You could also stop in Grand Junction and do the Colorado National Monument. Then shoot down to Montrose to the Black Canyon and then continue on 50 to 24 and then go north. This is a very scenic route and Monarch Pass is not supposed to be too bad. I crossed 70 coming the other direction last fall and it wasn't bad either. I didn't notice any power loss, just crossed La Veta pass (only 9400 ft) a couple of days ago. People say there is a huge loss, but I'm not noticing it and have crossed a half dozen 10000 ft plus passes in the last 8 months.