Early start on sunday morning could only mean one thing. No traffic, at least til high noon or so....i figured everyone was cooped up in a church building somewhere or out fishing the weekend away. Regardless, I was heading down the road. Enjoying the lack of traffic. The high desert mesa formations...I felt like I was in Wyoming no doubt. As I approached town of Gunnison, more and more fields were flooded over either by the river or super heavy rains of recent. It created quite a reflection of surrounding landscapes to say the least.....
I had another big task inhead of me today.....climbing up Cottonwood Pass (elev 12, 100 feet??). I saw signs that it was indeed open and headed straight for the hills, so to speak. So far, after the first 30 miles or so the day had been flawless. I knew though that a flawless day would be too good to be true...there had to be hitch...somewhere in the script. I pressed onward.
....the entire morning i had the pleasure of watching the snow capped rockies come and go as I meandered up and down the secondary roads, but now they were out of sight for the time being. I was now to travel down a rough and rocky road to reach Taylor Reservoir, which is the last major landmark before the climb up cottonwood pass. those 25 miles seemed like eternity. a gradual uphill the entire time, a stiff headwind, temps in mid 80's, rough and inconsistent secondary roads, boating traffic.....but finally the dam appeared and up i went until i had a satisfying view of the collegiate peaks towering over Taylor reservoir.
....it was a clear blue sky all around. mountains and sky. nothing else. so, off i went to begin the 14 mile climb to the summit. with the grateful dead doing a great version of dylan's 'desolation row' going strong i felt confident about my efforts up this climb with grades of 6-10%. the one thing that made this climb even more tricky was that right from mile post 0 it was gravel road...at least up the side I was climbing. I'd have the pleasure of pavement while coasting down into buena vista. loose stones made going slow and tedious. washboard after washboard made me wonder how many flats i would end up with by the summit. traffic was steady at times, nonexistent at others. dust filled the air. i pedaled on and finally clicked into a comfortable cadence. surprisingly i felt amazingly strong going up this climb. stronger than i had this entire trip. every now and again i'd catch a glimpse of the collegiate peaks through bows of douglas fir trees and other various species. a few crazed squirrels would scamper across the road. and then i came to milepost 5. black skies rolled on in with the echos of distant thunder. a light, cold drizzle pattered down. I stopped, rearranged gear. put camera in waterproof b.o.b. bag and trudged on up the road. with the rain came a softening of the gravel road, which made it feel as if i were pedaling on a wet sponge....not great fun, but at least i was moving forward. by milepost 7.5 i was hiding under a rock and had abandoned my bicycle in the mud.....lighting bolts exploded out of mid-air just up the road from me. about 10 meters off the road was a little gully where a rock outcropping provided my shelter until i'd hear cars motoring up the climb.....the first time i waited about 5 minutes hunkering down everytime a bolt tore across the sky....with the lighting and thunder occuring simultaneously i wasn't taking any chances....at least until a fancy car drove up....i flagged them down and asked the obvioius question of getting a ride out of the storm. i informed them of the lightning that had been striking close by...i was soaked by this time......and now it started to snow in a blizzard like fashion. snow mixed with hail actually. they both looked at me and the bike lyin in the mud....looked at each other and one slowly said...."eh, sorry, but we dont' have any room...we'll call a park ranger to come and get you once we get to buena vista though"...a large bolt of lighting hit the ground just on the opposite side of the road....as they drove off i half jumped and leaped back to my rock cave i had found earlier and waited for the sound of engine coming up my way....5 minutes passed......hail, thunder and lightning......10 minutes passed.....nothing....i was starting to think they weren't letting any more folks up the mountain....i figured i could pitch a tent somewhere in the woods if need be......i had 1 gallon of water with me, plenty of food, a sleeping bag rated for -20 degrees, and a tent....so i'd be fine if darkness came and i was still here.....as my surroundings were turning into a winter wonderland with every passing second i heard the churnign of a hard working engine....i bolted out from my cave and flagged down the white van that was about to go straight past....it was a middle aged couple who didnt' even need to hear what i was going to ask....they just stopped the car and said "hope on in son, and just toss your stuff wherever you find room." the road had turned to a slick, oozing mud at this point and off we went...i was in the back of this industrail-type van with my trailer and bike rattling and shaking with everywashboard we went over....
...not even a mile up the road there was about 5 inches or so covering everything and snow was still pouring down. after a long 6 miles we reached the top....we only got stuck once and fishtailed up the mountain for the rest of the way.....apparently the entire valley area was experiencing these scattered thunderstorms......welcome to colorado in early summer, right?
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