Books
Trails and Tales along the Back Country in Vail
Recently, in Colorado’s high country, the Eisenhower Tunnel was closed down due to weather. For some people, the drive to Denver took up to six hours. Meanwhile, here in Vail, the snow continued to fall. In this valley powder is synonymous with downhill bliss, yet we often forget (or maybe we don’t even realize) how much else there is to do in the Vail Valley other than descending steep faces and skiing moguls. I come from a ski-touring background, and while I enjoy the downhill euphoria, I prefer discovering quiet and calm ski itineraries far from the holiday crowds. Put the downhill skis in the basement, it’s time to get the heart pumping and go uphill for a spell.
The Vail Hiker and Ski Touring Guide by Mary Ellen Gilliland gives scores of alternatives to downhill
skiing in Vail, Eagle County and the Gore Valley, among others. Gilliland writes hiking and snowshoeing guides of Eagle County. Each itinerary is viewed from the historical background unique to this region of the High Country. For example, her other books include A Gold Rush History, and Breckenridge, 150 years of Golden History. So Gilliland not only knows the background of the area, she knows the back-country. And here are two itineraries to look at the next time you make it through the tunnel:
Two Elk: The creek bearing this same name has sculpted the beautiful Two Elk Canyon. Enormous limestone sentinels herald the arrival to the trail head off of highway 24. This rock was formed by ancient marine animal shells and the mud-slit from an ancient saltwater sea that formed in the Colorado area billions of years ago. Today, many fossils can still be seen along the trail along with beautiful flora and fauna. Gilliland’s book gives perfect directions to the trail head, with lovely descriptions of the aspens and cottonwoods that accompany the journey. This itinerary is very challenging due to the narrowness of the terrain as it twists and turns among trees and along rock walls. Regardless, the itinerary offers one of the best views of Vail’s famous Back Bowls:
A knockout view awaits you at the summit…To the northwest lie the the softer contours of Vail Mountain’s famous back bowls, Mongolia, Siberia, China, Sunup, Sundown and Game Creek; southwest is Bluesky Basin. Southeast are peaks of the Sawatch Range. A [Ute] Indian name, “Sawatch” (Sagauche) means “water of the blue earth.”
No Name Road: An easier itinerary due to its wider roads and straight paths, it runs along the old road originally used by the ice harvesters in Pando (more on this in a future post). In fact, the view from this ridge gives a glimpse into the icemen’s life of almost one-hundred years ago:
Below is the site of early-day Pando and Camp Hale. The name Pando probably comes from the Spanish word meaning “slow water.” … A man named Roudebush built the first cabin at Eagle Park’s upper end (today’s Camp Hale site) after Frank Benjamin and C. C. Welsh discovered placer gold just south of present-day Pando.
The path is well protected by pines and thick evergreens and thus the wind has difficulty penetrating their branches. As an intriduction to skiing in the wilderness, this itinerary is perfect for anyone looking to break themselves into the beauty of the back-country. The incline is slightly graded and delivers a refreshing workout away from the holiday madness found in the valley, for a winter vacation that’s all uphill from here.
An Alpine Guide for Your Pocket: Cycling in the French Alps
Its nice to hav
e friends that do cool things. But its also nice to have cool friends. Paul Henderson is one of those and his book, Cycling in the French Alps (Cicerone), is as much a testament to his extraordinary life style as it is an incredible compilation of magnificent biking routes. The routes are as varied as the roads themselves, taking you through the Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Drôme and Ventoux regions of France. Just reading the itineraries makes me breathe hard. Paul is from Durham, England (so its [pawl] not [pol]) yet has been living in Savoie, France for a long time. Over this period Paul has skied, climbed and biked just about every nook and cranny in Southeast France, most of Provence, and a good part of Italy, Corsica, Australia and other continents. His personal list of accomplishments is endless but thankfully just the French Alpine cycling routes are compiled in one book: a must for anyone who is looking to spend a week, a month or a summer biking in the Alps.
I appreciate how Paul is able to touch upon the “dreams” as well as “misconceptions” of cycling in the Alps. These are important factors that most of my guests seem to forget at times:
For most cyclists the French Alps conjure up images of the great champions of the Tour de France…Of course, mountains do not have to be snow-capped giants to provide worthwhile cycling. Many lower-areas are criss-crossed by quiet roads that meander through varied landscapes of open pastures, dark forests, deep gorges and unspoilt villages. The scenery is just as beautiful as in the high mountains…When cycling in the mountains, the amount of vertical height gain is a much better indication of the difficulty of a route than the distance covered. The circuits were planned with this in mind…
Personally having ridden most of Paul’s routes, I can attest that the views from these “minor” mountains are just as beautiful as the better-known giants. What’s even better is you’ll never find the crowds around the Col de Granier that you would find around Galibier, which makes the riding eve
n sweeter. The book is brimming with all kinds of useful information I’d only expect from Paul Henderson: from hints on taking bikes on the trains to lodging suggestions to useful websites and spectacular photography to help you visualize the itinerary (which could sometimes bring you to some rather remote locations). The itineraries themselves are highly detailed with route directions, elevation maps, hints on getting to/coming from, when to go and climate stats, paper map suggestions, as well as where to find water, campsites, hotels, banks, bikeshops, and cafés. He’s even included useful French phrases (since the author is also a full-time translator I wouldn’t expect anything less). Having done a number of Randonnée Ski Tours with Paul, I can attest to his level of detail and dedication in the mountains. The same applies to this guide: a fundamental tool for biking legendary circuits in the French Alps.