I always wanted to put on an underground bikepacking ride in the Gunnison Valley. Finally last Labor Day I made the first annual Gunny Loopy Loop happen. It was amazing. 6 Folks started and finished the Shortie Loop and 4 folks started and finished the Biggie. What makes that 100% finishing rate so crazy is how hard the routes were. Damn Hard, lots of climbing, plenty of hike a bike, lots and lots of trail, rocks, and roots.
Now its 2019 and we are headed towards Labor Day and the 2nd edition of the Gunny Loopy Loop. I’ve tweaked the routes a bit. The first 75 miles all the way from Gunny to Crested Butte, are the same for both Biggie and Shortie. The only change there is instead of climbing Ohio Pass to Wagon Trail, we are gonna take Carbon Creek Trail to Baxter’s Gulch into CB. From there the routes split, the shortie taking Tony’s Trail to Upper Upper, the Biggie taking Lower, Slate, Paradise Divide, 401, Gothic Road, MT CB to Upper Upper.
From there both Loops share the route up Brush Creek to Block n Tackle to Cement Creek Trail, To Reno Road, Flag Trail, Bear Trail, to Lower Deadmans to Spring Creek, to Rocky Brook Road, to Matchless Trail, to Dr’s Park to Dinner Station/Taylor Park. Up FS Road 671, to Lake Ann Trail connector, to Timberline Trail, to Texas Ridge Trail and on to the Taylor Park Trading Post/Gold Nugget Diner.
From there both routes exit Taylor Park and head to Union Park, there the Loops split, with the Shortie headed over on the Gold Creek Trail to Fossil Ridge. The Biggie splits off on Slaughterhouse Gulch Road to Napoleon Pass, Napoleon Pass Intercept to down Tin Cup Pass, to the CDT/Tunnel Lakes Trail, to Alpine Tunnel, Tomichi Pass, Canyon Creek, Old Monarch Pass to the Crest/CDT to Agate Creek, to Hwy 50, To Quakey Mountain Trail, to Black Sage Pass to Waunita Pass, to Pitkin. Then the paved road to Ohio City, Up Gold Creek and rejoining the Shortie Loop at Fossil Ridge. Both Loops take Fossil to Beaver/McIntyre Gulch, up to Signal Ridge on back to Gunny.
The Loops are hard, tough, at times remote. Lots of climbing, descending, and good old technical trail riding. The Shortie is about 192 miles, 28,000′ of vert. The Biggie is about 313 miles, 45,900′ of vert. Both Loops will start in Gunny on August 31st, 4:AM. Should give folks a good chance of getting to CB before the shops are closed. I think the Shortie could be done in 30-ish hours if someone was charging and not sleeping much. The Biggie is gonna be 2.5+ days at a good race pace. Loops are longer and just as hard , so longer times than last year!!! Not Fast, Not easy. More CTR/AZT style riding, with maybe a bit more single track, though not sure.
Detailed Cues and GPX track will be available sometimes soon. Hope to have Trackleaders available for those interested. If you are not tracking and are gunning for a win or record, I’d like you to post a GPS track of some sort. DIY style riding, no outside support, be nice, be cool, bury your poop, leave no trace. Riders are responsible for knowing the course and staying on it if they want to report a finish time. Any route thru towns is just fine, just exit with the track and its all good.
