Tuesday, August 15, 2023
I camped at Lakeview Campground, at Twin Lakes, for five nights beginning Monday, August 14. It is a simple campground, certainly no frills, and I have stayed there several times before. Twin Lakes is about midway between the Colorado towns of Leadville and Buena Vista, about 22-24 miles from each.
I did two major exercise activities while here: bike ride up to Independence Pass (Tuesday) and hike up Mount Elbert (Thursday). The other days, oh they were just for having fun, hanging out, reading and writing at the campground or in Buena Vista. I even went to the library there. My first visit to Buena Vista was on a bike trip in 1986. I stopped there for a pizza while doing a 150+ mile day from Great Sand Dunes National Park to Fairplay, Colorado. In Fairplay, I stayed at a Church that took in cyclists. They had a bunkhouse with a kitchen and a shower. I bought a box of Macaroni Che&ese and a pint of Haagen Daaz ice cream at the little local grocery store, and I ate the whole thing, both of them.
Anyway, on Tuesday I filled up on calories and headed towards Independence Pass. Google Maps said it was 21 miles from the campground, and according to my Garmin, it ended up being 20.8 miles. The first four miles or so are downhill into the little Historic Town of Twin Lakes. There is a grocery store-gas station, a lodge, and a restaurant. There is a visitor center, too, ready to dispense information about the local history. And there is a VW Bus coffee shop that also sells Burritos! After those four miles of downhill, the rest of the way is uphill with an occasional flat section. The gradient of the climbs seldom surpasses 6%, so it turns out to be a relatively easy climb, as long as one has some patience and endurance. Overall, there was about 3,400” of climbing, with a significant part of that coming in the last 4.5 miles. There are no flat sections along that sector, as the road climbs to 12,095’. The only thing that made it somewhat hard is, once again, the thinner air at altitude, less oxygen available.
There were a lot of wildflowers along the roadside! They were just beautiful.
I do not know exactly what it is about cycling mountain passes, but it is very exciting, energizing, and inspiring. It just feels good! It took 2 ½ hours to get to the top. Once one swings into a rhythm, it is mesmerizing, kind of meditative. Steady pedaling, steady (labored) breathing. Always looking up at majestic scenery and wondering, realizing, yes, I am going to be riding higher than those mountains I see rising above me right now. Just give me some time. I imagine there is some philosophical component to that thought. For climbing mountain passes, or for accomplishing any difficult task in life, one can choose to be calmly patient, give it your best effort, give it time, try to be positive and enjoy what you are doing, even if, on the other hand, it seems somewhat painful. It’s not impossible with attitude.
It is a well surfaced road, bordered on both sides with a thick forest of pine trees. There was very little traffic. There were a couple of National Forest Campgrounds. There was a lodge about 7-8 miles from Twin Lakes, the Mount Elbert Lodge. That was the only commercial activity, after Twin Lakes, and there were only a few houses along the way.
Somewhere around mile 14, the pine forest thins out into a combination of a few pine trees along with what I’ll call short pine-bushes and grass with occasional streams crossing the sloping fields. Around mile 17-18 it became all short bush pines, wildflowers, and grasses. There were a lot of grasshoppers and butterflies!
At the top, I talked with a couple who had just finished a 6 mile out and back hike to a peak accessible from the parking lot on the pass. They were sitting on the tailgate of their pickup truck drinking a beer and smiling quite happily. We talked about the energy of the high country and the benefit of exerting oneself in a fulfilling way, how good it felt doing it.
It was a scream of a ride going back to the campground. The first 4 miles were mostly in the 35 mph range, with the exception of some of the tight switchbacks. I am sure I could have gone faster, but that was fast enough.
Yes, it is fun riding down after doing the work to get up there.
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