The breakfast was marginal (and not really a buffet), but it would work. We went back to the room, prepped the bikes, packed up and hit the road. The uphill started immediately. And the beautiful views started immediately too.
As we took off, Dave said that the next two hours would present a "small uphill section". It took me about two hours - he was faster. It is funny how time stands still during these sorts of rides.
Our first mountain pass was the Slumgullion Mountain Pass. According to Wikipedia, the pass tops at an elevation of 11,530 ft. The north side (the side we road up) has the steepest grade of any continuously paved road in Colorado (9%). And it felt like it! Though steep, it was scenic. There were lots of birds, deer and other critters all around.
More from Wikipedia: "Slumgullion Pass is named for the nearby Slumgullion Slide or Earthflow, a gigantic landslide whose yellowish soil reminded early settlers and miners of slumgullion stew. The Slumgullion Slide began about 700 years ago when weak volcanic tuff and breccia on the southern flank of Mesa Seco slumped several miles down the steep mountainside. Approximately 300 years ago, a second earthflow started from the top of the mountain and is still active, moving as much as twenty feet per year. Trees growing on the newer slide are tipped at odd angles."
We got to the top but couldn't enjoy it much because of the pesky biting flies. They were vicious! I saw Dave as I approached and he looked to be in some sort of bad-dancing fit as he swatted and smacked the beasts off him continuously. Any celebration or break would have to wait. The insects were brutal!
We descended a bit. Generally, a descent is the reward - but on this day, I was ambivalent since I knew we had another mountain pass to ride. Every foot down meant we'd have to regain that elevation on the Spring Creek Mountain Pass.
The Spring Creek Mountain Pass tops at 10,901 feet in elevation (according to Wikipedia - you can see on the sign the highway sign people feel differently). It was work, but nothing compared to the Slumgullion Pass. It really wasn't bad at all. Or was I numb?
We continued riding and the weather started looking a bit twitchy. We could see it was raining nearby. Plus, booming thunder started coming from behind us. It was a race to town to beat the rain. Though we got sprinkled on a bit, for the most part we avoided the rain.
We arrived in Creede. Creede is most recently known as a silver mining boom town. The small seven-block downtown section of Creede abuts the Pillars of Hercules - volcanic cliffs that rise about 1,000 feet. They are quite a beautiful backdrop. People in my family will like to know that Kit Carson (a relative) spent time here.
We rode to our room at the Snowshoe Motel. The woman at the desk - Donna - was so lovely! She knew exactly who we were and got us our room immediately. She even called minutes later to make sure we had everything we needed. We napped, showered, then walked through town. We headed up the road to the Pillars of Hercules and walked in the some of the mines (now the community center).
An odd thing about Creede is that at about 5 o'clock, the place was a ghost town. When we arrived, it was busy - people everywhere. Then POOF! Everyone was gone. We surmised that that they went to the RV city (way larger than the town itself) on the edge of Creede.
We stopped for a drink at the Old Miner's Inn and the bartended told us that Creede has a population of 400, but during some times (4th of July) it swells to 15,000 people. Again, the place is loaded with Texans.
While at the Old Miner's Inn, it rained hard. Happily we watched it from inside. It would have sucked to be riding in that. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and slept. We had another big day in store for tomorrow. We both felt it would be really hot and we'd baked like pieces of beef jerky on bikes.
A cartoon illustrating a portion of the day. Enjoy!
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