Monrovia Peak o Muerte!

[Cross-posted. You must leave a comment to go along.]

Monrovia Peak is a bit of a hard-to-reach peak: it's at the back of the front range. It's an HPS peak so worth getting.

And, there are multiple ways to get there. I'm going to let the group vote on which one they want to do:

1. (hiking) The short-but-steep way. I just did the first part of this (Clamshell). That's 12.5 miles & ~5000' of gain. The first 1.5 miles can be biked, the rest would be very difficult to bike or hike-a-bike but... See the profile (link). I turned around after it leveled off a bit because I didn't want to walk through clouds. It looks like after the point where I turned around it's not as steep.

2. (hiking) The wimpy way is to get a key to a gated road and drive almost to the peak. That's here. (That's also where the pic is from).

3. (biking) Doing it via Mt Bliss (link) makes it 25 mi RT & 5900' of gain. I've hiked Mt Bliss and, while the road is quite steep, there are also enough mellow spots that it could be biked/bike-a-hiked. However, I don't know what it's like after Bliss and there's almost 3k' of gain after that point.

4. (biking) Doing it via the West Fork bike trail as an out-and-back (link). 33 mi RT & 4700'. The bike trail is a gradual incline but it picks up as you near the dam. I don't know what it's like after that. This could also be a bike-as-far-as-we-can-and-then-hike-the-rest.

5. (biking) Like the last but as a loop instead of out-and-bike (link). That's *allegedly* 31 mi & 4000', but given the last the gain might be more.

6. (biking, maybe hiking) Doing it via the road involved in the last two (link). That's 21mi RT & 5500'.

7. Renting a helicopter.

OK, #7 is out. But, of the others, which one do you want to do? Bear in mind it might be in the low 80s. There's plenty of water on the West Fork bike path, but I'd imagine everything else is dry. My preference is #1 and someone else who might go along also wants to hike it. It's steep at the beginning, and that was after it had drizzled. When the ground is dry it's going to be a bit precarious. I actually might bring microspikes for that section.

Now, I need you to leave a comment indicating which ones you want to do and which ones you absolutely don't want to do.

If I don't see a comment from you, I'll assume you're a bot.

Humans read on: we'll be doing this at a moderate pace and we might be back after dark. These are remote areas so if you bike you'll need two (2) spare tubes. I'll carry a Schrader foot pump but if you have a lighter one please bring it. Don't rely on someone else's pump unless you're sure you have the right kind of valves. You'll need at least 3L of water. I'll bring a filter but see the note above. Bring a headlamp and a puffer in case this goes into the night. I'll have a PLB & the map on two phones. I won't bring bear spray if there are more than 2 people.

Anything else, please ask. Just bear in mind you need to leave a comment to go along.