Monarch Crest ride with Geoff and Pete, Monarch Pass, Colorado, August 30
Geoff and Pete and I rode the Monarch Crest and Starvation Creek trails today. THis is an amazing ride, it starts out at the 11,000' Monarch Pass, climbs up to the Continental Divide, then travels 10 miles south along the divide where it meets up with the Starvation Creek trail which drops over 4,000' down to Poncha Springs. We did the ride as a shuttle leaving a car at Poncha Springs. What a fantastic day! It was 90 degrees in Denver, it was in the upper 50's low 60's and sunny until late in the day. We started at 9:30 and finished up at 3:00 in the afternoon, it is around 25 miles. The trailhead is 3 hours from Denver, so we camped the night before near Poncha Springs.
The weekend didn't start out so great, a semi had turned over along CO-285, a two lane highway thru the mtns to Poncha Springs, the highway was closed for over two hours.
With the traffic stopped, everyone got out of their cars and chatted.
This is the parking lot at the pass where the trail starts - 11,000'
Pete (foreground) and Geoff on the 2 track, just before the single track starts.
Me (Derrick) in the foreground, and Geoff.
Me, with the road to Monarch Pass in the background.
Geoff & bike along Continental Divide Trail.
Geoff on the Continental Divide Trail (Monarch Crest) looking south.
Amazing views from the trail - looking back north towards Mt. Shavano.
Much of the trail is smooth like this, but there were rocky sections too.
Pete at the high point on the trail looking south.
Looking back north along the trail.
Just below tree line.
Pete and Geoff crossing a talus field along the trail.
Looking south from the Starvation Creek Trail Head
Geoff (left) and Pete at Starvation Creek Trail head, we stopped for lunch there.
The upper part of Starvation Creek trail, it is real single track, less than a foot wide in places.
Starvation Creek crosses several talus fields at the bottom of the valley along the creek.
Lower down the trail passes thru woods and runs along the creek.
Pete at one of the stream crossings.
Several stretches of the trail traverses fairly steep slopes, it is tricky in places.
Pete.
We had a little drama during the ride - the free wheel on Pete's bike mostly seized up half way thru the ride. lly seized, but when we coasted the dragging freewheel pushed slack chain towards the crank. We borrowed a quick link from a passing rider and shortened the chain to rig it as a single speed by-passing the derailleur. This eliminated the slack in the system - Pete rode the rest of the day in this gear.
Geoff and Pete at the bottom of Starvation Creek, it was all road from here down to Poncha Springs.