Saturday, or 25 miles above 10,000 feet.

Saturday morning brought waffles and eggs, then a cookie and latte at Steaming Bean.  Decided that Molas to Coal Bank Pass via Engineer Mtn trail was the route.  That selection did mean a trip up the road, a 7 mile trip as it turns out.  Oh, and did I mention that the low point on the road was 10,000 feet?  Made it to Coal Bank Pass parking around about noon.  Started the unload and suit up process.

We coasted down the road, boy was that fun – although some in the group thought the edge of the road fell off a little too quick.  Made it to West Lime Creek, the low point and shed some layers.  It was cool but sunny and the climb would start soon.

We headed up, gradual, smooth, just a granny gear to keep the breathing easy.  No need to go lactate threshold yet, that would come soon enough.

Made it to Molas, just taking in the views and refueling with some vanilla Hammer Gel.  Crossed the road and headed up the trail.  Just an easy spin, past mushrooms and pine trees to the upper parking area near Little Molas Lake.  Take a breather, and continue on.  Finally, we break tree line, and take an obligatory photo near the CT sign.  Such views, simply amazing and we really haven’ seen anything yet.

Head off toward Twin Sisters, stopped to eat lunch at about 11,500’.  Tried to catch Eric with the peaks just to set up some scale to the magnitude of the rock.  Really, in the grand scheme of things, we’re pretty small.

Sunflower seed butter and strawberry jelly sandwich sure tastes good at this elevation.

We made our way around the basin, and looked back to where we began.  We’ve come quite a ways, and a little fatigue is setting in.

We reach the end of the CT section for us, where we start on the Engineer Mtn Trail.  Pretty spent at this time, but put down another Hammer Gel and assess the length of trail and the remaining sunlight.  Hmmm…it may be dark when we get to the truck.  Gotta keep moving.  So, after our breather, we mount up and ride (and hike) some more.  There is a double black diamond section on Engineer Mtn Trail, and yes, it is steep.  And loose.  With exposure.

Finally, Engineer Mountain is within view.  Of course, we’re in the golden light time of day.  In this case that means the end of the day, which also means it’s getting dark.  Sunglasses were shed awhile ago, and the trail is starting to loose it’s definition between smooth and rocky.  Not quite the situation that I want to riding while in this state of fatigue.  Makes for some great photos though.

We made it back to the truck at dark.  Total ride time including refueling stops was 8.5 hours.  Total miles, 25, all above 10,000 feet. Pretty good for a bunch of low landers.

Steamworks was again the destination for evening food.  This time however, the celebration called for an epic – the Cajun Crab Boil.  Shrimp, crab, crawfish, andouille sausage, corn on the cob, and potatoes, all boiled together with great spicyness.  Refueled from the trek, we headed back to the hotel and made a little more food, this time fried green chili quesadillas. 

Oh yum.  Then we slept the sleep of the just – to take a phrase from anthonys.  Wow, what a day.