Crooked Creek
It seemed like we'd been planning to run the trails just north of Fairplay for such a long time. It had been years, and we were finally going to see the area. It turned out that we planned the perfect weekend for it, too, because we were surrounded in aspen trees with their leaves turning yellow and orange. It was a gorgeous morning as we met at the Sinclair gas station in Fairplay to air down.
Finding the trail was very easy, and we were quickly on our way. We saw a few people out, but it wasn't too busy. The first part of the trail was easy, but then we found ourselves in a trail marked with huge potholes. It was slow going for that section.
At the "Y" intersection we turned left first. That half ended up being a nice start to the day, with nice scenery and a fun hill climb. The climb was short but it was rocky, and it was a good way to wake up after the drive to Fairplay.
We were in the trees after too long, and most of them were big, green pine trees. It was shady and relaxing. Then the trail just ended abruptly. There was room to turn around, so everyone parked and we got out to stretch our legs. It seemed like no one wanted to get back in the Jeeps to get rolling again, and we stayed there a while just visiting.
But we did head back to the intersection eventually. We turned to head up the other half, and that part of the trail was really nice. It was cool to drive in the creek for a bit, too, which was a nice surprise. That's when the views got really big.
We spotted the perfect lunch spot, but it was early so we'd come back to it. The last bit was really bumpy so we had to go pretty slow. Once it ended we found ourselves surrounded by old cabins. We got out to enjoy the views of the mountains around us. Two people on horseback were out exploring the area, and we got to chat with them for a bit. It was the perfect morning.
We headed back down to stop at the big campsite with big views. We broke out our lunches and just took it all in. It felt like the 2012 wheeling season was coming to an end, and we just wanted to hang out there all day. But we had big plans for the rest of it, so we packed up to head back down. We were soon back out and Bill had to take off because he wasn't feeling well. The rest of us headed to the next trail.
