Grizzly-Helena Trail Fall 2007
In the fall of '07, along with my friends Shivey and Amy, I decided to try the Griz. I'd heard that the trail had some really demanding and technical sections and that sounded like just my kind of trail. Brian and Amy had both ridden the trail in the past and were excited to hit it again.
We met at Shivey's house in downtown Steamboat and loaded the bikes onto his trailer. Shively was riding his KTM 450 EXC, Amy had her KTM 200 EXC, and I had my KTM 300 XC. This was going to be an orange ride. We went for a hearty breakfast at a local restaurant before beginning the long haul to the trailhead on the backside of Buffalo Pass.
The Grizzy-Helena trail takes off from the Aqua Fria trail in Jackson County, Colorado and goes to the northeast. The trail is an out-and-back on a dirt bike since there is no way to make a reasonable loop.
After about an hour in the truck going across the really rough and rocky Buffalo Pass road we made it to the trailhead and unloaded the bikes. There were no other trailers here so it looked like we'd have the trail to ourselves. We geared up and headed out.
The first part of the trail was an old jeep road towards Aqua Fria reservoir and was really rough with large embedded rocks. A short ways up the trail we turned right onto the Griz and made our first of several creek crossings. The creek was fairly wide but not too deep and we made it without incident. Our next crossing a bit further up the trail would be a bit more interesting. We rounded a turn in the trail and came upon the nastiest of the creek crossings. It was fast moving and we could see that the crossing was strewn with large rocks under the water. Shivey went first and was going fine until just before the opposite bank when he dropped into a large deep hole and went in up to his gas tank. He pulled it off and made it across but it was not pretty. Amy also had a really tough time at the far end of the crossing but managed to pull it off. I was fortunate to have seen the two of them cross, so I made it with little difficulty, aside from the backpackers who decided to stand in the way of the river exit. I should have ran them over.
The trail opened up as we came around the outside of a ridge and provided us with a nice spot for a break and some beautiful views. Below: Shivey and Amy
As we went back into the woods the trail became obscured with ferns hiding the treacherous rocks beneath. The section shown below stymied all of us. We could find no clean line through the slick rocks and we all ended up high-centered and two-blocked (front wheel against a rock and back wheel in front of another)so the only option was to lift the rear of the bike onto better footing and yank the front up over the rocks. Having long legs and good upper body strength helps a lot in these situations.
Above and below: Shivey fighting his bike through the rock field.
Below: Amy about to get two-blocked when she hits the large rock directly in front of her.
Below: rest break time. It was really hot and muggy in the ferns. We had to lift Amy's rear wheel up and over to the large rock to her right.
Below: a view of what the trail looked like
After battling through the ferns and slick boulders we continued through the dark timber and came down a really steep and rocky section of trail into Red Canyon. We had another very wide but shallow creek crossing at the bottom.
Below: Break time prior to attacking the opposite side of the canyon. The next section is where things begin to get tough. Shivey and Amy at the bottom of the canyon.
Below: my KTM advertisement photo
Things got a bit more interesting going up the other side of the canyon. We started from the river and went into a 180 degree switchback on loose rocky terrain and immediately had to attack the rocky climb pictured below. Amy is following Shivey into the nasty stuff.
Below: Amy gets high-centered
Below: a look at the nasty bit. Of course, the photos don't do justice to how big the rocks really are.
Another nasty section shown below. Some think this is the crux of the trail. Shivey is going around a 4-1/2 foot drop-off. You could jump off the ledge but the landing was onto an off-camber, loose, rocky section of trail. We decided against jumping because we were about 16+ miles into the backcountry and getting hurt would be bad. We would discover this to be true on the return trip.
Below: Amy circumnavigating the ledge.
Below: Shivey nearly back to the trail.
Below: A look back up the trail at the ledge. There is nothing in the photo to give a perspective of the ledge. On the return trip I decided to ride up the ledge but hit it wrong and didn't make it up. I didn't get my weight forward fast enough when I went up the ledge and lost my balance coming off the bike just as it went over the top of the ledge. I pushed my bike forward so that it made it on top and I slid off the back, a move I've done many times before. When I hit the ground, I lost my footing on the loose rocks and fell. I put my hand out to catch myself on the rock and dislocated my left shoulder. Fortunately, Shivey is a paramedic and with Amy holding me down, he was able to replace my shoulder into it's socket. Needless to say, it would to be an interesting ride out.
The end of the trail. This is where Amy broke her arm last year. We rode several more really technical sections between the rock ledge and here but I didn't have a chance to take any photos. There was one section that was a rock-strewn switchback road that went for about a mile. The rocks were huge and relentless and I felt that it was the toughest section of trail. We had a large deep mudhole that had to be traversed and a section or technical rock ledges through the trees as well.
We were half way through and now it was time to turn and head back to the truck.
Below: the trail traverses some sections of steep open hill sides. Just don't look down.
Below more views of the hillside.
On the return trip, we took a detour up to the top of Red Canyon to check our the vistas. It was a nice deeply rutted and washed out jeep trail to the top. There was a large flat area at the top that allowed for ample parking. We wandered around a bit checking things out and taking some photos.
Below: Shivey and Amy at the top of the canyon
Below: johnny mac on top of the canyon, prior to my accident.
Below: A wild looking tree that we found on top of the canyon.
I didn't take any more photos on the return trip after my accident. We rode around a small portion of the nasty trail on the way back but I still had to make all the deep river crossings. We made it back to the truck just prior to dark and got everything loaded. My shoulder was really unstable and riding the really rocky terrain was unpleasant. Fortunately, I was able to ride out since any kind of rescue would have taken a very long time since the area where it occurred was inaccessible by 4-wheeler or helicopter. Thank God for small favors.
Once back at the truck, Amy provided me with pain medication in brown bottle form. This did the trick until we got home at about 9 pm.
I highly recommend this trail to anyone who is an accomplished trail rider. Even though I got hurt in a fluke accident, I would do the trail again in an instant. I would not recommend that anyone bring young kids or take small wheeled bikes such as the KX100 or CR80 etc. The rocks are too big for such small wheels. I'd also recommend to bring plenty of water and high-energy foods as the technical rock sections take lots of energy.
Home