Have you ever heard the old wives tale that says "If you want a pair of leather shoes to fit like a glove, get them wet and walk around in them until they are dry."? Well if there is even an iota of truth to that comment, I suggest strapping on your leather shoes and heading to our Trail of the Month. This month TrailCentral.com is featuring Young Gulch, by far the wettest trail we have ever featured.

Young Gulch, located in the Poudre Canyon, North of Fort Collins is a 9mile out-n-back trail that offers technical obstacles, quick meadow singletrack, and more river crossings than I cared to count.

When I decided to ride Young Gulch I knew that there were several water crossings, what I had forgotten was that Colorado has been having a particularly wet Spring. I thought the river would be low due to the Colorado drought that we have been suffering from over the past year. Well, we are still in a drought, but you wouldn't know if from the amount of water that was flowing in the river.

Within 100 yards of the trailhead I reached the first water crossing. There was about 20 feet of river to cross, but there were plenty of stepping stones that allowed me shoulder the bike and jump across the river while still staying dry. This pattern continued for the next 3 river crossings. The water at each crossing was moving far to fast and was much to deep to ride through, so I instead used stepping stones and fallen trees to help me cross the river.

At the 5th crossing I came across a mountain biker and asked him how the rest of the trail was. He warned me that the river crossings are abundant and by the looks of him it was pretty muddy up there as well. I thanked him and continued on my way. Realizing that it would be futile to try and stay dry, at the 5th crossing I shoulder the bike and walked straight into the river. Expecting it to be icy cold, I was pleasantly surprised with the water temperature. It was not cold, but instead almost refreshing, which was a good thing since the section I walked through was well over 2 1/2 feet deep.

This spin and rinse cycle continued for the remainder of the ride; spin about 100 yards, dismount, shoulder the bike, walk through the river, mount the bike, and repeat. If you are a cyclist that enjoys a constant, uninterrupted trail ride, this isn't the trail for you, at least not this time of year. I felt like I was training for a cyclocross race rather than enjoying a relaxing weekend ride. At times the trail would s-curve and have upwards of 3 crossings within 50 yards. At these points I was tempted to forget the trail and walk straight up the river.

The last 1/4-mile of trail departs the river and I was taken up the only steep section of doubletrack. When the doubletrack ended, singletrack branched right and I was taken to the top which dead ends at a rock formation/lookout. The lookout has views over private property (please respect private property) and Stove Prairie Road. Once I got to this point I sat back and enjoyed the view. I encourage other riders to use the lookout point as an excuse to rehydrate and get some food in their stomach. Once rested and ready to return to the car, I headed back down the trail the same way I came up.

The ride down was fun and I'm sure mid summer when the river is lower it would be even more fun. This is a popular trail for bikers, hikers, and dogs so come prepared to have company. All in all, I think the trail was a bit short to make a day trip out of it. However, Hewlett Gulch and Dadd Gulch are nearby and you can add those rides to your agenda to make the trip well worth your travel.