July 6-8 - Pueblo, CO to Westcliffe, CO to Garfield, CO to Gunnison, CO

Mileage: 59 miles, 66 miles, 49 miles
Terrains: Climbing up and down the Rocky Mountains, Gradual long climbs and descents
Temperature: 85 degrees
On the morning of July 8th we rode out of Pueblo and the terrain was fairly flat for about 10 or so miles, and then it started to go uphill. Pueblo is at about 5000 ft of elevation above sea level. We then started gradually climbing. However, I was still in my lowest gear during a lot of this climbing. It is MUCH more gradual and long than the mountains we climbed in Virginia. It seems that the mountains in Virginia you go up and over the peaks and in Colorado you somewhat go through the mountains. There are more passes rather than going up to the highest points. We did a fair amount of climbing and climbed up to about 9000 ft and then descended to about 8000 ft to where we stayed at in Westcliffe, CO. We stayed about 2 miles out of town at a RV park with really nice showers!! We had a great view of the Rocky Mountains, just gorgeous, and all I could think was OMG, we are going to climb those tomorrow!! It was a really nice privately owned campground out in the middle of nowhere. There weren’t many trees around and it was pretty bare all around the campground.
On the morning of the 7th we got up and started descending for most of the day. We were descending for most of the day, very gradually. We stopped in a really neat town about 20 miles outside of Garfield, CO and ate. It was called Salida and it was along a river and very touristy. So many cute shops and great food. We walked around and looked at shops and even got ice cream. We joked about how we have turned into ice cream snobs because we were recommended a place that had ice cream and got there and they only had soft serve. We were like, we need the real deal!! So we found a different place and had Gelato there!! Mmmmmmmmm!! We knew that we had about 20 miles of climbing once we left town so we fueled up!! Saldia is located at about 8000ft. We rode out of town and things started to go up!! I threw it in my lowest gear and was there for about 2-3 hours. I could tell as we got higher and higher that the oxygen was becoming less and less and I was breathing harder and harder. We were taking Monarch Pass through the mountains. We climbed all but 3 miles from the top and stayed in Garfield at 10,000ft. It became very cold as we climbed and by the time we got to the top it was VERY cold. Got to the campsite tucked back in the woods. There were lots of trees and only a restroom there with no running water. That means no showers. I quickly washed up with wet wipes and put on warm clothes as I was freezing!! Set up my tent as the mosquito’s were attacking me and went straight to bed!! I took all of my blankets consisting of my sleeping bag, blanket and sheet and bundled up including all of my warm clothes. I even used hand warmers in my bed to keep warm. I slept well until about 4:00 am when I woke up and had to go pee. It was about 45 degrees last night. I tried to go back to sleep and make it go away however I wasn’t falling back asleep so I figured I should do something about it. So I put on my head lamp and peaked out of my tent. Crawled out and walked up by the van and trailer and considered taking a nature pee at the restrooms were only a compost toilet in a shack. I looked over across and down the gravel path at the restroom and all around. I was scared that I was going to have an encounter with a bear or some other animal. Debated nature peeing again and figured I would end up peeing on my foot or something. Then I sprinted for the shack. Went pee and then peaked out of the bathroom door looked around and make a sprint for my tent. Whew was I out of breath from this short sprint. I could tell that the oxygen concentration was low!! Fell right back to sleep and Brittany shook my tent at about 8:00 am as the trailer was leaving at 9:00 am. She wakes me most mornings thankfully!! I got up and put on my warm weather clothes and started climbing the last 3 miles to the top of Monarch Pass at 11,312 ft. Rode at about 4-5 mph all the way to the top. Got to the top shopped at the store there and then decided to take the lift up to the top where you cannot get to by car. It was about 12,000ft. It was sooo windy up there and there was even snow!! You could look out over all of the peaks it was AWESOME!! You could even see the road that we rode in on!! We hung around at the top of Monarch pass for awhile and then took the descent down. It was very long which was awesome, however, the wind was blowing strong from the west which slowed us down quite a bit however, the pedaling was still fairly easy. We were gradually descending most of the day. Had one more rest stop about 12 miles from where we were staying and then rode on into the town where we were staying. Had some Mexican food and then stopped at the grocery and then went to the KOA campground where we are staying. Got a wonderful shower!! Did some laundry and am now getting ready for bed. Cannot wait for tomorrow. I am really enjoying the Rocky mountains!! They are gorgeous and the views are spectacular!!