We began our ascent up 375. Early on the trail, we passed an area where people parked trailers for UTVs, with pit toilets. We headed up towards 375a and for the first couple of miles there were crowded campsites and plenty of traffic from all sorts of vehicles, given how easy this area was and how close to the road.
As we proceeded onto 375a and 373, the traffic dissipated, and it seemed to remain relatively quiet for most of the day except for the areas close to the road, except for occasionally passing other 4x4s and some dirt bikes. We passed several beautiful empty campsites.
On the Northeast side of 373, we stopped to hike up to what is sometimes referenced as Aspen Arch, aka the natural bridge. I had heard that hike was short and steep, but wow, it was VERY steep. It kept us both worn out the whole way up. Thankfully it wasn't a very long trail, and once at the top, we had a spectacular view of the north Fourmile area, Buena Vista, and the mountains beyond. We had lunch here before hiking back down.
After the hike, Shane took the lead, and I'm not precisely sure which trails we took at this point as I relaxed and enjoyed our exploration as he lead. Eventually, however, I began to have more-than-usual trouble of shifting into 1st gear from a stop, as well as some extra grinding and difficulty when shifting between other gears. We decided to head back to pavement the most direct way from where we were at the time, 376 to 376a.
Overall the trails were easy - I only used 4lo in a few spots and that was mostly for the benefit of gearing. The scenery didn't disappoint, especially with the still snow-capped mountains to the west.
Pics - [URL]https://imgur.com/a/df5vi8V[/URL]
