Little Lightning
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
We're in Glenwood Springs and today biked part the Rio Grande Bike Trail. The trail is a paved railroad grade trail that climbs 2,200 ft over 42 miles. The trail follows the Roaring Fork river and at the spot we started there is dense forest for the 1st 5 miles then becomes more open. It's very rural with farming and a few houses. Not what you expect if you've ever visited Aspen.
We rode an out and back. Our start was at a little town called Catherine near Carbondale. About 1/2 mile from the start there was a bear munching the grasses. I've never seen a bear so close. He was young but not so young that mama bear was near by. Unfortunately, he was about 50 ft from the trailside bathroom. I took my bike inside with me, not sure what to do around a bear. My SO stayed outside and took pictures. The bear was harmless, no interest in people. It was happily eating whatever he delicacy he had found. Also, NO selfies with this bear were attempted. Shortly after that I saw a wild turkey and a Wyoming squirrel. We rode 9 miles and then were stopped by a forest ranger. A mountain lion was taking a nap in the yard below the trail and the ranger gave us a choice of turning around or very quietly walking on the opposite side of the trail to continue our journey. The rangers thought the mountain lion had worn himself out chasing it's prey. The rangers didn't want to disturb him so we didn't get to see it. I was happy to keep my distance. There was also a huge owl resting in an Aspen tree. It was young and had very fluffy feathers. One of the rangers shared his binoculars so we could see him. Other critters spotted were Canada geese, 2 deer, and a mallard lazily floating in the river.
After 15 miles we turned around and took a different route back to the car so as to avoid the sleeping mountain lion. The bear was gone.
We ride this trail every spring but have not hit the jack pot with wildlife like we did today. It certainly was one of the most eventful, and beautiful, 35 mile bike rides we've ever had.
We rode an out and back. Our start was at a little town called Catherine near Carbondale. About 1/2 mile from the start there was a bear munching the grasses. I've never seen a bear so close. He was young but not so young that mama bear was near by. Unfortunately, he was about 50 ft from the trailside bathroom. I took my bike inside with me, not sure what to do around a bear. My SO stayed outside and took pictures. The bear was harmless, no interest in people. It was happily eating whatever he delicacy he had found. Also, NO selfies with this bear were attempted. Shortly after that I saw a wild turkey and a Wyoming squirrel. We rode 9 miles and then were stopped by a forest ranger. A mountain lion was taking a nap in the yard below the trail and the ranger gave us a choice of turning around or very quietly walking on the opposite side of the trail to continue our journey. The rangers thought the mountain lion had worn himself out chasing it's prey. The rangers didn't want to disturb him so we didn't get to see it. I was happy to keep my distance. There was also a huge owl resting in an Aspen tree. It was young and had very fluffy feathers. One of the rangers shared his binoculars so we could see him. Other critters spotted were Canada geese, 2 deer, and a mallard lazily floating in the river.
After 15 miles we turned around and took a different route back to the car so as to avoid the sleeping mountain lion. The bear was gone.
We ride this trail every spring but have not hit the jack pot with wildlife like we did today. It certainly was one of the most eventful, and beautiful, 35 mile bike rides we've ever had.