September 24, 2021
The Queen Stage
Cottonwood Pass; Buena Vista to Taylor Park Trading Post
Our accommodations in Buena Vista were, shall we say, just barely satisfactory. On the plus side, they did work hard to let us check into preferred ground floor rooms early and they did have a decent breakfast with hot eggs and sausage and the usual pastry/toast/cereal. And there was in- room coffee for Genny and available ice for Jim. However, the cleanliness was marginal, the television did not work, the WiFi went out while we were at dinner and didn’t come back on until after 11pm. (We also had no cell service in BV-TMobile, which allegedly has such a great network.) And during the night there were noises in the walls behind the mini- fridge and microwave that sounded suspiciously like rodents. We decided this was the worst accommodations of the trip so far.
So today Kelly and Jim tackled Cottonwood Pass, probably our toughest day of climbing. They got an early start, 8am, anticipating it would take 4-5 hours to climb the 20 miles to the summit at 12,126 ft. I, (Genny,) am the designated Sherpa driver for the day so after seeing them off, I drove to the grocery to buy a gallon of water to replenish the riders along the way, and also refueled the van. As I headed up Co-306, I passed Jim and Kelly about 4 miles out of town, just starting the lower gradual portions of the climb. I stopped and waited for them at about mile 8, mile 12 and at the top. At all the stops, Jim came in a bit before Kelly, but even at the top, Kelly was only about 20 minutes behind Jim.
Per Jim, once the climbing really started, the steepest grade was 8% for about 1/2 mile just beyond mile 12. The rest of the climbing was 4-6%. But it was a long, long climb, and both Jim and Kelly were very happy to see the summit, refuel and rehydrate, then ride the outrageous screamer descent down the other side. For Jim, the descent was a real highlight-he had a blast! Great pavement, minimal traffic and he could go faster than a vehicle through the hairpins at the top. Although Kelly doesn’t enjoy descending as much, she did allow that this was a good one.
When I reached the summit in the van, I knew I had at least 90 minutes to kill so I hiked up portions of the Continental Divide trail on both sides of the highway to the top of the peaks and experienced some incredible views of surrounding mountains and the road winding up and down the pass. Eventually I could see a little tiny bike rider far below on the last set of hairpin curves before the summit. I made my way down to the pass summit to meet Jim as he arrived. He had just departed about 20 minutes later, when Kelly arrived.
Once both riders were both on the descent, I drove down to Tayler Park Trading Post, passing Kelly along the way but never catching up to Jim. Taylor Park is an isolated enclave with cabins to rent, a small store, and a restaurant. It appears to be seasonal, (as the restaurant is already closed) and caters to anglers (it is adjacent to Taylor Park Reservoir), off-road vehicle enthusiasts and hunters/hikers. It is quite isolated and was easy to find as it is the only thing out here. The cabin we rented is very rustic but it has a bathroom and kitchen. We brought some easy to prepare items for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow.
Tomorrow Kelly and I will ride to Crested Butte while Jim is the designated Sherpa. We plan 2nd breakfast at Almont, about halfway there.
(Once it was dark, Jim and stepped outside to star-gaze. It was amazing; no light pollution and the Milky Way was clearly visible right overhead. We haven’t seen stars like that for many years-a bonus highlight of this trip!)
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Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 225 miles (362 km)
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