Monday, July 7 - Day 11: It's All Down Hill From Hill (Literally!)

This morning I left the Black Canyon area near Gunnison and crossed the Continental Divide on Cottonwood Pass at 12,126 feet.  The road going up the pass was not paved but the surface was very packed so driving on it was pretty good.  It wasn't much rougher than many of the roads in Minnesota!  The views from the top of the pass were pretty amazing.  On the way down, I saw 2 bucks in velvet.  I got a photo of one of them.  I would have got a better photo but someone drove through and scared him just before I took the first photo.

The final highlight of the Rockies was going up Pike Peak which has it's summit at 14,110 ft.  While the road is busy, it does provide some amazing views.  I could definitely feel the affects of the altitude when walking around the summit.

On the way down, there is a mandatory brake check where they have someone with a temperature gun reading the temperature of brakes on the vehicles.   If they are too hot, the people need to pull over and let them cool down before proceeding down the remainder of the mountain.  At least 5 cars in front of me had to pull over.  He didn't even have to check mine; he just reminded me to keep the speeds down.

As I said in the title, it is now all down hill.  After leaving Pikes Peak, I started east across Colorado heading towards Manhattan Kansas to visit my oldest daughter Trisha.  I made it as for as Cheyenne Wells in eastern Colorado.  The temperature quickly increased as I headed across the plains; it reached 100 degrees for some time.  As I continued on, I got near a rain storm that dropped the temperatures to the mid 80s which felt much better but it also brought very strong crosswinds.  As I was approaching Cheyenne Wells, there was a strong gust of wind blowing dirt across the road and seriously decreased visibility.  A little rain plus blowing dust equals really dirty bike!  

I decided to try and get a motel room in town as there are not a lot of options out here.  When I went into the lobby, I found out they only had 1 room left and it was a smoking room.  Since there wasn't any other options I took it.  The person at the hotel said this room had been reserved but the person just cancelled.  It is wheat harvest time in the area so that is why rooms are in high demand.  Never planned on that!

I should make it to Manhattan early tomorrow afternoon and spend the remainder of the day with Trisha, husband John (depending on when he gets home from work) and my favorite Grand Puppies (Einstein and Ros) - photos tomorrow!

Here is the route I took today.