My dad and brother Collin have told me about the old railroad pass (now a dirt road) that runs north from Mack, Colorado up to Bonanza, Utah, so I've been interested for some time. Collin succeeded in making me believe I wouldn't get lost and die, so I tried it. I rode the 40+ miles west from Palisade to Mack, Colorado, which is *just* east of the Utah border. It wasn't hard to find the beginning of the route, but that was the last marking. It was a decent road, though, with lots of gas pipeline activity showing. Not much traffic - I didn't see a car for 20 miles on either side of the pass.

It was a dry and hot day - I went through more than a gallon and a half of water just to get over the pass. And it turned out to be quite a pass. I have no idea how a railroad could have gotten over it - it looks too steep, and the switchbacks too sharp. At one point I thought I was doing OK with the climb but stopped for a rest. I pulled out my red tarp and laid it in the middle of the road and promptly fell asleep. Very refreshing. But that shows you how much traffic there is on the road and how energetic I actually was.

I camped that night at beautiful McAndrews Lake on the far side, still in Colorado. I was very happy to find water like that that I could filter for the coming day, and it was a beautiful place to camp.