The 5th annual 9-unpaved-passes-in-1-day ride was scheduled for Thursday, June 19, 2008. We had a bad winter and late spring. Rumor has it some of the highest, most rugged unpaved passes won't be open until late July. The highest of our 9 is barely over 12,000 feet elevation but several are over 10,000 feet. Only one of the unpaved passes we use is listed on CDOT's road condition page. For the rest we have to rely on what we hear or check it out ourselves. That's what I was doing June 12, a week ahead of our scheduled ride, giving us time to postpone the 9-pass ride until late summer or early fall and substitute a different ride for June 19, something at a lower altitude.

As the pictures below will show, it is necessary to postpone the 9-pass ride. Kebler Pass was open and dry but Ohio Pass quickly disappeared under deep snow cover. Just out of Pitkin, the road to Cumberland Pass was signed, "Closed Ahead." Waunita Pass and Black Sage Pass were both open and dry. I made it very near the summit of Old Monarch Pass before deciding not to squeeze past the receding drift as it was almost a certainty that I would not be able to get through to US50 on the more shaded east side. Marshal Pass was signed as closed. It had been closed last year due to a massive wash-out. I asked people at Sargent's if that had been repaired. I was told it had been but there was another wash out since and the person I was talking to didn't know the status of that repair. Furthermore, I was told, there was still 12 feet of snow on top. I didn't investigate Cochetopa and Los Pinos passes. Both are lower and probably clear but it hardly mattered anymore.