So after trail ridge, we weren't exactly off the mountain pass hook just yet. We still had two more 11,000 foot peaks to hit, Hoosier Pass and Monarch Pass. Both beautiful, and difficult, climbs coming within days of our summit of Trail Ridge.
We had our first camping experience in Frisco, CO. A storm was rolling in on us as we approached Frisco, but fortunately the front runners of the group made it to camp way early and set up our tents. Thanks Dennis, Karina, Coop, and Sean! We camped right by a lake and between some pretty dramatic mountains. We even got to have a campfire at night!
The next two passes were pretty wild. They were no joke, as both were over 11,000 feet. And after Trail Ridge, I felt like my body (mainly knees) was stressed to the max. But we pushed on and finished our three mountain passes in the course of four days!
Jenny, one of our trip leaders is a botanist who does research in the Rockies. As a bonus, she showed us an awesome detour where we did some cliff jumping! I jumped from 35 feet, but several more daring riders jumped from a rock that was more like 50 feet from the water. Several of those riders now have pretty red backs (George! Sonya!) 
Colorado never stopped amazing me. Each day was seemingly more beautiful than the last. We started getting into a more desert-like environment, and I've been excited to make a post-SCA return to the desert. Here's a video below, a little bit out of order, but you'll see Doug, then Larry flying down Monarch Pass at about 40mph. Yeah!
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