Colorado National Monument Revisited

Sunday, April 23, 2023

I am back from my ride. It was fantastic. It was magical. There is magic in life. Celebrate it. The ride today was so scenic, so beautiful. It was a part of the Exhilaration Framework: plan, execute, and review.

There is a combination of body, mind, emotion, and spirit when out doing something in Nature. For me, whether it be cycling, hiking, or, as the case may be here at Colorado national Monument, sitting on the edge of a cliff looking over a canyon landscape, the connection between myself and nature initiates a series of potentials, of possibilities and opportunities. It is a sense of being that I would characterize as a wonder-filled, energized state. It is inspiring and thought provoking, it feels creative, it feels enthusiastically peaceful.

I warmed up with three miles along the rim, because otherwise I’d be going downhill for the first four miles, and I just did not want to do that. I stopped a few times going down to take photos. I rode this climb uphill two days ago, on Friday, and it was great. Now going downhill, I see it all from a different perspective. I want to just let go, no brakes, and fly like a bird down the road. But I also want some photos because the ride is magnificent, extraordinary, and photo opportunities are abundant.

The ride from the west entrance to the east entrance had some minor hills but, for all practical purposes, you could say it was a flat ten miles. Next I get back on Rim Road. It meanders 23 miles between the two park entrances. At each entrance, it starts to climb. On the East side, the climb is about 3.7 miles long and it rises from around 4,900’ to 6,200’. There is an awe-inspiring landscape all the way, with each turn of the road gaining elevation and revealing unique, wondrous, colorful sandstone formations. It really is amazing. After topping out around that 6,200’ mark, the road does a little bit of up and down along a rolling landscape atop the Monument. Looking to my right, which is generally northeast, I could see each canyon, one by one, as I rode energetically: Columbus Canyon, Red Canyon, Ute Canyon, Monument Canyon, and Wedding Canyon. (Note that on downhill start of my ride I passed Lizard Canyon and rode down through Fruita Canyon to the West Entrance. Let me repeat: the landscapes, the colorful rock formations, the cliffs standing hundreds of feet high with sheer drop-off, the tunnels carved into the rock, the scenery, it is all amazing.)

Rim Road tops out at around 6,600 feet near an intersection that goes off to a town called Glade Park. From there, it is about seven or eight miles back to the campground, and most of it is downhill, as the campground is around 5,700 feet. The time now was around 3:30, and the sunlight was perfect for taking photos of rock formations (Coke Ovens, Independence Monument among others) as I approached them. It is going to be work trying to narrow down which photos I post!

Note: the title says revisited, as I was here with my friend Laura in October 2022, just six months ago! read about it if you like: https://www.otomola.com/post/colorado-national-monument