2011 Tour Divide

[THE LONG RANGER]

Here's on-the-ground report of Boreas Pass, between Breck and Como, CO:

The pass is basically snowed in from the start of dirt on the Breck side and is completely unrideable about a half mile in. Before that, you can make your way via an icy patch that's walked over enough. The snow is around 3' to 6' deep with deeper drifts here and there. I did grab a pair of snowshoes before I left and was able to, in perfect conditions, make the traverse from Breck to Como in about 10 hours. I pushed the bike with one hand and used a ski pole in the other. I'm no slouch, but considering the distance between Breck and Como isn't 120 miles of dirt road, nor 12 even miles, you can imagine what the pace was like.

I'm getting mixed reports from the locals of Summit County as to when the pass will be clear. Some say the record snowfall will be gone within a week, given the beautiful weather they've been having since... Saturday, while others are betting that local ski resorts (A-Basin, in particular) will be open until July 4th. Some even wonder if the road will have some sort of service done to it. I particularly doubt that, a lot of the interesting routes were serviced for Memorial Day weekend, which is also the start of camping season in CO, but Boreas wasn't touched.

[Jeff Tomassetti]

Justin, I like your rear bottle holder. Nice.

[THE LONG RANGER]

I do too, as I whither without enough water (um, not a problem on this leg!) and it's also easy enough to grab while riding. It's just a Profile Design Aqua Rack and I should mention it's the second replacement. There's a flaw in the design though: the bolt used to clamp it to the seat post creates a point of weakness on one of the "arms" that holds one of the water bottle holders. With enough force, it'll sheer off right there. Not rough single-track approved. The stock water bottle holders also aren't as grippy as they could and I've had bottles fall out. For the TD, I'll replace them with just regular cages and perhaps have some sort of leash to attach the bottles to the holder. Or just use cheap gatorade bottles, if and when.

Off camera is a small backpack that also has water-reservoir capabilities. I also had my sleep system lashed on, as I found the bike floated better without weight over the front wheel - even pushing the bike from the handle bars will have some of your force pushing the bike down into the snow. What I found was it's better to push the bike from the back and let it track itself. If I had a larger pack I'd all the gear I could fit in my bag, as hiking with a load is easier (for me, with lots of long-day hikes under my belt) than pushing a loaded down heavy rolling thing.

[Slowerthensnot]

My new divide rig should be ez to carry over flooded rivers and over snow drifts   

[mikepro]

... perhaps have some sort of leash to attach the bottles to the holder. ...

I used similar triathlon-style dual cage behind the saddle last year on the TD, and ended up using 2 mini-bungies procured in Banff to strap them down.  Mine was mounted to the saddle rails and above the seat bag, using carbon cages by Bontrager (which ended up cracking and being held together with Gorilla tape even before the start).  Had only one ejection (in the Flathead), which was enough to get me to refine the bungies in a cross-over = worry-free the rest of the way.  Neat to see another version of it this year.

[6thElement]

Nice update on Boreas Justin, 12 miles in 10 hours should make for some interesting times

A Colorado friend was just telling me how the local news was reporting 174" of snowpack on Buffalo Pass, just NE of Steamboat.

[bgiro]

Nice bike Dave.  Plenty of room for your saddle/handle bar bags.  Not sure what you will do with a frame bag.

I'm going to miss you at the Nobo start.  Best success with your later start date.

Anyone know how Rock Creek south of Lynx Pass and Hwy 134 in Colorado is for crossing?

Bruce G.

[Slowerthensnot]

Nice bike Dave.  Plenty of room for your saddle/handle bar bags.  Not sure what you will do with a frame bag.

I'm going to miss you at the Nobo start.  Best success with your later start date.

Anyone know how Rock Creek south of Lynx Pass and Hwy 134 in Colorado is for crossing?




Bruce G.

Very full! i try and have my uncle take a pic off that crossing

[JF-mtnbiker]

NW WY.  Yesterday, I drove my truck about 12 miles up Flagg Ranch Rd on good ole washboarded gravel (Idaho side FS boundry) before snow stopped me. Could have gone further on my bike but snow was getting deeper and full coverage across the road. It's around 43 miles across that section so that leaves about 31 miles up and over higher ground to Flagg Ranch resort still. I figure there is a couple miles clear on the other side into Flagg Ranch. So doing the math... 25+ miles of unknown amounts of snow and/or muck as of 5/31.  Also I have friends in Pinedale who are still snowmobiling on Union Pass. The ride out the bottom of Union along the Green River is mud right now. Looks like we are finally getting some warm weather with wind today that could spark the start of our melt run off.  

