Ridin’ The RockiesChasing Colors And Ghosts In ColoradoPAGE 8

Volume 14, Issue 3

Lynn

Cam

p

A P

ub

lic

At

ion

ex

cl

usiv

ely

Fo

r A

tv

A M

eM

be

rs

Having just relocated to Washington, D.C., from Maine, where out-of-staters are called flatlanders, I knew I was in for a treat when I found out I

was heading for a ride in the Rockies, a place where I fully expected to feel like a flatlander myself. I hadn’t been in Colorado for more than an airport connection in over 30 years. It wasn’t long after my arrival in Denver that I started to get a sense of the riding that lay ahead.

The mountains impressed me from a distance and even more up-close as I drove a local’s suggested back route to the outdoor vacation destination of Buena Vista.

I owed my excuse for this trip to the Buena Vista (Colo.) Chamber of Commerce and the High Rocky Riders OHV club. Each year during the third week of September, the chamber and the High Rocky Riders join forces to produce the “ATV Historical Color Tour,” which is actually an ATV rally and mountain festival. The event was set for Sept. 23-27.

Imagine riding your ATV in the Colorado mountains in the fall when the Aspen trees are changing colors from white to spectacular golds and blazing reds. It’s billed as an amazing event, and I was looking forward to participating.

I arrived at the Branding Iron restaurant just as the event registration was winding down and the opening dinner and live entertainment were warming up. I was immediately struck by the range of ATVs in the parking lot towed by vehicles sporting a wide variety of state license plates. Moreover, the obviously well-oiled organization and enthusiasm of the High Rocky Riders OHV Club made me confident I really was in for some great rides.

This was the club’s 11th Color Tour, so they had things well sorted out. The registration packet I received included everything I needed to choose the rides that suited my interests, find my way to

Chasing Colors And Ghosts In Colorado

Do The Color TourMy host, Wendell Alumbaugh,

has a long history with the area and the High Rocky Riders. As a past president of the club, he has been deeply involved in organizing the Color Tour itself.

Alumbaugh says riders come from all across the United States to attend the rally, with attendance ranging from 140 riders to almost 200 over the years.

“This is a family event,” Alumbaugh says. “Ages range from young couples to retirees. There is a 50/50 mix of men and women with many women riding their own machines. The event has been well received and we always get many very favorable remarks afterwards.”

Alumbaugh says the trails range from easy U.S. Forest Service roads to much more challenging trails. All of the trails are on public land, either Forest Service or federal Bureau of Land Management, and the proper permits are acquired.

A guidebook that tells about the routes used during the tour is available for purchase but isn’t necessary for participation in the event. The $19 book includes information about 14 popular routes, route maps, the history of the area, things to see, where to get fuel, food and more.

“Each day, four or five trails are selected for that day and participants sign up for their choice of rides at breakfast,” Alumbaugh says.

Alumbaugh says that this year there will be a special presentation on Friday night by the Buena Vista Historical Society called “Madams of Central Colorado” to raise money for the historical society.

The Colors Tour is actually a fundraiser, raising money for local charities. Organizations that have benefited from the event include Chaffee County Search and Rescue, a Christian Mission that provides food to the needy, the Boys and Girls Club, Buena Vista parks, the Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition and the Trails Preservation Alliance.

The Colors Tour pre-registration deadline is Aug. 31. Those who register after that date may not receive a t-shirt. The registration fee is $90 for adults and $59 for children.

For more information, or to register, go to www.coloradoohvtour.org.

the trail heads and attend the breakfasts and dinners that were included. In a nod to proving our sport has a positive effect on the communities in which we ride, there were also coupons to local business sponsors and the option of obtaining two-dollar bills that I could spend in town so that local businesses would know where Color Tour participants were spending their money.

I was even luckier to have Wendell Alumbaugh, the former club president, and his wife Sharon as my hosts. When I arrived at their house after dinner, I learned that we were already at 9,000 feet. It was a stunning location. As I saw in the next morning’s sunlight, the mountains rose like fortress walls, almost from right in their backyard.

The ride is organized so that participants choose from five different routes on each of the four days of the tour. With expert guidance, I rode a diverse mix of trail types, from wide open dirt roads to sand washes, deep woods and climbs that ended with a break to enjoy the view and reflect on why the mountains are called the Rockies. Most of the time we were fine in two-wheel drive, but there were memorable sections that tested our riding skills. There were also slick-rock sections, some of which required us to squeeze between boulders, and several climbs with lunch-box sized rocks strewn loosely across the width of the trail.

LEFT: Hillsides everywhere

reminded riders of the event name.

BELOW: Some trails were wider than others, but

the fall colors are everywhere.

LEFT: Former club president Wendell Alumbaugh on Otto Mears toll road.

BELOW: Riders pass historic ghost mining towns on the Hancock/Tin Cup loop.

which included many of the mines from long ago.

We finished the tour with a donations-only poker run to benefit a local food bank, which included a chance to see a natural arch in a rocky hillside and to take part in a hilarious egg-on-a-spoon-race tie breaker in anticipation of matching poker hands.

My New England roots, where fall colors are legendary, surfaced again in terms

of my view of the event’s name. Knowing that Colorado fall colors meant Aspen only, I expected a sea of green-needled pine trees and yellow-leaved Aspens. Despite my hosts’ apologies for not having perfectly timed the event to match Mother Nature’s unpredictable schedule, I was wowed by the range of oranges, reds and golds that greeted us in streamside stands of pure aspen and a range of dramatic hillside vistas. Not surprisingly, the Aspen Ridge trail, where the aspen trees extend for miles, was the most impressive.

The closing dinner on Saturday night was a celebration worthy of the event. Roughly 190 people enjoyed a catered meal, live music, door prizes from handcrafted keepsakes to ATV equipment and more. There was also a slide show of the tour as well as presentations from club members about the tour’s origin and goals for the future tours. Finally, a few words on the importance of ongoing OHV access advocacy were well received by the crowd, which was obviously familiar with the challenges we all face.

Anyone looking for a great high mountain ATV adventure would do very well to consider the diverse trails, scenery, hospitality and well-run organization offered by The High Rocky Riders OHV Club and Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce Historical Color Tour.

All the trails provided full days of riding and sore muscles at night.

The most memorable routes to me were the Otto Mears Toll Road and Texas Creek, the toll road for its history tied to the abandoned mines we toured for most of the afternoon and Texas Creek for its tight trails and challenging climbs. I was also mightily impressed by the view from 12,000 feet on top of a mountain overlooking the Bonanza mining district,

By Steve SaliSBury, AMA/ATVA government affairs manager

Lynn

Cam

p

a P

uB

lic

at

ion

ex

cl

uSiv

ely

Fo

r a

tv

a M

eM

Be

rS

8 May/June 2014