June 22, 2005
Day 36: Saguache Creek to Ohio Pass
Yet another glorious sunrise! I guess I like sunrises. What I love so about the West is that the early morning sky in the summer is almost always a dome of solid blue. Not a single cloud. By lunch, there will be clouds billowing up. Maybe every third day there will be a shower. Then - the clouds dissipate and leave only a few gumdrops to catch the rays of the setting sun.
I started the climb early and slowly made my way up the pass. Cookies are an important motivator for any cyclist climbing a mountain. I should have filtered some water from the creek. I had some, but I usually have lots. I figured that I could stop at the summit overlook and wait for a car to pull off and beg some water. But just after I topped out, a bunch of Harley riders pulled in - black leather, radios blaring, and girlfriends popping open beers. I figured that there wouldn't be any Mormon families stopping for the view.
Heading down the other side, the San Juans were snow-capped and spendiferous. The heavy snow this year made for emerald meadows all along the creeks. Cochetopa Canyon was a kaleidescope of colors - red and tan and black rocks, blue sky and turquoise water rushing beside the road, and tall, green ponderosas lining the creek. What's more - there wasn't any traffic!!
When I got into Gunnison I did the McDonalds thing. Ooohhhh! Bad!!!! Al and Pete at the bike shop looked over my bike. I had a slight squeak which I though was coming from my headset, but Pete told me it was coming from my stem suspension - so it all came down to a little graphite spray.
I found out that the hostel at Crested Butte would be unavailable all month so I decided to take Ohio Creek Road. Boy was I glad! There was hardly any traffic once I turned off from the highway. Around every bend there were stunning vistas of meadows and barns and the West Elk mountains in the distance.
And lots of real estate for sale - pricey real estate, I'm sure. Just after the road turned to dirt, I found a creek culvert to sit on and spread out my dinner with creek and meadows and mountains for my company. At the national forest boundary, the road really started to climb. About halfway up to the pass, I found a pull-out where I pitched my tent - just in time, too - because rain started falling just after I crawled in for the night.
Today's ride: 72 miles (116 km)
Total: 1,831 miles (2,947 km)
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