Colorado National Monument – BLACK LEVEL Ride – Fruita, Colorado
November 28, 2022 – Trail Boss: Sky Baldwin
The Devil’s Canyon Black Level Ride was awesome. Sky pre-rode the area the day before with a long-time friend of most WSCSC members, Sharon Roper Dashner.
We left Cedaredge in a snow storm, wondering to ourselves, “are we really doing this, we must be crazy.” It was 70 miles from Cedaredge to Opal Hill Equestrian Trailhead in Fruita, just a couple miles off I-70. Sky, Brandy, CJ and Juleen were the 4 ladies who put on their “Big Girl Panties” and drove the distance. Only Sky had ridden in this part of McInnis Canyon’s before. The trail head was beautiful, complete with a toilet and equestrian only parking.
The weather started out partly cloudy, but before long jackets were off. This area is for hikers and equines only. We did cross into the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness, shortly after we left the trailhead. The trails started out in a beautiful single track, soft red sand, perfect for winter riding, especially with shoeless horses. We were able to move out swiftly in the nice footing.
CJ questioned what made this a Black Level Ride? It seemed pretty EASY at first. Several miles later we began climbing up steep slick rock, horses navigating 4 foot rock ledges. All four horses took every step with ease. CJ’s little 4 year old, Kizzy did awesome, they were some BIG step ups and a few BIG drop downs. The other 3 ladies were riding very seasoned trail horses but they were working hard and a few had some furry winter coats.
The beauty of the canyons in this area were truly breathtaking. To quote the BLM, this is some of America’s spectacular landscapes. We wished our heads were on a swivel so we didn’t miss a thing.
The clouds were coming in and the temperature was dropping when we made it back to the trailers. We rode for 7.5 miles and with a lunch stop we were out on trail for 3 hours and 10 minutes. We can’t wait to go back and find all the interlinking trails for Green and Blue rides for all levels of riders!
Photos: Club Member CJ Simmers
