Spooky Ride - 5 🟦🟦⬛️

770 a,b,c + Scottys, Kipp’s Bridge. Spooky Stops:

👻1 - Rock Climber - 39.312908°N 105.103°W. On the back side of the tall rock is a plaque memorial for Gene Harris, Jr. Colorado Mountain Club rock climber that fell to his death in that spot.

👻2 - Tunnel, Throne - Despite how COTREX has 770a labeled, it is named “Tunnel” after this feature. The plastic chair that resides in the tunnel is known as the Throne of the Trail King and has been there since the trail was under construction.

👻3 - Intersection - 39.289498, -105.110742. To the west is Dutch Fred TH, which has 2 bathrooms, a Kiddy Corral cornering practice area, and Lightfoot’s Loop. This is also the future home of the Enduro Skills Training Area and the Beginner Training Area.

Lightfoot’s Loop is the only trail at Rampart that is one way. It is one mile long and serves as an introduction to the rest of the trail system.

Devil’s Head Tower Fire Lookout, just south of Dutch Fred, was built in 1912. The first ever female firefighter Helen Rowe worked here from 1919-1921 and reported 16 fires during her tenure. The tower is accessible by hike only.

Legend has it that somewhere between the town of Deckers and Devil’s Head Tower, there is a fortune hidden in the woods. In the early 1870s, train robbers stopped a train on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad near Deckers and made off with $60,000 worth of gold. When the pursuing posse got too close, the bandits buried the gold near Devil’s Head, marking a tree to remind them of the spot. Unfortunately for the robbers, a forest fire swept the area and removed all traces of their marked tree. Imagine what $60,000 in 1870s gold would be worth today.

On April 29, 1981, the Reverand Maurice Gordon “Doc” Dametz and author of “Dead at the Top” and “Trouble Transformed,” was hunting topaz near Devil’s Head with a supposed friend when he suddenly and mysteriously disappeared along with all of his tools. The Sheriff and Douglas County Search and Rescue with search dogs were never able to find any trace of him.

In 1960, Adolf Coors III was kidnapped and murdered in a failed ransom attempt. His body was found in a pit near the Brotherhood of the White Temple, due east of Dutch Fred. The murderer was convicted in part because of the tell-tale felspar and decomposed granite of the Rampart area that was found on the undercarriage of his car. Coors’ father, Adolf Coors II, had also been kidnapped in 1934 by prohibitionists for a ransom of $50,000 and survived the ordeal.

👻4 - Scottys Rock - A notorious rock obstacle that is long and steep. Scotty was the Yamaha rep for the region during the 70s and 80s and this whole trail was his favorite. Many bikes have seen their demise on the obstacle, which is rated as a black diamond.

👻5 - Kipps Bridge - 39.33745°N 105.057°W. Kipp was a kid that passed away in the 90s. He loved riding the trails at Rampart so his parents donated the funds for the building of the first Kipp’s Bridge in his name. Because the trails see so much traffic, the bridge has been rebuilt several times since then. There used to be a plaque at the site, but people kept stealing it.