2020 Sawtooth On the Solstice Showdown Background.

2019 Sawtooth On the Solstice Showdown.

Keith Fisher (a local carpenter and bee keeper) and I (Jarral Ryter) decided we needed to find a loop that would make a loop around a small mountain called Sawtooth Mountain to the south of Gunnison. We looked at maps. Tried to determine public access and rode many dirt roads and hiked through a lot of forest and sage fields. Alas, we found a pretty good loop that could be done in a day easily enough mostly on dirt and very remote. Sure there are some places you could take smaller roads (if you could call them roads) but they would make the ride more of a sufferfest.

For the 2019 solstice, we headed out of town on Gold Basin road from the bridge at the whitewater park at 7am. The ride was just lovely as 12 or so of us gathered on the pedestrian bridge at the white water park in Gunnison and headed south on Gold Basin road. The road quickly turned to dirt and climbs to around 10,000 ft. The lush flowers of red and blue from the deep snow pack stretched out on both sides of the road.

Some History

This area has been inhabited for thousands of years. Archeologists from Western Colorado University have found evidence on Tenderfoot Mountain (W mountain) just to the south dating to 8000 years ago. Indigenous people and later Spanish traders used many well worn trails in the area.

Our route actually is very close to the Northern Branch of the Old Spanish Trail and a few branches of that as shown on a highway sign between Lake City and Gunnison.

Our route is also part of the route that Alferd Packard MEANT to take and the one he did take after he ate his five companions.

He was traveling with 20 some men from Salt Lake to Breckenridge via Gunnison to mine in the winter of 1874. This was a very bad winter and after arriving in Montrose bedraggled, Chief Ouray fed them and tried to convince them to stay the winter. After some rest and food, Alferd and 5 others set out. The trail followed the approximate route of the highway from Montrose Gunnison.

This map shows the approximate location of the old Spanish Trail that Team Alferd would have taken, the wrong turn and subsequent route to the old Indian agency at Cochetope Dome. Click on the way points for more information.

The Route for the Anti-Clockwise 2020 route is shown below.

If you need a little more climbing this is the "harder route"