Or Should I Traverse the Rockies

I've been studying maps in order to finalize the trail for the trek next summer from the Arch to Tor House. I'm sure that the first half will be from the Arch to La Junta, Colorado. An alternative route, rather than cutting south to Albuquerque and then heading west to Tor House, would be to continue biking from La Junta to Pueblo, Colorado, where I could sell or donate my bike, then hike along HWY 50 through the Rockies, ending up in Utah, where I would rejoin the American Discovery Trail. The question is this: Could I traverse the Rockies through Colorado on foot? Ann says the mountains would be too steep to climb on a bike, and coming down a 12,000 foot mountain would likely result in a disastrous wreck. But HWY 50 looks as if it mostly follows along the base of the Rockies. Maybe I need elevation maps? But traversing the Rockies, by bike or foot, would be cool.

Determining the Route

Ann and I travelled to Minneapolis over the weekend, along the way talking about my trek next summer from the Arch to Tor House. We talked mainly about the time it would take to cover the distance. One route is the American Discovery Trail (ADT), which I could pick up right here in St. Louis, but the trail distance is 3535 miles, and the trail ends on the Pacific near San Francisco. I would then have to walk 120 miles south to Tor House in Carmel. The total distance would then be 3655 miles. There's no way I could cover all those miles in the time I have, even if I were to bike from St. Louis to Denver.

An alternative route, which would still make use of the ADT, is to follow the trail from St. Louis to La Junta, Colorado (1003 miles); then go from La Junta to Alamosa, Colorado (146 miles); next from Alamosa to Albuquerque, New Mexico (202 miles) and finally from Albuquerque to Carmel, California (1034 mile); for a total of 2385 miles. This route cuts more than a thousand miles for the ADT route. Plus, Albuquerque is half-way, friends are there, so Ann could meet me there and we could visit them.

Still the time (from mid May to Mid August) would very well be a factor, so my plan at the moment is to bike from the Arch in St. Louis to Albuquerque, leave my bike with friends there, walk from Albuquerque to Tor House in Carmel, and finally fly back to St. Louis.