I was invited to tag along with a coworker and a few of his friends on a trip to Salida, CO for some camping and to knock out the Monarch Crest Trail.
Two of us were coming from Denver and 3 others were coming up from Durango.
Here is the crew:
L to R: Anthony, Lora, Jeff, Casper, Me.
Anthony and I followed Jeff's directions to a nice little spot by the Arkansas River he had picked out earlier that day. It was about 9:00 pm. We pulled up to a hot fire and cold beer.
We visited with Jeff for a few hours. The other two were already hidden away in their tents. I set up my tent in the dark and attempted to fall asleep.
I can't sleep in a tent while camping.
...don't know why
...just can't
I can be dead tired, comfortably numb and dozing off by fire - I will zip into my comfy bag then toss and turn all night long. I've come to accept this.
6:00 am I hear voices - time to get up.
Jeff had researched a shuttle van which left Poncho Springs at 9:00 am sharp. This shuttle would take us to the top of Monarch Pass and the start of our adventure.
But first, a little bit about my initial thoughts on using a shuttle and riding with a group - especially a group I am unfamiliar with.
I have mostly been a solo rider. I enjoy riding by myself. My wife says I'm a bit of an introvert. I'm sure that's somewhat true when it comes to long rides. I like riding from my house 10 miles to the trail head rather then driving there.
If you're going for a ride - why drive to go riding?
I find it easier to pedal at my own pace stopping when I want or don't want; not having to deal with others mechanicals or holding people back with my own. I don't want to feel like I have to talk or hold on a conversation while riding - usually I 'm breathing so hard I couldn't anyway.
OK, back to the story.
There were 3 vans carrying 34 of us shuttlers to the trail head.
hope my bike makes it
I love shuttles
This trail is waaay up there. It starts at 11,312 feet above sea level. The first thing I said when I started pedaling is “Where is the oxygen?” I could totally feel the difference.
Eventually that feeling would wear off for me, but not Anthony.
He was feeling nauseated and not-quite-right. His discomfort was affecting his pace. I remember looking at my GPS unit 2 hours into the day - we had ridden one hour and stopped a total of one hour.
Darn those group dynamics.
Most of the stopping was actually to take pictures of the amazing views. It definitely feels like you're on top of the world at 12000+ feet.
The first 11 miles covers Monarch Pass to Marshal Pass. You climb 5 miles of moderate terrain then ride along the crest of the pass with views which go on forever. There is a nice 3 mile downhill as you come into Marshall Pass. From this point you have 3 choices to get back to Poncho Springs and Salida.
1. Take Marshall Pass Road - The easiest bail out point.
2. Poncho Creek Road - a gravel road with a fast rocky descent.
3. Continue on the single track for more climbing. This actually continues on the Colorado Trail for about 5 miles.
At this point that group dynamic thing popped up again.
Anthony, Jeff and Casper wanted to bail on option #2, while Lora wanted to continue on with option #3 for more miles of singletrack, climbing and pain. I was not quite ready to be done either so I opted to go with Lora. We said our goodbyes and took a quick look at the map. Lora said the next bail out option was at mile 19.5. We were at mile 11. OK lets hit it. We'll see how we feel in 8.5 miles and decide from there.
Big mistake.
Instead of worrying about bail points we should have been worrying about directions.
We went on our merry way. Well not so merry. Lora must have felt like she could ignite the other six cylinders now that we had broken off from the group - she took off climbing like a mountain goat. I had a hard time keeping up with her. She would politely slow down every so often and make sure I was still there, then take off again.
The trail actually started getting really nasty at about mile 15. Huge rocks in the trail forced us to get off and walk downhill a good mile or so.
We joked how this would be really tough even for hikers doing the Colorado Trail.
We finally were able to continue riding again. We flew down a nice section and came to a four way intersection - Hey I didn't see this on the map, we're only 17.5 miles in, the next decision point should be at 19.5 -- right?
Looking at the map we noticed a very important direction cue at 14.8 that says - turn left onto the singletrack - DO NOT continue on the Colorado Trail to Saguache.
"Where is Saguache?"
Because going there has to be better then turning around and hiking up the huge boulder infested trail we just hiked down.
We looked at each other and didn't speak, not wanting to be the one who had to say...
"Let's turn around and get to hiking the trail from hell - UP this time."
We finally gave in and started our hike.
Again she morphed into a goat and dropped me, politely calling back every so often “You OK?"
My reply “Yeah, just slowing down a bit."
I would later find out she had summited eight Colorado 14'ers in the last five weeks -- insane!
We finally made it to the correct trail and I had the most amazing singletrack experience of my life. It was almost too single of singletrack. It was narrow and fast and flew by meadows, aspen groves and crossed picturesque mountain streams.
We finally made it to the bail out point, which we spent too much time thinking about 3 hours ago. We took it and had a long downhill ride back to Poncho Springs. Even on this section she didn't let up, she kept pulling and surging ahead.
I had to speed up and duck into the draft to keep from getting dropped a few times.
...I should have bailed with the other guys. This girl is crazy.
This is what I would call an EPIC ride! This trail has it all, fast and smooth, rocks, scree, stream crossings, fun climbs and ripping descents. The downhill from the turn off onto Silver Creek is awesome, let it rip and hold on tight! There are lot's of fun little lofters mixed in as well.
That night I was dead tired, comfortably numb and dozing off by fire - I thought, if I don't crash tonight I'm going to seek therapy to help with this -- can't sleep while camping thing.
I zipped in ready to fall off into a beautiful sleep, then tossed and turned and had the strangest dreams; restaurants with floating tables, the waitress rowing out to serve food on the elegantly lit tables bobbing in the water -- maybe I was really hungry -- I need help.
What I learned:
1. There are people who live and breathe outdoor adventure a million times more then I do.
2. Take the shuttle when doing this ride.
3. Riding with a group is enjoyable yet complex.
4. Always review your map periodically when on an unfamiliar trail.
5. I will never get a good night sleep while camping.
Does anyone have a secret method to getting a good night sleep while camping? I must know. It's affecting my good life.
Check out the GPS data - click here.
