On June 10, 2006, I had sufficiently healed from the Attack of the Humans, and it had also stopped raining. I decided, as days to go go, it wasn't going to get much better than this! So I left.

Click any picture for the full-on 1280 x 960 size.

15 miles north of the valley road, the mountain range began. The road I was on entered a deep notch in the range, a flat area that extended in between mountains.
After passing over a hill so as to avoid going right through someone's farm, I found that I was following alongside a creek. I checked my map, and it turns out the creek is called East Salt Creek, if I remember correctly.
Hey there's my bike! It's heavily loaded and the triangular thingy is a solar battery charger for my cell phone. Pretty neat huh?
Lots of pale green sage brush...That IS sage brush right? Well whatever is is, there's a whole lot of it up here.
They don't call these the Rocky Mountains for nothing.
Dry creek beds intersect the valley I am climbing.
Soon I find my route is taking me up one of these dry creek valleys.
The mountains are getting higher, and the road gets steeper!
Looking backward the way I came.
I'm getting higher and higher up!
This was a real killer to climb.
Yup. I just biked all the way up this road. *whew*
Almost there! The actual pass is right around the corner!
Dun dun dun!
Someone offered to take a picture of me with my bike at the summit!
Here I am being inflated by the updraft...
It's sure a long way down...
8240 feet! Probably the highest I've ever biked. I'm from low altitude you see.
And then I fell down the mountain and broke my clavicle. The end.

Colorado National Monument
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