[DBent]

Hey everyone, 
  I have a GPS question.  having a lot of issues getting route uploaded on my Garmin Vista hcx.  I know all about Topofusion, but I am a Mac user.  I have been using Base camp from Garmin but it only loads about 1/3 of the route.  Anyone with experience with this have some suggestions?  I have not had any problems loading smaller routes
thanks a ton,
Derek

[Nathan Jones]

It sounds like you are uploading the course to your route as opposed to your saved tracks.  The hcx only holds 1,000 way points and that ACA waypoint data is something like 2600 points give or take.  You need to upload the files to your saved tracks in chunks of 500 max, not your route!  Hope this helps.

[6thElement]

Nice bike Dave.  Plenty of room for your saddle/handle bar bags.  Not sure what you will do with a frame bag.

I'm going to miss you at the Nobo start.  Best success with your later start date.

Anyone know how Rock Creek south of Lynx Pass and Hwy 134 in Colorado is for crossing?

Bruce G.

152.3– Ford Rock Creek. Warning: If this creek is too deep to safely cross, which it may be in May or June, backtrack to the highway and turn right.

[AmyL]

I think you all who are preparing to ride in this record snowpack year are either very brave or just plain crazy.  I wonder if the bigger challenge will be crossing miles of snow, or crossing miles of mud.

I just poked at one of the snowpack sites on the route - Togwotee Pass, where in some prior years riders have had to slog through some snow.  As of today there is still 119" of snow at the station.  Comparing June 1st data:

SNOW DEPTH
2011 - 119"
2010 -  60"
2009 -  58"
2008 -  80"
2007 -  15"
2006 -  48"

SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT:
2011 - 43"
2010 - 22"
2009 - 22"
2008 - 28"
2007 -  4"
2008 - 16"

43" of SWE on June 1st is a LOT of snow to melt and drain.  Hard to imagine. 

Togwotee Pass SNOTEL info:
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/graph.html?station=TOGW4&w=600&h=400&uc=0&by=2011&bm=5&bd=25&bh=6&ey=2011&em=6&ed=1&eh=6&data=0&units=0&region=us

Webcam from nearby Brooks Lake Lodge:  http://www.brookslake.com/

[Slowerthensnot]

I think you all who are preparing to ride in this record snowpack year are either very brave or just plain crazy.  I wonder if the bigger challenge will be crossing miles of snow, or crossing miles of mud.

I just poked at one of the snowpack sites on the route - Togwotee Pass, where in some prior years riders have had to slog through some snow.  As of today there is still 119" of snow at the station.  Comparing June 1st data:

SNOW DEPTH
2011 - 119"
2010 -  60"
2009 -  58"
2008 -  80"
2007 -  15"
2006 -  48"

SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT:
2011 - 43"
2010 - 22"
2009 - 22"
2008 - 28"
2007 -  4"
2008 - 16"

43" of SWE on June 1st is a LOT of snow to melt and drain.  Hard to imagine. 

Togwotee Pass SNOTEL info:
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/graph.html?station=TOGW4&w=600&h=400&uc=0&by=2011&bm=5&bd=25&bh=6&ey=2011&em=6&ed=1&eh=6&data=0&units=0&region=us

Webcam from nearby Brooks Lake Lodge:  http://www.brookslake.com/

I think JayP is looking like the smartest guy in the room this year

[brunch]

Well, since you all are packing snowshoes this is a logical next step to deal with the flooding:



Conveniently it comes in a backpack but without the girl or pudgy dude so you'll have to put it together yourself.

That Brooks Lodge is on the other side of the pass. By then the road has already turned to pretty good gravel, not that it matters this year.

[brunch]

hmm, my image posting skills have failed me. Here's the link:

http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/gazoutdoors/article_dad5fe3d-9c69-55b0-a268-615d0a79e518.html

[Done]

hmm, my image posting skills have failed me. Here's the link:
http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/gazoutdoors/article_dad5fe3d-9c69-55b0-a268-615d0a79e518.html

She needs to lower her saddle.

[sulfate125]

In order to get the track from a Mac onto your garmin, you need to create separate tracks that have less than 10000 points or whatever is the max that your Garmin can handle.  From basecamp, import the GPX.   Then double click on the track, opening a new window showing all 20000 points.  Then delete all points after 10000.  Rename.  Then import it again and delete the first 10000 points.  These tracks should upload to the GPS normally. 

[EMathy]

I hate to say it, but this sh*t is getting depressing.

[THE LONG RANGER]

I hate to say it, but this sh*t is getting depressing totally epic.

I was hoping my ride report showed that even with that snow, it can be crossed with a cheap pair of snowshoes.

The minstrel/Chinook-like winds in South Park that were blowing me literally off my bike proved way more spirit crushing - going 4 mph on HW 24, hoping to get water and food in Hartsel.