The early wakeup call had us packing our tent at half three in the morning. With the temperature well below zero we wrapped up warm and were headed up the mountain by twenty past four. Our hopes to be at the summit for sunrise were perhaps a little bold, as the 11 mile climb up the best part of 3,000 feet proved a tough challenge, made all the more difficult by the thinning air, but by twenty to seven we were proudly standing beneath the summit marker displaying 11,312 feet.
The freezing conditions couldn't dampen our spirits as we watched the sun creep over the highest peaks to the East. In anticipation of the 9 mile descent to Sargents we put on whatever remaining clothing we had and rolled over the hill, with Dan's cry of 'it's all downhill from here' echoing across the valley. The 30mph downhill ride turned us into rolling blocks of ice, and once in the Trading Post at Sargents we sat for four hours thawing out with coffee and Elk burgers. We were joined by Parker, a fellow biker we had met in Salida, and decided to stick together for the ride to Gunnison. It was not all downhill.
The best day so far by about 11,312 feet.
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