Hermosa Tours is proudly partnering with Hammer Nutrition to offer the first ever Hammer Nutrition Singletrack Camps in 2008. Each will combine Expert Guided rides on some of the greatest singletrack in the country, together with 5-star service, premium accommodations, and numerous extras direct from the experts at Hammer. Sports massage, Globus EMS therapy units, endless Hammer fuels and supplements, and educational discussions and personalized training guidance are all part of the program. Group size is capped 12 riders and we expect these trips to book fast, so contact us today to book your slot.

The singletrack and scenery of the high country in and around Durango are world-class. The San Juan Mountain Range has been referred to as “America’s Alps and Hermosa Tours’ expert guides will show you the area’s most classic routes, as well as a few special home-cooked secrets that surprise even Durango veterans.

Our base camp for the week is Cascade Village. Hidden away in a high mountain setting, this village of private mountain condos features a flowing indoor/outdoor patio area complete with barbeques, a pool, and multiple hot tubs.

After each day’s ride we encourage you to grab a shower, soak in the hot tub, enjoy a therapeutic massage….or even all three! While you relax under the clear Rocky Mountain skies, let our guides fire up the BBQ for the night’s meal as well as clean and professionally tune your bike in anticipation of the next day’s adventure.  Evenings will also provide time for informative discussions and Q&A on topics like nutrition and recovery, training philosophy and more.  Ride hard, and relax.  That’s the motto for the Camp and all Hermosa Tours vacations.

A special note about the rides:  On this Hammer Camp, we are expecting many of you to be endurance fanatics.  If that’s you, you might be tempted to think that the daily ride lengths in the 15-25 mile range per day sound somewhat short.  Let us assure you as accomplished endurance athletes ourselves, these rides are the real deal.  High elevation and nearly 100% buff mountain singletrack trails mean that all these rides are a solid full day’s effort.  And with a small group and high staff ratio, we are free to adapt and adjust as we go, divide into sub-groups, adding additional trails or taking early bail-outs as your fitness and enthusiasm dictate.

Our staff will greet you at your gate at the Durango/La Plata County Airport, relieve you of your luggage, and bring you into town where your room at the downtown hotel is waiting. You are free to explore on your own as the staff makes final preparations and takes care of your fellow guests arriving throughout the day. Grab a sandwich and a beer on the patio at one of several local brewpubs, walk historic Main Street, or pick up some last minute supplies at our partner local bike shop. Although this is not an “official” ride day, we’ll offer the option of a short afternoon ride on a favorite local loop near town. We’ll spin right from the door of the hotel and ride just long enough to stretch your legs from the travel, and get you excited for the week ahead.

We’ll check back in with you briefly in the evening to make sure that you are well situated, that your bike and all your gear are ready to roll, and that all your needs are being met.

We’ll start from the hotel in town at 7am sharp, heading out in Hermosa Tour’s custom vans.  We’ll give you a chance to acclimate to the altitude by starting with the lowest elevations of the week.  From the top of Hotel Draw we’ll begin a traverse on the Colorado Trail. Stunning views of Blackhawk Pass to the north and long views of the Needles Mountains and Weminuche Wilderness to the east will highlight the morning. The trail tilts upward, climbing to the junction of Corral Draw, a lightly-trafficked trail featuring a 5 mile descent on a ribbon of singletrack into the Hermosa Creek drainage. After a quick ford of Hermosa Creek our guides will lead you south down the Hermosa Creek Trail, a true Durango classic from which we take our company name. Like every day, we’ll be at the end of the trail waiting with refreshments and snacks. Once we’re all ready to roll, we’ll shuttle up to Cascade Village where you will find your luggage waiting for you in your condo, which will be your base camp for the week.  A casual outdoor dinner will be your chance to get to know the other Hammer loyalists on your trip, as well as our guides and Hammer reps.  Ride length is about 23 miles.

Day 2 starts with a gorgeous drive along the San Juan skyway to Molas Pass, the launching point of today’s ride. Starting from early 11,000 feet on the Colorado Trail, riders are treated to 360 degree panoramic views of the San Juan Mountains right from the word go. The first 1/3 of the day consists of rolling mountain terrain, with smaller climbs and descents on vivid red soil set against vibrant green vegetation. Throughout the day you can expect cascading mountain creeks, wide open meadows, thick forests, and spectacular wildflower displays. At midday you’ll get a bigger fitness check with the climb to the day’s high point at over 12,000 feet. After catching our breath we leave the Colorado Trail and head east on the Engineer Mountain Trail, sporting views of Durango’s signature peak, Engineer Mountain. At the end of the ride, your physical effort is rewarded with a long downhill run on fast singletrack that snakes through thick pine forests and aspen groves.  Tonight’s agenda includes a more detailed presentation on some of Hammer’s latest product developments, including an introduction to the Globus E-Stim therapy devices and plenty of demo units to test on our tired legs.  Ride length is about 19 miles.

