Barbour Fork
We were hoping for a little snow on our annual "snow run", the last run of the season. We didn't want so much snow that we couldn't get anywhere, but we wanted at least a little to make things interesting. As we started the trail it looked like we would get our wish.
We aired down at the trailhead and we were soon off to start the trail. It started off mellow, but then it got fun as we climbed over some rocks buried in the trail. We would see hunters off and on all day, but no other vehicles.
We ignored all spurs, planning on taking the loop around the usual route this time. We'd explore the spurs some other year. When we got to the "Y" at the bottom of the loop, we took the right-most fork.
It wasn't long at all before we were all climbing the first hill of rock. Everyone had a great time, though Bill got an unwelcome wheel stand that put him in an awkward position for a minute. Nothing bad came of it, luckily.
Chad had a new Jeep for this run, and he was already enjoying how it was working out. It did as well or better than many of the other rigs as it went up and over the big rocks.
The trail got snowier as we climbed, and it make the rocky sections pretty interesting. We got to a rough patch, and everyone seemed to be having issues. Mark F. was with us, but he decided to turn around at that point (we'd find him in Idaho Springs later, so that worked out).
There was a berm after a long hill climb, the only time we were level for quite awhile. Monica stopped here to wait for Bill to catch up behind her, but then she slipped and slid around before getting going. That made it slick there in the early season snow.
A few other people thought to stop there too, waiting on others behind them. With each person, the section of trail got more and more slick. That meant that the last few people would have quite an interesting time getting through it. Both Ladd and Ryan slid back down the trail a few times before making their way through it. Luckily, this would be the only rough patch of snow of the day.
We wanted to do Devil's Canyon after Barbour Fork, and we thought that there might be a trail that would connect the two. In the end, we decided to explore that later, too. We found out that the forest service has said that all other trails dead-end, so there probably isn't a connecting trail.
We started down the other side, and it was much easier than our icy climb to the far end of the loop. It was pretty uneventful until the long hill, which was a blast. Everyone found the hardest lines down the hill, having a great time.
We enjoyed the rocks on the way out, and we didn't stop at the picnic area. It was still early yet, too early for lunch. It looked like a great spot for it, though.
After we made our way back to the trailhead, we headed back to Idaho Springs. We'd drive partially through town to get on another patch of pavement and head out to Devil's Canyon.
Barbour Fork ended up being a really nice surprise, and we'll definitely run it again. It's so close to Denver and it really offers some fun. It's always good to find new rocks to play on.
Reports from Other Days: 2
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Barbour Fork. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
