MONARCH CREST TRAIL
AUGUST 10TH, 2007
It was another early wake up call for this kid, 4:15 a.m. on Friday.
Once again, I had no problem with rolling out of bed. Today would be
the 2nd EPIC Uni ride for me in one week, and today I was playing
hookey from work, more motivation to get my ass out of bed. The Monarch
Crest Trail has been on my list of “Rides To Do” before I die, and it
was high on that list as well. I had set up the logistics of the ride
with Osmundo, from Golden, Colorado, earlier in the week. With one eye
closed, I found my way down the stairs and poured the coffee beans into
the grinder. Ah, the smell alone of the Organic French
Roast/Kona/Mountain Harvest blend of beans was enough to pop open the
closed eye. I like my coffee strong, especially at 4:30 a.m., so I
poured a few extra beans into the grinder. I had packed the previous
evening knowing that at this hour I would be useless. The coffee kind
of folded out of the pot into my traveling cup, I wasn’t sure if I
would need to spoon it out, so I took a utensil just in case.
The drive over Independence Pass was awesome; I think I saw two cars
the whole 45 miles that it takes to get to the highway 24 intersection.
First light came on the summit, 12,095’ (3687 meters), by then I was
wide-awake and driving like A.J. Foyt. A few deer and elk kept me
alert, at least until the coffee kicked in. The sky was filled with
puffy cumulus clouds, especially thick over the Continental Divide. I
was beginning to wonder if it was going to be a rain day; those clouds
don’t usually build till mid afternoon. The Monarch Crest Trail is not
the place to be in thunderstorms.
I made it to Poncha Springs right on time, Osmundo showed up and we
were both totally pumped up. We did the shuttle, left my truck at the
end of the ride, and drove to the top with his vehicle. To do the whole
ride in one day on a unicycle with be totally huge, and someday someone
might do it. Today was not the day for us to try that. We still would
have 30 miles of MUni to ride, most of that singletrack. This would be
the first time that any unicyclist would try and or complete this world
class trail. We were hoping to start by 9:00 a.m., and at 8:00 a.m. we
pushed off of Monarch Pass summit. This was really good; we would get
off of the highly exposed terrain by normal thunderstorm time, and we
would be alone for a while on the trail. This was another reason why we
did this ride during the week.
The Monarch Crest Trail is one of the finest mountain bike rides in
the Country, some have rated it top 5. Riding the Crest Trail is a
serious backcountry undertaking. You need to be prepared for high
elevation and fast moving storms. You have to bring tools, spare tube,
food, and even sunscreen. If something goes wrong, you might be out for
the night.
The weather was turning out to be absolutely perfect, a
classic Colorado day. The earlier threatening cumulus clouds that I ran
into on top of Independence Pass had burned off, and we were being
treated to that deep Colorado blue sky. The morning temperatures at
11,312 (3448 meters), was only 55F (13C), but a slight breeze made it
feel much cooler than that. We set off south, the primary direction of
the ride, signed in at the register box, and immediately began
climbing.
From what we knew of the ride, it was mostly a downhill ride with
intermittent climbs. This first climb was technical and steep, so we
both took our uni's on a little walk. The climb ended rather quickly,
and it was nice to be riding MUni again. Just 6 days prior, I rode 80
miles over 4 mountain passes on my 36er, it was EPIC for sure. As we
ascended higher and higher, it became very apparent that we were at
altitude, my breathing became more and more labored. The climbing did
not seem like it should be that difficult, but being close to 12,000’
(3658 meters) above sea level, there was good reason why it was.
The trail was singletrack, and sweet singletrack at that. Englemen
spruce and sub alpine Fir dotted the landscape. We soon found ourselves
above all the trees; this was unbelievable MUni at this point. The
tundra was sparkling with rainwater from the yesterday’s thunderstorm,
and the singletrack was tacky with the occasional mud puddle. Six miles
into the ride a fresh spring was found on the left side. We were two
hours into our ride at this point, not making great time, but we were
in no hurry. The riding was so Epic, that we did not want to hurry.
Both Osmundo and I refilled our camelbak’ s, there was no way were
going to pass up fresh Rocky Mountain spring water. It was incredible
how good it tasted and how it satisfied our thirst. I was stopping alot
to take pictures along the way; it was just to classic not to. There
were mountain ranges surrounding us in all directions, all with 14ers
towering above. Our elevation was between 11,600 and 12,000 (3,500
–3,600 meters) above sea level for hours. This section is called the
Crest Trail, and is a connector to the other single track found in this
mountain range. This is part of the Continental Divide Trail, which
traverses the complete state, north to south. We ran into a woman with
three Lamas’, really cool animals that thrive in this environment. This
section of the trail is under review right now as I write this, and has
a chance of being closed to bicyclist. It will be a total bummer if it
closes, it is vital to the whole system, and is so unique. There are
very few areas in the world that have this much single track riding at
or above treeline, let’s hope it stays open.