Today’s route is bit of a hidden gem. We begin with a crawl up a seldom-used Jeep road with more great views of the San Juan Mountains. Thankfully the Hermosa Tours custom off-road shuttle vans high-clearance vans are up to the challenge!  The start of the ride is an especially scenic stretch of the Colorado Trail, ridden in the best direction and features some of the most challenging technical sections of the entire week, interspersed with rushing mountain creeks and waterfalls. After a switch-backing climb we break out into an alpine meadow where deer and elk sightings are a regular occurrence. We’ll make our turn onto a “secret stash” singletrack traversing an unnamed mountain peak. The views from this section make a strong case as the best of the tour. What’s next? How about a long singletrack descent next to a cascading creek in a thick pine forest? Consider it done!! Along this downhill plunge, we’ll encounter a few technical rock sections that may force some of us off the bike here and there.  Time permitting we can session some of the more technical sections, with instruction from our expert guides on line selection and technique. Ride length is about 14 miles.

With three tough days of riding already in our legs, even some of the most die-hard riders may be looking for a change of pace. Enter Hermosa Tour’s patented “Rest Day Option”. For those eager to keep feeding their singletrack addiction, don’t worry, we have another amazing ride scoped out. But for those looking to slow things down, we’ve catered to your needs as well, with a very relaxing and fun option day agenda.

“Rest Day Option”: Recharge by sleeping in late this morning. Enjoy a coffee and leisurely breakfast out on the patio as the crisp mountain air lifts the dew from the surrounding meadows. The rest day group will depart late-morning, bound for the banks of the Animas River, where we’ll launch out on an exhilarating raft trip downriver toward Durango. Our staff will meet you and the bottom with a fresh change of clothes, and head into town for lunch. When we’ve had our fill of the local culture, we’ll head back to home base. But not before a quick pit stop at the local hot springs, where you’ll be treated to a soak in the naturally-occurring mineral pools and a 45-minute sports massage.

Day Four Ride Option:  We’ll roll out from Celebration Lake near historic Graysill Mine, where we start with a short climb up the Colorado Trail featuring long views south of the Animas Valley and the La Plata Mountains. We continue on the Colorado Trail on rolling singletrack that hugs the perimeter of Hermosa Peak’s rocky talus fields, ascends up and over Beach Peak and then gently cruises through a thick forest to the base of Blackhawk Pass. The ensuing climb up Blackhawk will test your legs and lungs. Its steep pitches may result in a little hiking for some riders. You’ll be at the top in no time, and the payoff is well worth it. The long descent off Blackhawk Pass is one of the best in the whole Durango area and serves as a nice reward for your hard work. Catch some air off the “whoops” near the end of the descent! Our staff will be waiting to take you home, or, at your election, choose to meet your “rest day” compatriots down at the hot springs and share in the relaxation. Ride length is about 15 miles.

Kennebec Pass to Durango….a 5000 foot descent….a true Durango classic. This ride starts at tree line and immediately sends you on a thrill ride down narrow singletrack hugging the mountain side. After regrouping at the Champion Venture Road crossing, the downhill bonanza continues through thick, forested singletrack, past a gorgeous waterfall and finally onto the rocky singletrack cutting through the lush vegetation alongside Junction Creek. Wide-eyed and grinning, we’ll regroup again at the Wall’s Gulch Bridge and start a hefty climb away from Junction Creek….sorry, it can’t ALL be downhill!! The top of the climb makes for a great snack location. Refueled, we’ll take our time traversing up and down on narrow singletrack through a variety of aspen and pine forest. The beauty of the singletrack in this area is the stuff of which magazine photo spreads are made. Finally we’ll reach what the locals call “High Point”, named for its status as a turn around for riders climbing up from Durango. They climb, we descend. The downhill buzz continues for another 2500 feet of great Colorado Trail singletrack to the tour end at Junction Creek Trailhead.  There is a reason so many world-class professional cyclists call Durango home, and if we’re lucky we may get one or two surprise guest visits during your trip.  Ride length is about 25 miles.

After a great week of riding, we love to celebrate the end of the trip with a group dinner in town. We’ll shuttle back into Durango where we’ll spend this final night at the downtown hotel. Take a few hours to relax and clean up, then we’ll meet at the hotel to stroll over to our closing dinner celebration. This is a great time for everyone to reflect on their experiences and tell war stories accumulated from the many great miles of singletrack.  We’ll thank Hammer for a great week and present some of our guests with some goofy awards and some unique gift bags full of product from Hammer and other industry partners. Cheers!

If you are leaving the next day Hermosa Tours will shuttle you to the airport for your flight home.