The Wheeler National Recreation Trail in Summit County, Colo., is a good place to go when you need to be stimulated.
A point-to-point singletrack that runs 11 miles over the Tenmile Range, from 14,265-foot Quandary Peak to Copper Mountain, the Wheeler twice crests passes of more than 12,400 feet and, if hiked south to north, finishes with a 2,700-foot descent to one of the swiftest-running rivers in the area, Tenmile Creek.
Traveling this trail will make your lungs feel like they are frying in a pan, turn your legs into bulging vats of lactic acid, flood your eyes with a kaleidoscopic array of wildflowers ranging in color from pink to blue to white, and set your mind at peace with a silence broken only by the songs of birds and marmots.
Best of all, the Wheeler Trail is one of the emptiest prolonged singletracks in Colorado.
To begin, shuttle a car to the spacious parking lot near Copper Mountain, just off I-70, then swing back through Breckenridge and commence your journey at the southern trailhead in McCullough Gulch, just below Quandary's massive north wall (pictured).
In the autumn, you will travel through glowing aspen groves for the first mile or so. In the summer, you'll be treated to the aforementioned wildflower show. The trail also comprises a world-class Nordic ski route in the winter.
Along the way, you'll pass through the magnificent Spruce Creek and Crystal Creek drainages and directly under 13,164-foot Mt. Helen, a tabletop peak with steep faces on its north and south sides. You will climb a lot - about 3,000 vertical feet - but if the sun is shining as it usually does, the pain will be tempered.
Once you crest the Peak 10 ridge high above the Breckenridge Ski Resort, you'll drop into the Wheeler Trail's highlight: an alpine meadow surrounded by big rock walls and one of the best sidecountry ski runs in the state, Fourth of July Bowl. Here you can see ptarmigan in groups (we once saw 11 hanging out together) and droves of flowers in every direction.
A quick scale of the switchbacks between Peaks 8 and 9 brings you to your long and final descent - a favorite section among racers in the annual Breck Epic and Breck 100 endurance mountain bike races, as well as the renowned Breck Crest Marathon.
While on this descent you can see Fourteeners like Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado, all the way to Aspen's Maroon Bells, Vail's Mount of the Holy Cross, and every bump in between.
After picking up your car and shuttling back to retrieve the one you left in McCullough Gulch, saddle up for a well earned beer in the courtyard of the Motherloaded Tavern on Breck's Main Street, where you can watch the sun fade into the mountains you just traveled through.
- Devon O'Neil