On the last riding day, GORC headed up to Garcia Park and offered three ride scenarios; Ride from there down South Boundary to town (11 miles); Ride Jaracita as a loop and ending on South Boundary back at Garcia Park (14 miles); or kill it and ride the Jaracita loop and then take South Boundary all the way to town (31 miles).
Half the group rode from the cars to town, though, they made a group decision and detoured onto the Ojito Canyon trail which made their total 18 miles. The other half rode Jaracita loop with Bryan, Ross and Jason leading ahead to also tackle the epic down into town.
However, little did we know, Jaracita’s upper reaches was comprised of narrow singletrack/bear track with large stretches of just beaten down grass. It was a truly awesome trail with alpine views and the sense of riding where not many people go – except bears, deer, cows, elk, squirrels and cougars. The riding was generally uphill until we got to South Boundary at which point Jon, Tom, Mari and Steve W saw the black death cloud forming over our descent.
The final GORC ride was, as always, truly epic. Thunder clouds, lightning, heavy rain, coldness and wet electronics, I wasn’t going to forget this ride. The descent was sketch, especially without glasses (hey, where are they?) and I forgot about the two mile climb near the cars at Garcia.
The loop riders all got wet. The townies stayed dry and rode the most mileage. It was a great last day in Taos.
Following a chicken path – it was an adventure that reminded me of the Alpine Tunnel loop.
Only bent grass indicated the trail in several spots
The narrowest singletrack of the week. Steve W was in heaven
Speaking of heaven, New Mexico felt like giving us a good old beat down. A great shot but it all went to hell six minutes later.