Day 15: The Rockies!

Kev Says:
Packed, fed and on the road by 6:15 we left the feed lot behind and crossed into Colorado in no time. The weather was cool and it made me and Willow both feel good. We had a little sprinkle of rain but just enough to clean the Kansas bugs off of my visor and make the road look contrasty and clean. Before to long, I noticed Trav pointing at something in front of us. It was the Rocky Mountains popping up in the blue hazy distance. We made it! I was so proud of little Willow. All the way from Nova Scotia to the Colorado Rockies! We continued thru the mountains for the rest of the day. As we got close to Monarch Pass (which has an elevation of 11,312ft) Willow started having a hard time. She sounded boggy and there was nothing I could do to get her rpm up over 3500. Her top speed in 5th gear governed out at about 75km per hour. We chugged along until we got over the pass and started heading downward. After a minute or two when the oxygen returned to the air she was back to her old self and we kept chugging. We found a great camping spot and 20 miles west of Gunnison. Had a fire, ate and slept. My sleep was still not amazing but it was the best so far. I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of hammock camping. (Pun absolutely intended)


Trav says:
After two long days of riding in Kansas, entering Colorado was quite the elation. At the beginning of this trip, both Colorado and Utah were high on my list of states to see, so I'm pretty excited to arrive! The rockies here are quite different than the Alberta rockies. Much more arid, and less dense. It's like if you took a chunk of the Canadian rockies, and then stretched it out a bit, you have larger plateaus and valleys, but still some large peaks spread throughout. I've read that the mountains are a bit more intense a bit further north from here (north west of Denver). Decent sleep in my hammock. It was a bit cold though, which I suppose to be expected in the mountains.