Red Feather Ramble – Northern Colorado

Started in first week of June and took 2.5 days, two nights. Highly recommend the route. Perhaps I we should have brought 3 seasons of clothing, two pairs of gloves, and a nalgene or two more of water. First two days are basically all uphill, very little downhill slowing days to roughly 40/45miles respectively. We prepared for rain but not snow, which we did encounter night two. The slog of the first two days had us nervous for day three, but the 76 miles remaining went quickly with almost all downhill sections. The sun welcomed us back to the start, reaching 85/90degrees. Be prepared for lack of water refill areas, we carried 5.5L and ran out around mile 15 to go on day three. Highly recommend! We each carried around 40L of gear. The gpx file from bikepacking.com was almost perfect, the only change was on day two, after mi 86 of the route. There was a road that didn't exist in real life, and only forced us to go to the next fire road, make a left and connect back to the route. The river crossing was day three, after mile 86 as well, and was only knee deep at most. Snow did not block the road at any point, and only one tree blocked the route. It was easy to carry the bikes around it.

Gear notes: Blue Specialized Diverge 1×11 with 38c tires, Ortlieb fork pack 4.1L, Specialized/Fjallraven Rolltop Handlebar bag, Oveja Negra Chuckbuckets, Half frame bag and stem bag XL, Ride and Get Lost Seat bag.

Red Specialized Diverge 2x woth 42c tires, Ortlieb Fork Pack 5.8L, Specialized/Fjallraven Rolltop Handlebar bag, Oveja Negra Superwedgie frame bag, Specialized/Fjallraven stem bag, Deuter Seat bag.