“You Go” (or not) really sums up our time in Durango, CO.
We planned on making a quick pit stop following here following 12 Hours Mesa Verde, but ended up staying for a full week, in part because were introduced to the owner of Singletrack Maps.
Durango was uncharted territory for us, and what better way to tour the area than with a cartographer (yea, I had never heard the word before either, but it’s just a bad-a** name for “mapmaker”). And this wasn’t just any cartographer; this guy makes maps specifically for mountain bikers searching for singletrack. Yee-Haw! We had hit the jackpot!
Following a cartographer who maps bike trails is a lot like following Indiana Jones to the Holy Grail. Loads of climbing, followed by “hike a bike” sections, followed by more climbing and more hike-a-bike sections, ultimately leading to panoramic views, sought after red-dirt ridges and 9 miles of down-hill single-track that left us smiling uncontrollably, panting and ultimately racing each other for beers in the parking lot (supposedly it was a tie, but I’m not so sure…).
Not only does Durango have killer single-track, a really healthy forest, red-rock walls, and rivers, but it also has a really vibrant, funky downtown complete with a record shop (kid-you-not), a gazillion breweries, and a narrow gauge steam engine that rolls through town whistling all the way.
Every time we ventured into town, we met interesting people with stories to tell and even fish to sell to us out of coolers?!? That’s right, the Flying Fish is a local shop that is only open on Fridays and sells every kind of fish in the sea out of coolers that line the walls.

Don’t ever judge a fish by its cooler. Alaskan King Salmon and Crab Cakes from Flying Fish, two thumbs up.
The owner Diane gave us some red wine while she filled us in on the fish selection, and before we left with our gorgeous piece of wild King Salmon and fresh lump crab cakes, we had a hand-drawn map to a cool hiking trail from a guy named Paul, got an invitation to play in a softball game the following night and had directions to some free camping outside of town.
So, you may be thinking to yourselves, don’t these people ever work?!? Well, we stopped by Nature’s Oasis Market on our way out of town and they loved our pickles. They will be placing an order next week, so if you are lucky enough to call Durango home, or even just passing through, you’ll be able to pick up your favorite flavor of Yee-Haw Pickles.
It was on a whim we landed in Durango and we left it in similar fashion. While searching for a fresh site Sunday afternoon we decided to keep going north, direction Ouray. Rebirtha (YHPC’s trusty ’98 Ford Ranger) lurched over 3 mountain passes at 11k feet for a quick layover at Amphitheater campground, the wildest of all sights.
We hit the road tomorrow for our trek to Gunnison/Crested Butte and home of the Growler, Yee-Haw Pickles next stop on pickle tour 2012. So all you pickle fans, please send Rebirtha some good juju, we have a few more mountain passes along the way!
































