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...
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