Tour of Dinosaur National Monument

A nice wrap up from Gordon Schuck as he laid waste to a Northwest Colorado bike tour.......




Early October found me with a week to kill and I had been itching to load up my new bike and do some dirt road touring. For years I’ve wanted to ride the Yampa Valley Trail, a mix a dirt roads and trail from Lay, CO through Dinosaur National Monument to the Utah border. This was my chance to do it solo and unsupported.

The first day I departed in the rain and made my way northwest of Craig before I found a spot of BLM land to hunker down for the night. After a rainy night turned the roads to soup, I headed south to Lay and pick up the Yampa Valley Trail and follow it to Maybell. Once I restocked my provisions I headed straight to Deerlodge Park at the eastern end of Dinosaur. Halfway there the skies opened up again and by dusk I made it to the Deerlodge Park campground. Cold, wet, and exhausted, I made camp and ate dinner. As I climbed into bed that night I thought to myself, “This does get better, doesn’t it?”

I awoke to beautiful blue skies the next morning. After drying out my gear and filtering water to top off my bottles, I turned off the pavement and ascended Twelvemile Mesa to link up to Bear Valley Road and drop into the monument on the Yampa Bench Road. The view from the top of the switchbacks overlooking the Yampa Bench was stunning. Before dropping in I took stock of my supplies because I knew that I was about to pass the point of no return. I was confident I had enough food and I should be able to find water it some point to filter. I dropped down to the Yampa Bench and continued riding west. As the miles ticked away and evening came I began to get worried. I had expected to find running water but water sources that appeared on my map were all dry. As the sun sank lower I realized the only place to get water would be at Echo Park the following afternoon. Of my five quarts I started the day with, I was down to less than two. I’d have to make it last. As I lay in bed I thought about how far from civilization I was. The nearest town was at least a full day’s ride in either direction and I had not seen another person all day.

The next day I skipped my morning coffee and rode slow and conservatively and rationed my water until I got to the turn off for Echo Park. From there I knew I was home free. The road dropped off the mesa and down a beautiful canyon with a flowing creek and large Cottonwoods shading my path. I stopped to look at petroglyphs and when I finally got to the Echo Park campground at the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers, my water bottles were empty. I spent the rest of the afternoon resting because I knew the next day would be the biggest one of the trip.

I packed up camp early the next morning and started riding. By my calculations I had at least 2100 feet of climbing and 60 miles to get to the town of Dinosaur. I started climbing through Sand Canyon and got a nervous feeling. I knew this was mountain lion territory and the way the road had high banks on each side, it was a perfect spot for a cat to hunt prey below. I rode along, constantly scanning the rocks around me for any sign of movement. After riding for what seemed like an hour I popped out on top of a mesa and breathed a sigh of relief. From there I could see the final switchback climb to the pavement. Halfway up I saw a vehicle descending and when it got to me the driver says, “Boy, you got more guts than I do.” I saw a patch on his camouflage jacket that said ‘Special Forces’. Too anaerobic to respond I just smiled and kept grinding up the climb. What did he mean by that? At the top I stopped at the kiosk to take some pictures and there I noticed a sign. It read:

Attention
Due to a recent incident in Echo Park involving a
mountain lion, do not camp or hike alone. Use extreme caution and
report any mountain lion sightings to the Park Ranger.

Needless to say, this confirmed the feeling I had down in that canyon. Had I seen that sign at the other end of the road I probably would not have continued. At this point though, I felt relieved that I was safely out and excited I had accomplished my goal. From there it would be two and a half days of riding pavement before I’d be back in Steamboat. My thoughts turned to a hot shower and a soft bed.