Ninemile ramble, 2021

Fall splendor from Stark.

My longest fall outing was a link up of Ch-Paa-Qn, McCormick, and Stark mountains, each human powered from the Ninemile valley.  In order to get it all done, I was biking a very respectably early 5 am from the base of the Butler loop road.  The ride up to the trailhead was cold, slow, and included a (not scary) moose spooking in the dark.  The walk up Ch-Paa-Qn was nice.  There were a lot of down trees on the trail, and snow covered talus slowed progress, but it was spectacular to top out shortly after sunrise.  

Early morning on Ch-Paa-Qn.

After a quick descent, I drove to the base of the Josephine/McCormick road, feasting on pizza and cold coffee.  The bike up to McCormick was a really nice long grind, and the new to me trail to the peak was a treat.  It was great to climb a new summit.  After another quick decent, I drove to the base of the Rennic/Stark road, this time feasting on pizza and La Croix.  Stark was great.  I made a hard for me push and ran most of the trail to the summit, topping out to a warm fall evening and striking views.  I returned to the car legitimately tired but also excited for a challenging day spent entirely alone.  Final stats were 14.5 vertical feet and a bunch of miles in about 13 hours.

Near the summit of McCormick.

Final bits to Stark.

I drove between the base of each road, and the car supported nature of the day was fun, allowing for gear drop offs and a nice re set between peaks.  I'm excited for more in the Ninemile.  More bike run link ups, more long gravel bike rides, more skiing.  Especially in fall when the hills are full of golden larch.  Yes please to all of it.