It had been years since my partner and I visited Bear Lake State Park before returning this year. I had been wanting to mountain bike ride a popular loop around and up Mount Carbon. Finally we decided to go check that box this particular Saturday opting for a casual sunrise ride to beat the heat.

We had a slight detour at the start, hitting the wrong trail junction before backtracking and adding mileage, hence my Strava being longer than the traditional 7 mile route. 

The single track is fairly mild with a couple moderate moves. The trail is rated green, but also labeled as moderate on the Mountain Bike Project. We lucked out that morning without much traffic and not needing to pull over to get out of the way much.

Unfortunately my first time back on the mountain bike saddle didn’t go as well as we hoped. I rounded a corner near the bridge by the parking lot on the northwest side and somehow dropped my brake pad pin. This caused some delays as we desperately tried to find it ultimately falling short. We rigged the brake pads with a backup kit solution and then rode off to finish the loop.

The final gain up the switchbacks of Mount Carbon was steep but mellow as you wind your way to the top. We took a quick break to soak in the views of the golf course and lake before cruising downhill back to the car. A lovely Saturday!

https://www.trailforks.com/trails/mt-carbon-loop/

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