A few miles past Molas Pass

We made it up the big climb today in about 5 hours. First, we got out out the door around 8:30, stopped by a store to pick up snacks, and got going up the pass around 9. About an hour in, my body was ready for some stretching, and Brian was ready for his morning BM. There is a lot of private property out on the road that borders the public lands. As soon as we left private property and got on public land, it was time to find a spot to stretch and poop. We found a suitable little pull-off, I did some stretching, and Brian did some back-country fertilizing. Satisfied with our break, we took off, and not 10 yards down the road was a public bathroom. Damn.

The climb started off fairly gradual, but once we reached American Basin, the road took a steep pitch upwards that required a little bit of hiking. We topped out at 12,640 feet at about 2 pm. The descent was windy and rocky, and on the way down we passed through a ghost town called Animas Forks. Apparently it was an old mining town where they built the largest, most expensive mill in Colorado. It lasted something like seven years. They had a lot of foresight back in the day.

Upon arrival in Silverton, we had a late lunch at the Silverton Brewery. After lunch, we looked around town for a spare bike tube. We stopped at the local outdoors store, where we were directed to go to Ron's house around the corner. It was just described as the brown A-frame house. The visit to Ron's house was ... interesting. Ron is an older guy, looked like he could have been about 80, though I wouldn't have been surprised if he were just a really grizzled 70. He had a plethora of bike parts in a trailer behind his house. Opening the door to the trailer, we could see piles and piles of deraileurs, cassettes, and chains for all sorts of bikes. First we looked through a pile of used bike tubes outside, then he pulled another pile from inside the trail. No luck. He also didn't have any new bike tubes that fit our bikes. We thanked him for his time and rode off, kind of confused by our Ron experience.

On our way out of town, we restocked on food one last time, and headed up the pass. Tomorrow we will be facing the decision of whether or not we can finish the full Colorado Trail, or if we will have to take a faster route into Durango.

Matt ponders how much climbing is left

Isaac at the top of Cinnamon Pass

Descending down to the ghost town

Sunset from Molas Pass

Location: A few miles past Molas Pass
Distance Covered: about 450 miles
Elevation: 11,100 feet

[Post ride note - this was another good picture day, check out pictures 102 to 128 in the gallery for the day's photos]