Mountain Biking the Monarch Crest: Twice is Nice

The Monarch Crest is the most renowned mountain bike ride in the Salida area and perhaps even all of Colorado.  Despite living in the area for over a year, I never rode the Monarch Crest.  There are several options for a Crest ride.  Majority of the rides involve a shuttle at the end.  Since nearly all of my mountain biking is solo, I never had a second vehicle for a shuttle nor did I want to pay for a shuttle.

This view sums up the Monarch Crest,
miles of alpine riding

I finally decided that I waited long enough to ride the Monarch Crest.  A recent ride took me to Marshall Pass and Starvation Creek, both descents from the Crest.  Then a few days later, I climbed Mt Ouray which stands above the Continental Divide over the Monarch Crest.  From Ouray's summit, much of the Monarch Crest route is visible.  Getting so close to the Crest motivated me to finally ride it.

The actual Monarch Crest is the section of the Continental Divide from Monarch Pass to Marshall Pass.  The Continental Divide Trail traverses this section and is the route for the ride.  From the Crest, there are a handful of descents to the valley.  The most popular descent is down the Silver Creek Trail and this descent after riding the Crest is an IMBA Epic Ride.

The turnoff to the start of the singletrack
not too far from Monarch Pass

On August 4th, I finally headed to Monarch Pass to ride the Monarch Crest.  I didn't have a shuttle for my ride however.  I was going to ride the Monarch Crest as an out and back ride.  I would start at Monarch Pass and continue to Marshall Pass.  Upon reaching Marshall Pass, I would turn around and head back.  The Monarch Crest is known for its high alpine singletrack with plenty of scenery and far reaching views.  Riding the trail out and back would allow me to spend twice as much time along the Crest riding the good stuff.

My ride started around 9AM from Monarch Pass at an elevation of 11,312'.  From the start, the route travels a short distance uphill on an access road before turning onto singletrack.  After a mile or so the singletrack turned onto a rough dirt road and began about a half mile of climbing on what is probably the steepest part of the entire Crest.  Although steep and rutted, the road is rideable.  I could see people having trouble if not acclimated to the high elevation on the this climb.

Early singletrack below treeline

Upon leaving the doubletrack, the real fun begins.  The next 9 miles of trail are on singletrack.  Much of the trail stays above treeline with short sections dropping into the trees.  Much of the trail has good flow, but there are some moderate technical sections with rock and roots along the way.  From Monarch Pass, the trail seemed to be climbing more often than not for more than 5 miles until the high elevation is reached just shy of 12,000 feet.  Other than the rough doubletrack, the climbing was never too steep though.  One thing that was constant is the far reaching views.

Just below treeline

Just the beginning of the alpine singletrack

Early morning clouds rising over the Continental Divide

Technical rocky section just ahead

More clouds rolling over Peel Point

Peel Point after the clouds pass

Smooth stretch of trail

The great trail continues

About 6 miles from Monarch Pass, the trail has a fairly steep descent into the forest.  Some heavy rain fell the night before and the trail was fairly muddy in this section.  The wooded stretch of trail doesn't last too long before popping out in sections of meadow.  Several stretches of rock including, a small scree field are mixed in the meadows.  After passing the scree field and the Agate Creek Trail junction, the trail enters the forest for the rest of the ride to Marshall Pass.

Last stretch of trail before it descends 

View to the south

At the top of the descent toward the Green's Creek junction

After a short distance in the trees
the trail gets back above treeline

Riding through a nice meadow

Still early enough the sun hasn't hit
the trail in this section

Crossing section of scree

Once in the forest, the trail begins a descent for the remainder of the route to Marshall Pass.  In the trees, the trail is more consistently rooty and rockier.  The last 1.5 miles to Marshall Pass the trail widens to a rough doubletrack.  This last 1.5 miles is fast as the descent steepens.  There are some washouts along with loose rocks on this stretch so make sure you don't get too fast.  After 11 miles, I arrived at Marshall Pass at 10,880' and the low point of the ride.

Back in the woods

Most people continue at this point by descending off the Crest at Marshall Pass or a short distance ahead at one of the other descent trails.  I turned around and headed back to Monarch Pass.  Even though I just rode this route, the return trip has a new feel and a different view in the reverse direction.  From Marshall Pass, I began by climbing for several miles.  Although there are plenty of ups and downs, the trail climbs more for the first 5 miles back.  By the time I return to the high point of the ride, just shy of 12,000', I had been riding for about 16 miles.  The last bit of climbing to the high point is moderately steep and I began to feel the elevation for the first time on the ride.

