FARGO RIDE - THE MOUNTAINS: PART II

As I was climbing up towards Tin Cup Pass from St. Elmo the colors and mountains became more and more spectacular. I kept wanting to stop and take pictures, but I also knew I had a long ways to go.

After a few hours of climbing I reached the top of Tin Cup Pass at 12,154 ft. Not bad considering I started the day at under 8,000 ft. Overall it was a good climb and I only had to walk a couple of short sections due to the steepness and looseness of the road. Even with my full load I was still able to out-climb a jeep! The weather was perfect. The top of the pass was like a wasteland.

It was a good thing I climbed Tin Cup from the south, because the north side was much more treacherous. I had to walk down more than I had to walk up just to make sure I didn't toss myself into some sharp rocks. It was very loose and rocky from all of the Jeep and four-wheeler traffic. This picture was by no means the worst of it.

After descending for about an hour I hit the town of Tin Cup. It was a really neat little town, but that flag represented the headwind I was about to push. The easy descent down from Tin Cup turned out to be a lot of work.

Rush-hour traffic between Tin Cup and Taylor Park Reservoir. Mooooove!

Almost to Crested Butte. Just 15 more miles uphill into a headwind to get some dinner!

More to come...

Comments

THE MICKELSON TRAIL: DAY 1

After work we drove up to the Black Hills just outside of Edgemont to find a quick camp spot so we could start the Mickelson Trail bright and early. The plan: ride, and see new things. Camp the first night under a nearly full Super Moon. The start of the Mickelson. Fully loaded and ready to roll. The trail quickly separates from any roads and leads into the Black Hills. As we neared Custer there was more and more exposed granite. The November sun was casting long shadows. Taking it all in. We had planned to camp out each night, but the weather was a solid 10 degrees colder than we had planned. So after riding to the top of the climb to the north of Hill City we made the wise decision to turn around and head back into town and get a hotel room.

CALIFORNIA - BLACK AND WHITE

Our trip to California was pretty quick, but we crammed a lot into those few days. While in San Francisco I snagged a couple of candid shots of people going about their daily business while eating at a delightful hole-in-the-wall cafe on Ocean Ave. The staff was very friendly. I think I will enjoy street photography, but I can see it taking a lot of practice. It takes good timing and awareness to capture something interesting, while also being discrete. Black and white seems like a good way to go. We made an obligatory drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. The fog and clouds were constantly changing how much of the bridge we could see, which set an interesting mood. This was a different bridge. The bridges there are quite spectacular! I could have spent some time photographing them, but mostly had to settle for snapping pics out of a moving car while Carol drove. The San Fran skyline from a bridg...

GREAT RIDE

I had a great ride this evening. It was one of those rides where I was feeling no pain and it just felt good to go super hard ... and then go harder. I haven't had a ride like this in at least a month and it felt great! I was able to snap a couple of pics along the way with the sun setting behind the Flat Irons.

RIDE LONG AND SMILE

Search This Blog