SCRubicon
October 7th, 2008, 02:16 AM
Another day, another wheeling adventure. Since last week, I've been in the mood for some scenery. The Spring Creek run was on a rainy dreary looking day, so big rocks and dense treed in trail was ok by me. Today I hit some new dirt. Webster Pass, Radical Hill (never been on them) and the Middle Fork of the Swan. (been on the Swan before) My plan was to do Red Cone (been on it before) then continue on the previously mentioned path. As I grew closer to the turn off, (still on 285) I could see some nasty clouds in the Jefferson direction. Since it has been snowing in the mountains, this sight had changed my mind to go up Webster Pass and skip Red Cone. Good choice. I'll get back to that later. Bouncing nicely up the trail, I stopped at a random location on Handcart Gulch to let some air out and take a pit stop. Balmy 44 degrees outside... With all of that rot taken care of I was back on my way. The nasty clouds in the distance seemed to drift in and out of the picture. Strange... In the trees on Webster, there were faint signs of recent snow. Made me wonder what I'd find up ahead. As I came out of the trees I could clearly see Red Cone to the right and Handcart Peak to the left. Sunny with white fluffy clouds! Awesome! As I was making my way up the switchbacks leading to where Red Cone and Webster Pass intersect I noticed something moving across the hill way out in front of me. MOUNTAIN GOATS!!! Five of em'... The goats were out enjoying the trail too :) At one point they were stopped on the trail right in front of me. They stuck around just long enough to have their pictures taken. Neat... Onward, upward. At the intersection of Red Cone and Webster Pass, I could see where all of those nasty clouds were hanging out - on the Montezuma side. Hmmm, do I go up Radical Hill, or not? Seeing the snow on top of Red Cone made me wonder if it was a good idea. After all, I would have been S.O.L. if I went up Red Cone earlier in the day. Figured I'd think about it while I took some pics. The picture taking didn't last long. The wind was intense, and it was cold as hell. (my hell is a cold place) After a quick drink to wash the dust out of my yap, I headed down the other side towards Radical Hill and Montezuma. There was a little bit of snow on the ground now. Again, it made me wonder what I'd find up ahead. Then, from across the valley there was a shimmer of light on Radical Hill. Aaah, another wheeler. I'm not alone up here. That was all it took to make up my mind. I committed to it. Radical Hill sure lived up to the description. Very steep, very narrow and very tight switchbacks. If you don't like shelf roads, you'd be in your own hell. There were more goats near the top. Must have been my lucky day or something? I've never seen these animals up so close. After Radical Hill, I connected up with the Middle Fork of the Swan. It sure was pretty up there with the snow. Probably won't be open much longer. On the way to Swandyke, I thought about previous wheeling trips, and how 2009 isn't too far off. At the old cabin, I stuck my head in only for a moment. Sure looked drafty. After that I was back on the trail, and at the dredge tailings in no time. Stopped for one last pic of the area. Mount Guyot. It was a great day. One of the best I've had in a long time. I'm only going to post up a few pictures. The rest can be viewed on Photobucket.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN3975.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN4004.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN4035.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN4041.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN4060.jpg
For all the rest (4 pages worth) --> http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN3975.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN4004.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN4035.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN4041.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/DSCN4060.jpg
For all the rest (4 pages worth) --> http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/SteveChabala/WebRadMid08/