I was volun-told to do this ride, and despite my tendency toward laziness, I got up at the gruesome hour of 7:30 and headed out on Hwy 40.  My wife and I had to be back for a wedding, so we decided to shuttle the road.  I don't usually shuttle, but it would cut 2+ hours off of our ride time... 

5 of us departed from the Elbow Lake trailhead at 10 sharp.  The trail was in great shape and had excellent grip for the first pitch up.  The creek crossings before the Sheep trail junction were easily navigated, except for one which was 12" deep on the left, but ~3' deep on the right.  Of course, I chose the right path...

Turning onto the Sheep trail, we dried out a bit and quickly crested Sheep Pass.  One of the best things about this ride is the 10km of trail after the pass.  It's largely downhill and very fast, with about a dozen creek crossings to keep things interesting.  I didn't stop to grab any pictures along the section, as I was having too much fun big-ringing it.  I was the second one to reach the coal pile...

Following the doubletrack will eventually take you down another long descent to Bluerock, but that would turn our 22km shuttle into ~200km and an overnight stay in Turner Valley, assuming we didn't pass out from dehydration first.

The smiles turned to grimaces as we tackled the climb up Rickert's Pass.  This pass is the main reason the ride isn't as popular as it could be.  2.5km straight up the side of the mountain.  The average grade is ~23%, but there are [many] instances where it exceeds 50%.  It's a horse trail, first and last.  It takes a while to even see where you're going, but eventually you get out of the trees into a meadow and can spot the notch that represents the end of climbing.

After 1:15 of pushing my bike, I got to the notch and peered over the top.

After a bit, we headed down the main trail, a steep, rooty, rocky affair that keeps you on your toes for the first couple of km, then flattens out a bit, crossing meadows and zig-zagging through the forest.  The last couple of km is on a cutline with big jumps - um, water bars - that finishes right by the highway.  Again, no pics - too much fun.  Overall, this was a great day to do Misty Range.  Sunny, warm enough without being too warm, stream crossing challenging, pretty dry.  Good times!