On Monday I woke up, went back to sleep for an hour or two, then got up and rode my bike up Independence Pass. I left around 9:30 in the morning from downtown Aspen at 7,945 ft. and arrived atop 12,095 ft. Independence Pass after 2 hours 51 minutes on my bicycle. Thunderstorms were threatening the entire time. I only got a little hail on the way down for 30 seconds or so, and someone even pulled over and asked if I wanted to get in their car.
I saw a group of three bikers on the way up about 3 miles from the summit and they cheered me on. This encouraged my motivation. 1 mile from the top of the pass I was passed by a woman on a sweet bike then a dude with a tie-dyed t-shirt. Made it to the top of the pass, had some people take some obligatory summit photos because last time I was up there I had a full backpack strapped to my bike's rear rack by bungee cords and old belts, which made accessing the camera quite difficult. I briefly chatted with a few people who were impressed with my ride. A beautiful day to ride to the top of the pass.
Ride highlights included construction, one-lane roads, high humidity, and sweating. Adding things together, it was an amazing ride. The stone they'd dumped over the road was super loose on the way down, but I bet this will be much better in a few days.
On the way down I did two hikes. First I stopped only a couple of miles from the Summit, back toward Aspen, and parked my bike and ate a sandwich. Next I climbed the .6 mile long Linkins Lake Trail. The trail starts at about 11,500 feet and goes to right about 12,000 feet in .6 miles. The tread was quite good except a bit of mud at the end. Found the trail quite easy. Beautiful alpine lake. This is the kind of country though, where the logic "a pond is smaller than a lake" is disproven. A valient effort though, with huge beautiful mountains all around you. A great hike that's short enough for anyone to enjoy. Highly recommended to experience life above treeline.
The second hike of the day was the Braille/Discovery Day Use Area. This trail is so sweet. There's a rope guiding the whole way that has a knot tied in it to tell you a sign is very near. The signs have you kneeling down to touch and identify trees and plants. The signs remind you to experience the plushness of the earth. I absolutely loved this experience. One part you could even reach your hand into a cold stream. I rarely take the time to enjoy places like these, with .1 mile trails, but I'm going to start giving them a second chance. I think kids would enjoy this is as well.
Next I rode home and was pretty exhausted from the effort. An awesome day exploring the area between Aspen and Independence Pass. There's still so much more to explore.
xoxo,
Blake
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