Arrive in Gunnison on Saturday, August the 6th. Setup the tent borrowed from Animal on the familiar grassy field on the Western State College. Ogle Kirstie.
Day 1: Gunnison to Lake City. 57 miles. 3,671 ft.
5am. Zippers unziiip... Uh. Can't sleep anyway. Can't eat breakfast either. It's cold. Go fast to warm up. At the mouth of the Gunnison Reservoir we turn off towards Lake City. A long (9 miles) but mild hill comes up. Weather is gorgeous. Kirstie is too. Lake City is nice and funky. I spent 5 hours in a little hip coffee shop. Coffeeheads. Great cofee and good tunes.
Day 2: Lake City to South Fork. 73 miles. 3,819 ft.
Fear of the Slumgullion Pass wakes everyone one up. The fear is justified. 8 miles; over 3,000 feet to climb. And the road does not let up at all. Nasty. Kirstie dances up and mutters to her partner "it's brutal.. I love it!". Then a fast and cold descent towards Creede and further through a georgeous valley and the Wagon Wheel Gap. Setup the tent on a rocky baseball field in South Fork. Watch it get saturated from a violent hail storm. Eat dinner with some Vail creatures.
Day 3: South Fork to Durango. 110 miles. 5,371 ft.
No joke. Gotta get up really early. It's warm and cloudy at 5am. Bad sign. Narrow, winding and georgeous (no sign of Kirstie alas) road up the Wolf Creek Pass. Mad truckers show how close they can pass. I'm bloody impressed. The climb is ok. I guess after the Slumgullion everything is ok. The descent is fast and cold again. A deer jumps in front of the guy going about 40+ mph. Nothing happens. He didn't have time to react. Luckily.
The rest is just up and down, and food, and Kirstie of course. 70 miles of it. Bob picks me up and whisks to the luxury of their new home.
Day 4: Day off.
Eating, drinking, good mexican food, lousy margs. Programming a new satellite hookup. 500 channels of crap.
Next day I learn that some eager beavers did the optional ride to Mesa Verde. 100 miles and 7,000 ft of climbing. I don't know about Kirstie.. but she probably did that too.
Day 5: Durango to Ouray. 72 miles. 7,390 ft.
Rested, hydrated and feeling strong I start at 6:30. I know what is going to await us during the first 10+ miles. A strong headwind caused by the morning downdraft from mountain valleys. And it blows hard. I frantically look for some good group to work with. I find a couple. We ride together until the first tedious climb. He jumps; I stay with her. From Purgatory to the top of Coal Bank it is a lonely climb. This is my third time, but it still hurts. Eat, drink and drop down 1000 feet, only to climb it back to Molas Divide. A bit of food and a crazy descent to Silverton. I miscalculate. No food in Silverton. Uh.. not good. It's thundering and getting colder. The climb up the Red Mountain Pass is harder then it should be. I get to the top and threaten a guy to kill him if he does not move fast enough in a burritto line. Not really.. well, almost... It's drizzling now. The descent down the Million Dollar Highway is going to be something. And it is. Kirstie is surprisingly cautious on the hairpin turns. I pass her. But on a long flat, half way down the canyon she passes me. Impressive. Then I pass her again on the curves in the lower part of the canyon. The ride is georgeous (did I mention that already?) but requires a real concentration because of the wet road. Finally Ouray. I setup the tent as fast as possible. No soaking in the hot springs. Thunder alert. So Bill and I go for a beer (or two..). Everyone looks a bit tired. Probably equally physically and emotionally. Tomorrow another rest day. I look forward to a long sleep.
Day 6: (Ouray to Gunnison. 103 miles. 4,880 ft.)
I stagger out of my tent at 7:30. I want to grab some leftover breakfast scraps. And I hear that a van will be going to Gunnison and it can take a few bags there. Immediate decision. No boring rest day. The final stretch I will do alone (no Kirstie). I pack frantically and I leave at 9. A bit late but the mountain weather should stay in the mountains. And it does. The whole ride is fairly calm. A quick descent to Ridgway and then to Montrose. Taco Bell has only the drive-in window open. They are not even surprised. Slow out of Montrose. Cerro Summit awaits. It's getting hot but it seems that riding alone is easier. Down to Cimmaron. Two quarts of Gator piss. Up the Blue Mesa. Goes well. I clear the final ridge and I see a biker far in front. I glide silently behind him and he almost falls over when I say "sooo... you had the same idea, eh?". Turns out to be a cool dude from Illinois. We ride to Sapinero and eat, drink and chat with the owners. Only 20 miles left. And then it's over.
Pick up the car. Pick up the bag. Pizza with Greg in Mario's Pizza and a very long and tiring drive home.
Next year the PtP is in Western Montana. Woodie, you can start planning your hiking...
jsw ps: I'm not sure her name is really kirstie. I never spoke to her to confirm it.