regard to who was coming up.

[jm2e]

......... sorry, that might have been my wife last Saturday 🧚🏻♀️

[North]

There's definitely both but I have been almost flattened on numerous occasions while hiking Longhorn - one time some asswipe was airing off rock drops, going 40mph downhill, with no regard to who was coming up.

Honest question: what is the appeal of hiking up what is likely one of the most popular downhill sections for MTBs on the Front Range (and certainly at WR)? I always assume people hiking up Longhorn are doing so only because they are unaware of the volume of bikes it sees - I can't imagine why anybody with knowledge of the volume of MTBs on that trail would do so willingly.

Same question for those who choose to hike up Enchanted Forest on even days. WHY??

[The SnowShow]

Honest question: what is the appeal of hiking up what is likely one of the most popular downhill sections for MTB on the Front Range (and certainly at WR)? I always assume people hiking up Longhorn are doing so only because they are unaware of the volume of bikes it sees - I can't imagine MTBs constantly whizzing by is enjoyable regardless of their respective speeds.

It's a nice trail to hike...better than the rocky doubletrack road to the south. And being a biker, I love seeing them. But a few have been "discourteous". Not many though.

[The SnowShow]

......... sorry, that might have been my wife last Saturday 🧚🏻♀️

It was, then she sucked on my long horn

[North]

It's a nice trail to hike...better than the rocky doubletrack road to the south. And being a biker, I love seeing them. But a few have been "discourteous". Not many though.

Huh. Do as you please I guess, I just have a hard time sympathizing with anybody who chooses to hike up one of the 5-6 fast downhills that MTB is permitted on in the Front Range, and then is surprised when they nearly get blasted on said trails.

If it's a new user without an awareness about which trails are frequented by cyclists, fair enough. I think there should be a sign at the bottom of Longhorn, Enchanted, etc. that says "This trail is the primary downhill route used by cyclists traveling upwards of 20MPH"

I trail run about as much as I ride these days, which has further opened my eyes to the metric fuckton of great trails that are closed to cyclists and horses. As a runner, it's really friggin' easy to pick a trail to run/hike w/o having to worry about user conflict. If ya choose the path of more conflict, well, don't be surprised when you find it.

[skaredshtles]

Huh. Do as you please I guess, I just have a hard time sympathizing with anybody who chooses to hike up one of the 5-6 fast downhills that MTB is permitted on in the Front Range, and then is surprised when they nearly get blasted on said trails.

If it's a new user without an awareness about which trails are frequented by cyclists, fair enough.

So here's the deal - EVERY cyclist needs to *expect* that there will be a new user every time they are coming down a trail in JeffCo. With tens of THOUSANDS of people moving here every year, it's inevitable that on any given day there might be a clueless n00B hiking up.

I think there should be a sign at the bottom of Longhorn, Enchanted, etc. that says "This trail is the primary downhill route used by cyclists traveling upwards of 20MPH"

There should be a sign at the TOP as well that says, "This is a multi-use trail and you should EXPECT to encounter other trail users traveling both up and down. Slow the fuck down if you don't have clean line-of-sight."

But you know - it would be much easier to put a sign at top and bottom that says, "Don't be a dick."

I trail run about as much as I ride these days, which has further opened my eyes to the metric fuckton of great trails that are closed to cyclists and horses. As a runner, it's really friggin' easy to pick a trail to run/hike w/o having to worry about user conflict. If ya choose the path of more conflict, well, don't be surprised when you find it.

While this would make things easier, people really do need to stop being dicks - on all sides.

But I won't hold my breath.

[adrenalated]

Longhorn isn't even about how fast bikes are going. There's a bunch of spots where stopping on a bike would be really challenging/impossible no matter how slow you're going. And a bunch of features that really just work a lot better if you huck off them rather than trying not to endo while slowly rolling them. There's a 3-4' v-notch drop to flat near the bottom - one time I caught and slowed for some hikers right before it, and basically crushed my foot in the notch because I wasn't going fast enough.

I get that it'd be a fun uphill hike/trail run though, and I'd be totally fine with Longhorn alternating between downhill only and uphill only.

[alfajores]

Anyone going to be down in Telluride riding next week?