The Crest Trail section was totally epic in every way. It is
about 11 miles long with good climbs, screaming descents, and endless
awesome singletrack. The views are world class, sometimes you are
looking at mountain ranges 30 or 40 miles away, and other times, a
13,900’ peak is starting at you in the face. High mountain lakes, with
fresh springs fill the landscape, along with some sweet peaks and
beautiful tree’s. To the north is Tabeguache Peak, and Mount Shavano,
both 14ers, an awesome sight to see.
Hawks, eagles, and some unknown birds soar to heavens above you,
singing their songs as they catch the thermals. Brilliant flowers that
grow at high elevation are covering the tundra, I try hard to stay on
the narrow single track, as I would hate to accidentally damage this
fragile environment. I am in awe of this place; I have only found one
other ride in Colorado that is this special. That one I found in the
San Juans, south of Telluride. We are in the Sawatch Mountain Range,
and can see the San Juans to the Southwest.
The next section of the ride was one of my favorites. You descend down
to Marshall Pass, where the bailout options begin. You can take some
4wd roads down to Hwy 285, or continue on the Continental Divide Trail.
We wanted to do the whole 30-mile trail, so we continued on the CDT. It
was 3 miles until Silver Creek Trail, almost all climbing. But oh boy,
was it sweet singletrack climbing, smooth north facing shady
singletrack.
We met some bicyclist at the intersection with Silver Creek,
only the fourth and fifth people that we had seen in 4 ½ hours. Of
course they were blown away to see unicyclists this far into the ride.
To this point we had gone 15 miles (24 km), and climbed 4,000’ (1220
meters).
Silver Creek Trail is the connector trail from Marshall Pass to the
famous Rainbow Trail. The first few switchbacks were sketchy, but very
rideable. The GB4 29er was excellent in going smoothly over the rough
terrain. I had nailed the air pressure perfectly early on in the ride
and was so enjoying it. It’s all about air pressure in MUni and I had
it. The single track in this section was epic as well, sometimes riding
next to silver creek, and sometimes riding through loose scree fields.
At one point, coming off of Sheep Mountain to the right, was an
avalanche chute that crossed the valley and creek, and ran up the other
side hundreds of feet, the aspen trees were all facing uphill! By the
bottom of Silver Creek trail, we had gone 20 miles (32 km) and were out
for 6hrs.
What was left was the Rainbow Trail, another 9 miles of sweet
singletrack, which included close to 1500’ (457 meters) more climbing.
The legs were still feeling pretty darn good, so we went for it. We
could have bailed out and gone down a 7 mile 4 WD road. This single
track was just as much fun as the rest of the ride, lower elevation,
but great climbs and descents. There were multiple creek crossings, all
of which had an oasis at the crossing. There were many excellent views
of Mount Ouray 13,971 (4258 meters) as we curved in and out of the
mountainside. We had actually made a huge circumvent of Mount Ouray,
for about 24 miles of the ride. We were treated with every angle
possible of that spectacular mountain. As the weather started to turn,
thunder was heard, and raindrops were felt; we came to where you could
hear Hwy 285. The end of the ride was just as exciting as the
beginning, with steep switchbacks and big exposure. Osmundo and I had
completed the first unicycle attempt on the Monarch Crest Trail,
including Silver Creek and Rainbow Trails. It was a very long day, lots
of stops though for pictures, etc. I was able to ride probably 95% of
it, not sure how much Osmundo rode. He did awesome, as it was his
longest MUni ride ever. I highly recommend this ride, it is a classic,
and it is in jeopardy of being closed soon, so DO IT.
RIDE STATS
Aspenmike Uni – GB4 29er w/shimano 175 mm cranks no brakes THIS WAS
THE PERFECT MUni FOR THIS SINGLETRACK, WOW WHAT FUN J
Osmundo Uni - Surly 26 x 4.0 cranks?? No brakes
Distance - 31.32 miles (50 km) of MUni at least 90% of it single
track, of that approximately 15 miles (24 km) at or above treeline
Average riding speed - 5 mph (8 km/hr)
Climbing - 5,351’ (1631 meters)
Descending – 8,128’ (2477 meters)
Average riding elevation – over 10,500’ (3200 meters)
Average heart rate - 134 bpm
Highest point on trail - 11,958’ (3645 meters) above sea level
Rating of trail – 9.8 out of 10 A MUST RIDE
The 1st pic is towards the beginning of the Crest Trail
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