NM: Cumbres Pass to Hopewell Lake via CDT

 Today was a big ride day. I had now been at elevation for a few days and was feeling good about it. Our plan was to do a point-to-point shuttle ride from near Cumbres Pass in southern Colorado following the Tour Divide route for about 18 miles. We would then hop on the Continental Divide Trail, CDT, for the remaining 17 or so miles to Hopewell Lake. Both Scott and I were fine with doing the self-shuttle option, but Lee offered to drive us to Cumbres Pass then do a ride in the area himself. We couldn't pass up that offer!!

The purpose of this ride was to see if the CDT was worthy enough to be added to the Tour Divide route as it cut a more direct path to Hopewell Lake over the current TD route. We'd be keeping track of our time on the CDT, not trying to race it by any means.

We made the morning trek over to Chama, NM where we had the most fantastic breakfast buffet, New Mexican style. We passed the historic Cumbres-Toltec train on the climb to Cumbres Pass, noting the numerous cars that had pulled over to catch a glimpse of it.

Boxcar Cafe, Chama, NM.

Train getting ready to leave the station.

We reached our starting point, the paved turnout off Hwy 17 where I officially ended my latest Divide ride last summer. The route returns to dirt here and barely three miles later would cross back into New Mexico. There were a few other bikepackers starting their ride as we pulled up. It sounded like they were doing an overnight ride.

Info boards at the pullout.

That's where we're headed. Looks nice. New Mexico is over the hill.

Scott crossing the scenic railroad tracks.

It took 4 years, but I finally made it to the New Mexico line on the Tour Divide route!!

Divide tourers from the Netherlands, Ronnie & Linda.

Back into the tall pines.

Not sure if this was before or after we missed a turn, but it sure rode nicely!!

Where there's sheep...

...there's a sheep herder dog!!

We reached a gate and Scott thought it was odd, but we kept going. At the next turn we really dug into the maps and realized we missed a turn on the Divide route about 3 miles back. What to do, what to do. We backtracked a bit, but of course on our way back we came to the CDT. Let's take it!! It'll cut a corner and rejoin us to the Divide route soon enough.

The trail was faint at first, but then was great singletrack.

Need salt?

The trail turned into a game trail near a small marshy area, then we realized again we missed another turn. This time it was only a couple hundred feet behind us. We spotted a cairn, crossed the wetland and found the trail on the other side. No wonder we missed it, the game trail looked more like the CDT than the CDT.

One last bit of trail before returning to the Divide route.

Making our way to the Brazos Ridge overlook, the high point of the Divide in New Mexico.

Fast wide open valley here.

Then we climb back to the trees.

Cue the hike-a-bike. This was much steeper than it looks and littered with baseball sized loose rock.

It tops out to a wonderful view just below 11,000'.

The gradual descent off Brazos Ridge.

We caught back up to the Netherland tourers who passed us when we missed our turn.

They executed a pro-move on the Brazos hike-a-bike having an OHV take their gear up for them!! They were asking us if the rocky terrain went on much farther. Luckily for them it wasn't too bad after this. They were headed for the Lagunitas Campground for the night, roughly our split to hop on the CDT. We mentioned to them to stop by Lee's ranch the next day if they needed water. Really nice couple.

We eventually returned to the thick forest covering miles quickly.

Point and shoot!!

Snack break at the CDT turnoff.

We were there for a good 15 minutes or longer, no sign of the Netherland couple. We guessed they were taking it rather slow on their setup. We noted the time when got rolling again: 3:40p.

The first mile of trail was great.

The good trail continued.

Practically no dead fall either, only a few down trees the entire way.

Dropping into a side canyon.

We dropped into a small drainage area and began following a well defined trail at the bottom only to find out it was a cow path, not the CDT. We only overshot our turn by a couple hundred feet though. The short climb out wasn't too bad, but I had to walk a bit while Scott pedaled on. This would be a recurring theme of the afternoon. I wasn't feeling bad, it was the combo of being at elevation, a tad over 10,000' here, and this being my biggest ride since April. I was enjoying being out on new-to-me trail though, these are often the best kinds of rides.

The climb out. Not overly steep, just a bit much for me on this day.

Up top, it was about to get good. Real good.

Plenty of CDT blazes along the way.

Scott shared the good news: We'd be traversing along the edge of the canyon, slightly downhill, for a few miles. Oooohh.

Scott had been wanting to ride this section in this direction ever since going the other way during his massive CDT through biking ride in 2014. It was as good as he imagined.

High above the Rio San Antonio.

There was a bit of technical riding too.

These miles were spectacular and very engaging.

I suppose not every creature enjoyed their time here.

Crossing the Rio San Antonio after filtering.

Things got spicy rather quickly, but this was short lived.

The trail then meandered slightly uphill following the drainage. I was able to ride it in sections, but it was work. Scott seemed to have a better time of it. I walked a bit, but overall it wasn't too bad.

I was feeling this final grade so I walked a bunch of it. Elevation was kicking my butt. See if you can find Scott in this pic - he's in there!!

The total climb out from the Rio San Antonio was just under 2 miles. I think I rode over a mile of it. Scott rode almost all of it and looking back it was the toughest part of the CDT portion of the ride.

Up top the undulating singletrack continued.

Looking north to Broke Off Mtn.

The beginning of a long gradual descent into a sweeping valley.

Time to cruise.

Finishing our meadow tour.

Scott getting tripped up on the second bigger climb of the ride. 

Jawbone Tank about 3/4 up the climb.

Interesting rocks at the headwaters of Rio Tusas.

Cresting the top near Jawbone Mtn. the trail opens up and gently slopes downhill. Fast, free miles!!

Soaking in the waning daylight.

This was a running joke as there are numerous splits for the Tony Marquez trail. It's everywhere!!

Nearing Hopewell Lake, covering ground quickly. Can we make it without needing lights??

It was awfully dark in here, but my phone lit things up nicely.

We popped out on US64 not a moment too soon, no lights needed!! Hello, Hopewell Lake.

It ended up taking us 4h 15m to cover the CDT miles at a social pace. Tour Divide riders could do this much quicker with proper motivation.

We switched over to night riding mode and made our way down US64 and back to the ranch. What a fun, tough day. By far, my biggest ride in a while. Thanks for being so patient out there, Scott.

Scott ran some numbers comparing a couple of the lead Tour Divide riders this past year to our time on the CDT. It took them about 4h 30m to cover the Divide route which is about 15 miles longer, but doesn't have a water source. Personally, I feel the Tour Divide should use more CDT wherever it makes sense, setting it apart from the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.

Both Scott and I made our case for the change to Matthew Lee, we'll see if he opts for the change. I hope so.

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