The Corner Piece

With every big adventure, there is the capstone -  the corner piece that provides the biggest challenge. For Tabeguache, that piece is the Roubideau section. It’s early on in the trail - starting about mile 32. On the map, it looks fairly flat, but I know that’s not the case based on my research. The route finding is rumored to be challenging as well for the entire segment. But what makes this the hardest segment is the last 7 miles. There’s the descent into and climb out Potter Canyon. And finally, the last five miles of none motorized trail. We’ve ridden it once on our bikes, so I know what I’ll be getting into. It’s not a very well used chunk of trail, with the cow paths sometimes more noticeable then the real trail! I have to hit that section in the light, other wise it’s going to be much to hard to find the trail. And because it’s non-moto, there won’t be much support available. 

So mid June came the last scouting for me. One more big day on the trail before the summer races. My goal was to run the entire Roubideau segment - familiarize myself with the route, the terrain and all the details of route finding. Refresh my memory of the non-moto section so nothing is a surprise come August. After all, at 45 miles in, I don’t need any surprises! While I was running, Nick was also planning on scouting out support locations and where he could get the van onto the trail. That’s equally as important as me learning the trail for running!

I left our camping spot early in the morning, just as the sun was rising. First thing I noticed was the bugs… last august, there hadn’t been any bugs to speak of. Now, swarms of mosquitoes lurked just off the trail. I liberally spritzed my shirt in repellent, making a mental note of the bugs. Yep, June was out. I did not want to deal with bugs! I don't mind a few here and there, but I will not be spending 40 hours covered in bug repellent and risk getting it in my eyes and mouth. I had a few easy miles along the Divide Road before turning off onto Bull Rd, where the Roubideau section started. After that, it was a few miles of trending downhill before make a left and heading into the unknown. I'd run the double track heading due north once before so was familiar with the terrain. It was the rest of the section I didn’t know. 

At the left turn onto 544, it was time to start paying attention. Not that I’ll remember everything when the time comes, but details are important! It was really cool running, with some really amazing views after the trail climbed out of the drainages. And that’s what charactorized the Roubideau Trail. It would run along the top of a plateau for a distance - sometimes less the a quarter of a mile, sometimes up to a mile or more, then drop steeply into a drainage. You’d cross the creek and start climbing. Then repeat the process! I don’t remember how many different drainages there were, but I noticed that as I got further west, they got deeper and longer. The initial drainages were quick and steep little drops. The final one, the Potter Creek canyon, actually had a fairly long and flat bottom! But the drop into and climb out of it was loose and rocky double track, filled with baby heads. Nick met me on the trail with a soda - he was doing his own recognizance of the area for support locations. Then I was on my own again for the last push. 

The non-motorized section. The one chunk of trail that saw so little use, the cows were making better trails leading off the main route! Here carsonite sign hunting and using my Gaia would be key. It would be super easy to get off track following a cow trail. I was quite happy we’d ridden it last year, so things looked familiar for most of the way. There were a few larger trees down, blocking the trail as well as a tangle of smaller ones preventing me from opening a gate in one of the fences. Good thing there was a decent gap between the barbed wire and the ground! Even with my map, I still got a little off track in one spot - had to pull up the route from our ride to get back on trail. That made the section much slower then anticipated, which was good to realize. The exploration also solidified the need to hit that five miles of trail in the light. There’s no reason to take a chance in trying to do that route finding at night. Hence why this is the corner piece - one of the most important sections even though it is so short. A lot of time could be lost so easily if I lose the trail at any point in the non motorized section.