The trail is part of both the Continental Divide and
Colorado Trail for much of the route

Heading back toward Monarch Pass

It's the same trail but it's like
a new ride on the return trip

Flowers along the trail

One of the steeper climbs on the return

From the high point, there is minimal climbing left and plenty of downhill.  The last few miles feature stretches of relatively flat riding along the Continental Divide and finishes with a few fast downhills back to Monarch Pass.  I finished the 22 mile ride in less than 3 hours.

Back into smooth section of trail

More fine riding on the way back

The monsoon clouds building as I head toward Peel Point

The view ahead

A glimpse of the peaks beyond Monarch Pass

The clouds getting close to Mt Peck

Dropping briefly back into the trees

Now that I have ridden the Monarch Crest, I look forward to returning.  I hope to ride an extended version with a descent off the Crest next time, probably following Silver Creek and Rainbow Trails.  Riding as an out and back definitely had its advantages allowing me to ride nearly 20 miles of alpine singetrack with nearly endless views riding above treeline.

Another brief section among the trees

The trail continues up the slopes
 and skirts around the summit ahead

Here are some observations I have of the ride.   The Monarch Crest ride is often listed as having 6000' of descent.  This is true if you ride it as a shuttle ride and descend 6 miles of paved road from Poncha Pass back into Poncha Springs or Salida.  The actual ride on the Crest from Monarch to Marshall Pass is a solid cross country ride with plenty of climbing and descending.

Looking quite grey to the north

Along the Divide

Don't expect to have this ride to yourself.  The Monarch Crest is one of the most popular rides in Colorado.  I rode on  a Tuesday and I passed at least a half dozen groups of riders.  On my return in the opposite direction, I passed many of the same riders and many new riders that started after me.  There are other alpine rides in the area including the CDT near St Elmo and the Canyon Creek Loop that offer long stretches above treeline without the crowds.  The Colorado Trail and the CDT both follow the route, so be aware of other trail users, including dirt bikes and horses.

Looking across Mt Peck

Despite the ominous clouds, I stayed dry
and avoided any thunder or lightning

Like any adventure above treeline during monsoon season, be prepared.  Although I didn't hit any weather, there were threatening clouds toward the end of my ride and I was finished by noon.  This was on a day with only a 10% of storms.  It was also quite windy along the Divide which made it quite chilly.  I'm glad I went with my long sleeve jersey.  Respect the mountains at this elevation.

I definitely recommend riding the Monarch Crest if you are an experienced mountain biker.  There are few places that offer so much alpine mountain biking.  The ride is well known for a reason and well worth exploring.

Below are link from previous alpine mountain bike rides not too far from the Monarch Crest with less traffic.
Mountain Biking the CDT: St Elmo-Alpine Tunnel- Tincup Pass Loop
Canyon Creek Loop: Mountain Biking the High Country

Climbing Mt Ouray: Almost a 14er

Mt Ouray sits at the southern reaches of the Sawatch Range and is visible from many places in Salida and the Arkansas River Valley.   Ouray sits about 14 miles from Mt Shavano, the closest peak with a higher elevation.  Because of its isolation, Ouray dominates the southern Sawatch Range.  From Salida you can see Ouray's most impressive feature, a large cirque called the Devils Armchair.

Ouray has always been inviting but I never climbed it.  Last week I mountain biked up Marshall Pass.  The ride up the pass travels just below Ouray and offers great views of the mountain.  The views of the mountain during the ride put Ouray to the top of my "to hike" list.  I got in touch with my friend Drew Petersen, who climbed Ouray before to see he if was up for another climb.  That was Monday. On Wednesday, July 29th we set out for Mt Ouray.

Looking into the Devil's Armchair of
Mt Ouray from Marshall Pass Road

Mt Ouray doesn't have any formal trails to its summit.  There are a few herd paths that can be followed intermittently to the peak.  We chose to climb from the Marshall Pass trailhead.  Climbing from Marshall Pass appealed to me.  My last few hikes were all long mileage affairs traveling 15+ miles and climbing over 6000 vertical feet.  Ouray from Marshall Pass begins at over 10800' and gains a modest 3000 feet with less than 8 miles of travel roundtrip.  Still a solid outing, but a break from the more ambitious hikes I recently took.

From Marshall Pass, our hike began traveling north on the CDT.  We followed a doubletrack section of the CDT a short distance before reaching the remains of an old trail that heads uphill towards Ouray.  The old trail quickly fades to more of a herd path and travels through open woods with small cairns occasionally marking the way.  This herd path is relatively easy to follow, although it does fade at places.  Usually another section of herd path or a cairn comes into view to confirm the route.  Even if the path is lost, route finding is straightforward.  Heading directly uphill will bring you to treeline very quickly.

At treeline the route becomes less distinct.  Leaving the herd path from the woods, there are a few small cairns that can be easily missed.  Even without cairns, the route is pretty straightforward. Climb uphill and gain the ridge.  Once on the ridge, follow it uphill and you will reach the summit.

