G.A.S.P.

Today (7-7) was a day of new heights for me. First, in the very literal sense, it was the high point of this entire journey. I traveled on a road through Rocky Mountain National Park that reached an elevation of 12,183 feet above sea level which is the highest elevation of any paved road in North America. Since I’m not planning to climb any mountains on dirt roads and don’t plan to leave North America, this is as high as I will go.

Second, I reached a new high in credibility as a touring bicyclist. I had felt that I had gained some respectability after I had lasted a month and reached Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Today, I gained credibility by riding over these mountains. There are lots of people who ride bicycles coast to coast each year, but I believe very few of them select this road as their passage through the Rockies. I saw a number of bicyclists in the Park, but none with "traveling gear" like mine. Most of those I saw were coming downhill, and I gathered that many of them had been dropped off somewhere near the top and were riding only downhill.

Third, I gained new confidence and self-respect. These last two days were looming ominously in my mind ever since I started detailed planning of this journey. On Tuesday morning I was in Loveland at 5000 feet elevation. By Wednesday afternoon, I was in the middle of Rocky Mountain National Park at an elevation of 12,183 feet – just a little uphill ride of over 7000 feet. The feeling of accomplishment was just incredible.

Following is somewhat of a blow by blow report that may be of some help to fellow touring cyclists. I would like to thank Park Ranger Joan who talked with me on the phone the afternoon before I rode Trail Ridge road, and gave me much helpful information on what to expect. The Park publishes a "Trail Ridge Road Guide" which is the basis of these comments:

I entered Rocky Mountain National Park at the Beaver Meadows Entrance at the east end of the Park at about 8:00. Joan had warned me that the road from the Visitor Center to the entrance was the steepest in the Park. Visually, I couldn’t believe it – it looked almost flat, but I was very, very tired after the mile and a half climb to the entrance. There the ranger told me the elevation was 8200 feet, and I knew it was only about 7800 at the Visitor Center, so I had come up a lot in a short distance. The first point on the Trail Ridge Guide is Deer Ridge Junction at 8940 feet. This is about 4 miles into the Park and was a pretty easy climb. I stopped a couple of times to take photos and once to talk with some other bicyclists, and arrived in "very good" shape about 9:00.

I left this point without thinking about lunch, but that oversight hit me only about a mile further up the road. I started feeling weak from hunger, and it wasn’t a very good spot for that as the edge of the road right next to me offered an unguarded drop of about 2000 feet. I went to the opposite side of the road, parked my bike against some rocks, and took my lunch (vienna sausages, bananas and granola bars) to a very scenic spot with an east and a north view. I sat on a large rock amidst some beautiful wildflowers at about 11,000 feet elevation. This will be one of my most memorable lunches ever.

The next point in the guide is Forest Canyon Overlook at 11,716 feet. This is another 3 or 4 miles into the Park and I arrived after much huffing and puffing at about 2:30. I was tired, but lunch had really helped. This stopping point provides a "dizzying panorama of Forest Canyon and its tributary canyons, Hayden Gorge and Gorge Lakes." It really was incredible.

The next point is Rock Cut at 12,110. It was only about a mile and a half from Forest Canyon, and I arrived, without stopping, at about 3:15. I was feeling pretty good now, thinking I only had another 73 feet to go. However, the road goes down after Rock Cut by maybe 300 feet, so you have to climb it again.

This next ascent ends at Lava Cliffs at 12, 080 and was pretty steep. Shortly thereafter, I reached the high point of 12,183 at about 3:45. I was greatly disappointed, however, that there was not a pull-out or even a marker noting the elevation. I had been planning all day to have someone take my photo next to the sign. So I took B.O.B.’s photo instead leaning up against one of the winter road edge markers (note the height). Despite my disappointment about the lack of a marker, I was really euphoric about having gotten there.

The rest of the trip was downhill past Medicine Bow Curve (11,640), Milner Pass (10,758), Farview Curve (10,120) and Never Summer Ranch (8884). Milner Pass is a point on the Continental Divide where a drop of water on one side will flow to the Cache la Poudre River and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mississippi River. A drop of water that lands just inches away will flow to the Beaver Creek, and eventually to the Pacific Ocean via the Colorado River.

Enough for that – let me talk about the National Park. It’s indescribably awesome. I have numerous photos, but no photo can capture the expanse and grandeur of this Park. You look at mountains towering above you (14,255 foot Longs Peak is the highest) with their glaciers, treelines and towering rocky summits. Then you begin to climb. You pass through alpine meadows, and ride alongside rushing streams. As you climb higher, the vegetation changes from aspens to pine trees to shrubs to tundra, with wildflowers present everywhere (yes, even at 12,000 feet). You now have vistas of grand valleys thousands of feet below you, still surrounded by peaks that soar a thousand or two feet above you. You get all this in one spectacular drive of about 25 miles from the east entrance (near Estes Park) to the Alpine Visitor Center just west of the high point on the road. You can then come back to Estes Park or continue west and south as I did another 23 miles (all downhill) to Grand Lake.