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I started my ride at the Buena Vista traffic light and headed west. Before entering the narrow canyon that leads to Cottonwood Pass, I snapped this shot of Mt. Princeton. |
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Now I did not take many photos from the Cottonwood Hot Springs to just past the Cottonwood Pass Road gate (which is now open for the summer, by the way), but I did snap this shot of the only other rider who reached the summit this morning. He must have been in his upper 50's or early 60's and he was a great encouragement to me! :) |
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Heading up along the switchbacks on Cottonwood Pass road.
Here are my previous rides and pictorials in the area:
Cottonwood Pass (September 2004)
Cottonwood Pass (October 2005)
Just Past Cottonwood Pass Road Gate (April 2006)
Lower Canyon (April 2006)
Scenic 5-Mile Stretch (May 2006)
My Web Site: CottonwoodPass.net |
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Man oh man, look at all that snow. My buddy Jason and I faced some of this kind of terrain below timberline during our hike of Mt. Yale. |
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Only one mile to go, I reached a clearing with a view of the summit! Just look at all the snow! This is Colorado folks! ;) |
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After the last major switchback, it's only last hill to the summit. It took me three hours to go 19.6 miles of some very significant uphill,
but it was so worth, for the ride down was glorious as I whizzed downhill at about 30 to 35 miles per hour for much of the way. |
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I did it!
The Cottonwood Pass summit!
Here are some of my other biking adventures:
Monarch Pass
South Fork To Creede
Around Telluride
Buena Vista To Granite
Salida, Poncha Springs, Buena Vista
Across Colorado (2003) |
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Massive piles of snow like this were common! |
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Sigh! Just beautiful. |
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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! |
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Oooooh! Look at that cornice of snow! ;) |
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Here is one shot looking west on the Gunnison County side. At the Cottonwood Pass summit, the road heading down towards Taylor Lake and Crested Butte is a dirt road. |