Looking toward Mt Aetna and Taylor just above treeline

Looking back down toward treeline

Alpine sunflowers

Grassy slope below Ouray's ridge

Once on the ridge, our route was easy to follow.  In the grassy sections along the ridge, there are stretches of herd path to occasionally confirm the route.  While grassier in the beginning, climbing the ridge is a solid class 2 affair traveling mostly over rock.  Sticking to the ridge proper can intensify the route to a class 2+ scramble, but for the most part, easy route finding allows you to bypass most of the trickier sections.  The sun was our biggest obstacle on our climb.  We were hiking relatively early and the sun was just barely over the ridge, at a bad angle for visibility.

On the ridge with the summit in the distance

Short stretch of grass before hitting the rock

Early morning sun peaking over the summit

Looking toward Chipeta

More wildflowers

Last stretch before the summit

We made it made it to the summit in just over 2 hours.  There are conflicting reports on the actual distance from Marshall Pass to the summit, but it is somewhere between 3 and 4 miles.  From the summit the views are far reaching.  Directly across the valley to the east stands the Sangre de Cristo Ranges and stretches far to the south to the Blanca group of 14ers.  Pikes Peak is visible far to the northeast.  It seems that the entire 80 mile length of the Sawatch Range is visible.  Closer to Ouray, 14ers Shavano and Tabguache are the dominant Sawatch peaks with high 13ers Aetna and Taylor next to them.  The Continental Divide sits just below Ouray and much of the divide is visible well beyond Monarch Pass to the north.  The higher summits of the eastern San Juans are visible to the west with Uncompahgre and San Luis Peaks easily identifiable.  To the south, 13er Antora Peak and its neighbors round off the southern end of the Sawatch Range.  Looking toward Salida, the town is visible some 7000 feet below with the "S" on S Mountain just barely visible.

North over Chipeta

South toward Antora Peak

The scenery right around the mountain is quite nice.  The most dominant feature is the huge cirque called the Devil's Armchair.  Two large ridges surround the large cirque with the summit making up the back of the cirque.  Climbing the peak is possible from the Devil's Armchair side of the mountain and will probably be a hike for another day.  Below the summit, to the north lies a large alpine meadow of the Little Cochepeta basin between Ouray and Chipeta Mtn.  Another large meadow is to south of the peak just above Marshall Pass.

Looking over the north arm of the Devil's Armchair

The south arm

For anyone interested, here is a quick lesson on the names of the mountains, Mt Ouray was named after Chief Ouray, a Ute chief.  Just to the north lies Chipeta Mtn.  Chipeta was Chief Ouray's second wife.  Just beyond Chipeta Mtn stands Pahlone Peak, named after the couple's son.

We spent about a half hour on the summit before our descent.  We made fairly quick time heading down the mountain.  We stuck closer to the ridge proper as we descended.  Staying on the crest of the ridge we descended a band of rock that may of been a short descent over class 3 rock.  The rougher descent can be easily bypassed however.  We made relatively quick time on our descent.

Looking back down the ridge before our descent

Looking back up the section of class 3

A little further down the ridge

A small bump along the ridge

View toward Marshall Pass with Antora in the distance

While descending, one thing of interest caught my eye.  Looking down into the Little Cochetopa basin I could see wildlife.  Except it wasn't wildlife, it was cattle.  It isn't uncommon to see livestock grazing on public land in the west.  This seemed like an odd area to see grazing cattle however.  The basin is quite lush and boggy.  It's also well above timberline in a fairly deep basin.  I don't think the cowboys rounding up these cattle would have an easy time bringing the cattle back to the valley given there location.  As we descended we watched the herd of at least 30 head moving around.  At one point, nearly the entire herd was lined up side by side drinking from a small pond in the basin.

Cattle grazing far below
(Click on the photo for a better view)

We left the ridge for good and headed down the grassy slope before reaching the trees.  We were a little off course initially to find the herd path.  We backtracked a little bit and found our route into the trees.  The trees are sparse enough that travel wouldn't have been too difficult to bushwack but we wanted to find the herd path for a quicker descent.  We made it back to the trailhead in less than 5 hours including our time on the summit.

Descending below the ridge

Small section of rock below the ridge

One last look to the north toward Aetna and Taylor
before entering the trees

Mt Ouray is a worthwhile summit to visit.  Because it stands just 29 feet below that magic 14,000 foot mark, it sees a fraction of the traffic as the 14ers just a few miles to the north in the Sawatch Range.  Drew who hiked Ouray a few times,  was surprised to see another group on the summit during a midweek hike.  There is no official trail to the summit and this may also keep more casual hikers from climbing it.  Even without trails, the route finding is straightforward. Ouray offers great views, few people, and a solid climb without an epic effort and I recommend visiting this relatively quiet summit.

Tomcat on the descent