Give it some throttle and watch out for that moose.

Like a lot of guys I was hoping to go to West Fest this year. A change in family vacation plans had me in Colorado that week, but in Grand Lake, which was far north of the moto-camaraderie in which I was hoping to share. Still, I knew I would get on the bike a couple of days that week and I was determined to get in some good riding. After much research, including a query of locals, I had a color, waterproof map of a prime riding area. Only I forgot it at home.

Enter Jerry. Jerry owns the cabin I rented, and when it turned out that his cleaning guy had failed to clean the place after the last vacationers, Jerry drove up from Denver to do it himself. The first words out of Jerry's mouth were "Is that your scoot outside? What all have you done to it?" It wasn't what I expected from a guy about 70 years old. Jerry then proceeded to tell me most of the mods on my DRZ. It turned out that Jerry not only had a KLR and a XR250R in the locked garage, but he had maps to lend and a wealth of local knowledge to share. Telling me where to find the "gnarly singletrack," Jerry proved he was no ordinary geezer.

I figured jeep roads and ATV trails would be just about right for solo riding far from home. The Grand Lake area is an ATV mecca, and the narrow ATV trails provide plenty of challenging riding and beautiful scenery.

The first day's ride started almost straight uphill with a series of tight, steep switchbacks with deep ruts. Five minutes into the solo ride my GPS had no idea where it was, the maps proved to be almost as old as Jerry, and I was wondering what I had got myself into. Then something happened. The trail mellowed enough to allow a little more speed, and I found myself exhibiting greater skill and technique than I knew I had. Within 15 minutes I decided I had found nirvana, and I was dreaming of ways to eek out a living in this mountain paradise.

That's when I saw them not two feet off the trail: two juvenile moose that were light in color and about six feet tall. I stopped, but by the time I got out my camera they were gone and I was left with disappointment at having missed the shot. Disappointment turned to unease when I looked to my left and saw their mother about 25 feet away from me. I hope she's not pissed.

Yikes, she's getting up.

I decided to hit the start button to get out of there before she changed her mind about charging me, and the sound sent her out of there before I could put the bike in gear.

I had been thinking about getting a helmet cam, and an encounter with a large coyote just a moment later convinced me to make the purchase. The trail had found the floor of a heavily wooded valley and I was moving at a good clip when I found myself behind the coyote who was going the same direction. From about 50 feet away I matched his pace for a good 150 yards until he bailed off into the thicket. It would have made a great video and I'm determined not to miss another shot like that if it ever comes again.

Besides the wildlife, the riding was incredible. There are a lot of very small streams that would otherwise get trashed at the crossings, so there are many of these small bridges. Note the flowers placed on the sign.

The highlight of the ride was when I found a great stretch of singletrack.

There were meadows.

Lots of rocks.

There was no going around this tree, so I just gave it enough throttle to get the job done.

As a final treat, the return forest road offered a great view of Lake Granby.

With only a short teaser afternoon and one full day of riding, I didn't have time to take a lot of pictures. And like most rides, the toughest spots don't lend themselves to pulling out a camera. Looking back at the map when I got home, I seem to have done 4 days of riding in less than a day and a half. Stillwater Pass, Illinois Pass and others with no name -- they were all great. I even did some of the CDT without even knowing it. I will definitely return if I get the chance.