Monarch Crest Trail

This is such an amazing ride. We had done it twice before, once on our single mountain bikes, and once on the yellow tandem that is now living at Grandma and Grandpa’s house; today we rode it on our big red tandem.


The trail STARTS at about 11,000 feet, at the top of Monarch Pass. We had to plan our start time carefully – too early of a start and it would be freezing (or below) at the beginning of the ride, but too late of a start and we’d still be above timberline in the afternoon when thunderstorms start rolling in. We decided to start at 9, which seemed to be a popular decision, as there were several other groups of riders gearing up in the parking lot when we got there. We quickly unloaded our tandem, put on our jackets, gloves, helmets, and shoes, and waved good-bye to Bobbie and Cailan.

It was cold when we started riding. Neither of us were wearing full-finger gloves, so Chris and I both had cold hands. The sky, however, was completely cloud-free and the sunshine warmed us some. So did the climb – from the start, it is a gradual but continuous climb for about 6 miles, with a few steep pulls that left me gasping, until it tops out at about 12,000 feet.


This first 6 miles is spectacular – the trail crosses through meadows of tiny alpine plants, there are peaks and valleys arrayed in every direction, and at this time of year, the aspen stands on the mountains around us were bursts of gold and orange. The trail itself isn’t that hard – it’s narrow but has just a few rocky sections, and most of the time it’s easy to see what’s coming up. There are places where it’s unnerving, as the trail clings to the side of a steep ridge, with the downhill side dropping away for what seems like miles.


After the first long climb, we had a couple miles of rolling trail, settling down below treeline and into the forest. In this section, we crossed a big talus field and heard pikas. We didn’t stop for long to watch them, but I did see a couple scurrying about on the rocks. Then comes the first big descent – the first bit on a rocky trail that I found jarring but Chris found to be great fun. Then the trail widens into a dirt road that is less rocky but has many dips and rises where ditches have been cut across the road to direct water off it. We took these pretty fast, and on some of the rises I could feel the back wheel of the bike jumping off the ground; that’s not a sensation I get very often on the back of the tandem!! This section is nicknamed “Collarbone Alley” but Chris navigated all the bumps quite nicely and we didn’t go over the handlebars.

We met up with Marshall Pass road, a moderately-travelled gravel road. We joined this road for a very short distance before turning off on the trail again. This section of trail is common to both the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. At this point, we had definitely left the alpine environment and were riding through a thick evergreen forest. We also started climbing again, gradually at first but getting steeper. I remember this part of the trail, about 13 miles in, from the other times we’ve ridden it, and this climb is always one of the hardest parts for me. I think it must be when my breakfast has worn off and I haven’t yet had enough trail snacks to sustain me. We finally finished the climb, had a quick scoot downhill, and stopped at the intersection where we turn off on Silver Creek trail. We stopped here to eat and rest a bit, and to put our jackets back on for the fast descent. Clouds were gathering all around, threatening us but not actually getting us wet. Yet.


The trail descends very steeply here. First it was a smooth, but somewhat loose, dirt trail through a meadow. There were several switchbacks here, and we managed to guide the long bike through all of them. The next mile or so was very rocky, and we ran into a bit of a problem… We were flying along quite fast, bumping over lots of rocks and taking advantage of our dual suspension, and Chris said “Maybe I should be a little more careful.” Just at that moment, the rear wheel slammed a big rock and pinched a hole in the innertube. I could hear the air hissing out and the near-empty tire flapping around as we slowed to a stop. We had an extra tube so Chris had that installed in short order, but our pump was acting up and didn’t want to make a good seal around the valve, so it took a bit to get the new tube inflated. We talked to several other bikers as they passed, so it wasn’t an unpleasant stop. We got back on the bike and rode on for maybe another mile, now going more slowly though the rockiest section was behind us. Then there was a “Whomp!” and I felt the rear wheel bounce to the left and once again the tell-tale hissing of a pinch flat. We didn’t have another spare tube, so we started fishing around for patches. We unearthed 2 patch kits, both of them empty! Fortunately, this is a popular trail, and in a few minutes a young man who was better prepared than us gave us a tube.


Once again, it was a pleasant stop, in a valley with a stream just below us and vibrant yellow aspen shimmering all around us. The two flats in rapid succession also gave me a nice chance to rest up for the remainder of the trail. We had a tricky section where the entire trail surface was covered with steep gravel, then a creek crossing on a very narrow (just one board) bridge that freaked me out, and then we rode pretty much in the stream bed till we came to a junction with a road. We had to make a choice here – take the dirt road and a relatively easy coast to the end of the ride, or take the Rainbow Trail, a singletrack that would add a couple miles and several hundred feet of climbing. Was there really any choice?

The Rainbow Trail is really very fun. Sometime I would like to ride it “fresh” and not start it after 20 miles of intense riding. It winds along the side of a ridge in a dry-ish pine forest (some Ponderosas, I think). It starts out very rocky but after that is mostly smooth. The challenge is that it crosses maybe ten drainages coming down from the top of the ridge. At each of these drainages, the trail drops to a creek-crossing with a hairpin turn at the bottom and a steep climb up on the other side. Sometimes these climbs are short and fairly easy; a few are quite long. There was really only one where we had to stop and push to get up the climb. There was another where the back end of the bike didn’t quite make the turn coming out of the creek and we got discombobulated. Overall, I was pleased with how well we were able to ride this part. We passed several people and only got overtaken by a couple.


The trail goes on for 9 miles of this, sometimes topping out at the top of the ridge to give a great view of the mountain we’d descended from, the dirt road we could have taken way down below us. At about the 8th mile I started listening very closely for the highway that would signal the trail’s end. But we had one last, exhausting climb before it, and then an insane descent on crazy switchbacks to get down to the road. We turned on to the highway and zoomed for five fast miles to the town of Poncha Springs, where we found Bobbie and Cailan and several of his animals playing in the sandbox.

Thanks so much, Bobbie, for shuttling us and for playing with Cailan!! We were so happy to ride this trail together again.