NM: Tres Piedras

 Again, we took a lunch break on day 2 before heading down the canyon to Tres Piedras. Three Rocks in Spanish. Scott had ridden here before and noted the cool rock formations and slickrock riding. We staged from the Ranger station and while there seem to be a network of official looking trails, I didn't find any trail maps of the area. So we pretty much winged it based on what Scott could remember from years ago.

The trail begins next to the Ranger Station, goes through two gates then meanders through the forest.

We found some cool, smaller rocks to play on almost instantly. Photo by Scott.

Mostly flatish and fast.

The trail wound around and took us out to the paved US64. Scott had recalled a loop being on the other side of the pavement, but it didn't sound like it was the rock riding we were searching for. We flipped around and rode towards the larger rock piles hoping to jog Scott's memory.

That's better.

My turn. Photo by Scott.

Scott taking the high line around.

Short steep grunt & turn around. Photo by Scott.

Making the tight turn. Photo by Scott.

First, we tried going the high route between the rocks. Photo by Scott.

It cliffed out, so ride back down!! Photo by Scott.

Weeeeee!! Photo by Scott.

I think our bikes will fit. Photo by Scott.

Yep, keep pushing. Photo by Scott.

Something tells me this is turning into a #locoride. Photo by Scott.

The notch did punch through and we were rewarded handsomely for our efforts.

Scott silhouetted before dropping in.

The exit was a little tricky if you didn't line it up quite right. Scott nailed it.

Hopefully no 2x4's are being made from these trees!!

The lower runout.

My turn for the postcard shot. Photo by Scott.

The rock had superb grip. Photo by Scott.

My dropper post was in for a warranty repair, so I couldn't fully tuck. Photo by Scott.

Add a little spice to the route.

The payoff for a short bushwhack. Photo by Scott.

Huge slab of slickrock on this side of the Rock. Photo by Scott.

A multitude of downhill lines here.

Some steep, sticky climbing too.

We also timed it right for Golden Hour.

Fun climbing lines crisscrossed the area. Photo by Scott.

My turn to give the big climb a go. Photo by Scott.

You can get really creative with your line choice at a place like this. Fun!! Photo by Scott.

Max power!! Photo by Scott.

The shadows were growing long and neither of us brought lights, so we made the wise decision to start heading back. But we had to figure that part out since we weren't going back the way we came. A fun descent and a little poking around and we spotted some flagging more or less marking a trail. We followed it around and sure enough it led us in the direction we needed to go. We got spit out on US64 a little way up the road from the Ranger Station, so it was an easy coast to the end...in daylight!!

Great place to stage the ride from.

Fancy station for a tiny remote town.

We were both really glad we snuck this ride in. It sure wasn't a bunch of miles, but the fun factor was pegged. That's what it's really about, right? I mentioned to Scott while up on the rocks that it was good to be alive, indeed it was.

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