I’d only ever ridden the first section of the Rainbow trail as the “end” or last section of the Monarch Crest epic ride, i.e. “full Crest” or “Classic Crest” as I often refer to it as. I’ve heard folks around here will ride just this section as a loop by climbing up Silver Creek Road and coming down the singletrack, but I’d never done it. Right now all I’ve got to ride is my hardtail, and I’m looking for miles, so it seemed like a thing to get done.

The road pedal up wasn’t particularly difficult, and it was scenic enough. A few spots of snow lingered in the shade, but a dry winter and warm spring had melted out a lot of it.

Made it to the “top” i.e. the beginning of the Rainbow Trail. Only singletrack ahead of me on this ride.

There were a few snowy patches, but nothing that required walking though. And most of the trail was as dry as the road climb up to it, despite being March and over 9,000′ in elevation.

Couple of shots near the bottom, one looking back on the Silver Creek drainage, and another with pristine singletrack in the foreground and the Sawatch range (I think) in the distance. My goal was to get the ride done in around three hours, it took me 3:07. Next time maybe I won’t stop as often? Though the relaxed solo pace was pretty nice.

https://www.strava.com/activities/17906469437