We had dinner the previous evening at the Gunnison Brewery, enjoying a local draft, a burger and the most delicious fully-loaded nachos. It is very interesting to note how quickly alcohol effects the human body when it is used to biking everyday and immediately metabolizing whatever you eat. But with food and many glasses of ice water, we were on our way to the campground, a KOA at the outskirts of town. It was one of the nicest campgrounds we have stayed at, and definitely the nicest KOA. We camped next to a guy who works for New Belgium, the brewery responsible for Fat Tire. He was involved with the Tour de Fat, a bicycle race that New Belgium puts on annually. We talked a bit and later he came over with two Fat Tire patch kits and a very satisfying-sounding bicycle bell which Chris was very excited about.
29 June 2011
The next morning we left our comfy and clean KOA in Gunnison and headed for Monarch Pass. This would be the highest elevation of our trip, a nice 11,312 ft above sea level. Starting in Gunnison (elevation 7,700 ft), we had over 3,500 ft to climb in the 45 miles it would take us to reach the pass. We were excited and a bit nervous - expecially when we saw the clouds forming around us as we began our ride.
We cruised out of Gunnison, with Chris' new bike computer, we kept a pretty good pace ranging from 14 to 25 mph depending on terrain. We stopped for photo breaks along the way and were almost immediately swarmed by mosquitos. Ah! What are mosquitos doing in Colorado??? We were very sad to realize that they were not unique to Florida and they would become our traveling companions of the day, sometimes even catching rides on our clothing and panniers on our ride.
Despite the threatening clouds, and the mosquito companions, it was a beautiful day complete with lush plains and mountains all around. The clouds don't look terribly vicious in the photos above, but what you can't see is their constant movement in our direction and the rain trailing in their wake. But they kept us entertained by forcing us to plan what we would do when they finally caught up to us.
The terrain was much like what you see above, with some curves and steep hills when the road decided to go over the hills and mountain sides as opposed to staying in the valley. Actually the first 32 miles of our trip, from Gunnison to Sargents, had very little climb in elevation and we made excellent time. In a second you'll see the elevation profile for today - quite a dramatic change in the incline after Sargents. Sargents had an elevation of 8,478 ft, leaving almost another 3000 ft to climb in the 10 miles between Sargents and Monarch Pass Summit. Joy!
(You'll notice the x-axis on the elevation plot is actually time.... It took us longer to traverse the 10 miles up the mountain than it did to bike the 32 miles to get to Sargents).
It was an average of a 6% grade going uphill, sometimes less, sometimes more. There were runaway truck ramps and large pull off areas for vehicles that couldn't make it up or needed a stop. These were probably very necessary and very under-used, as we could smell the burning engines of the big trucks and gigantic RVs as they strained to get up the mountain. It was quite the climb. But it was beautiful. There is a good reason US Highway 50 over Monarch Pass is considered one of the most scenic drives in Colorado. We could even appreciate with the storms approaching and the increasing winds.
Above we are stopped at one of the large pull-off areas. Also pulled off was a truck with camper that was having issues. The road winds around the mountain sides, we could look over the edge at the steep slopes and pine tree forests. Wouldn't want to slip off here! In the valley we could see a river rushing - we could just hear it from our vantage. Below you can see the road twisting around the mountain side. It is amazing how gentle the gradient appears in front of you and how steep it really is when you look behind.
We were almost to the top! Below is at about 1 mile from the summit. It was so buggy we had to put on bug spray to survive. It was a slow ride to the top, but we were going to make it! The snowline was getting closer, the storm was approaching, and the wind was picking up! We were above 10,000 ft in the photo below.
And then, suddenly a sign appeared saying "Parking 1/2 Mile". Then, with some last hard pedals up the incline that only ever-seemed to increase, we saw the sign.
A fellow cyclist out for a joyride took our picture in front of the sign.
MONARCH PASS
ELEVATION 11,312 FEET
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
ATLANTIC OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN
SAN ISABEL GUNNISON
National Forest National Forest
It was a beautiful view. There is a gondola that takes you up to the top of one of the mountains so you can get an even higher view. We decided not to go on it as the gondolas were rocking like small boats in a hurricane, and the rain was getting closer.
We looked at the road from which we had come, noting the downhill truck sign and the big sign with flashing lights that advertised that it was a 6% grade for the next 9 miles. We has just biked up that. Wow. We couldn't quite believe how we could have made it to the top.
It felt great. And cold! The wind was picking up and the air was chilly. The snow was in patches on either side of the road. We went in the gift shop/store to warm up, buy a can of bug spray (we were out of Off wipes), and to see what they had. I asked the lady behind the counter about the campground that was supposed to be nearby. Thankfully we asked. There are two near the summit and one was actually closed. Three miles exactly to the campground entrance - all downhill! We bundled up, pulling on our leggings and headed to the campground. We wanted to be able to set up our tent before the storm finally caught up with us.
What a day. We conquered the Monarch.
:)
Location:Gunnison, CO to Monarch Park Campground (just past the Monarch Pass and Continental Divide)
Wow, -60 degrees, I know where I'm moving to! ;) Congrats on conquering the monarch, looked like a hell of a climb, and props for the v bros pic!
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