Rocky Mountain High

My view most of this morning

You knew that I would have to drag out that song title somewhere in this part of the journey.  The truth is, this song stuck in my head all day, because that's what I was staring at all day.  It was a beautiful day's journey from the edges of the mountains right into the heart of the Rockies.  After days traveling through the barren high plains of Wyoming, this was a stunning change of scenery. 

We started off at yesterday's destination of Walden, CO.  After taking the late train to Walden and riding 111 miles to get there, we were pretty tired.  We wanted to get an early start to the day, but Walden had just one early breakfast place, and that was the River Rock Cafe, where we ate last night.  Likely because of Covid-19, their staff was very small, and the food, while good, was accompanied by long wait times and slow service.  Hey, we'll take a hot breakfast good service or not.   It beats having these places closed because of the virus.

We finally got going at about 9AM and rolled out into the countryside, passing by the biggest collection of junk we had seen yet, on the outskirts of Walden.  We were not sure if they were getting ready to scrap all this stuff, but it was definitely not collectibles.  We rolled on for a number of miles, stopping in Rand at the Rand store, a roadside store where the proprietor was spraying his driveway and the street for mosquitoes.  They are everywhere here and we stopped and bought bug spray for ourselves.  I don't like the idea of spraying these horrible chemicals over ourselves, but if we want not to be eaten...

Jerry after being doused with Deet from the Rand Store

We continued on and all morning the Rocky Mountains of Colorado got bigger and bigger.  Our mid-morning was spent climbing up into the Rockies to the top of Willow Creek Pass.  It wasn't a really bad climb, as most of the altitude gain was on switchbacks, holding the grades of the hills to reasonable levels.  I got to the top a little quicker than Jerry, aided by the lack of the lowest gears forcing me to ride faster.  I was at the top and spotted a moose and its calf, about 100 yards away.  Of course I wanted a better view for a photo, but as soon as I started moving toward the pair, the momma moose started toward me in a not-very-friendly manner.  Just like a 9 year old girl wielding a side-arm (see Kooskia, ID), I know not to approach a moose defending her young.  I stopped, and they ambled into the woods.  Therefore, like Kooskia, no accompanying photo.

Top of the Pass. Almost 10,000 feet!

Lunch and a view

We ate our lunch at the top of the Pass, and for the next 20 miles or so enjoyed a nice, easy ride down a good road without too much traffic.  We were passing through the Arapaho National Forest, and there were plenty of people camping in the area.  It is beautiful land, full of the mountains, but also lush forests with streams running down from the top.  It was a very nice afternoon, and we were having a pretty good day.

Lots of great sights in the Arapaho National Forest

Until we turned west onto US-40 at the Windy Gap Reservoir for the final 25 miles.  Immediately we were hit by the afternoon winds that we faced yesterday evening, full force in our faces, along with a huge increase in traffic now that we were on a major US route, the National Road.  We kept at it, though, and soon found ourselves in Hot Sulfur Springs, looking for a break and a snack.  We went to the local ice cream shop, which had a sign that they were out of ice cream(?), so we hit the convenience store/gas station for an ice cream fix.  During that stop we got ready for a change in the weather because it began to rain.  For the next 18 miles, we headed downhill slightly (thank goodness), but into the wind and rain.  In Sulfur Springs I did see the Amtrak train rolling through town.  It follows along the Colorado river along through here, and I bet it has a great view from on board.  It follows the river closer than the highway and you wouldn't have to put up with the traffic.  

After what seemed to be a long, long last few miles, we finally got into Kremmling.  It was starting to rain harder and harder, so we stopped under the canopy of an abandoned gas station looking for hotel options.  Actually, there was one behind us at the Super-8, and even though this time we weren't in the downtown area, we spied a Mexican restaurant across the street, checked to make sure it was open (it was) and then checked into the Super-8.  

Plans for tomorrow are to ride through Silverthorne, through Frisco, and into Breckenridge. I've only seen these places in the winter, during skiing season, so this should be interesting.  We plan to take an extra day in Breckenridge, and visit with Jerry's friends Danny and Jane Goldberger, who have a condo in Frisco.  We will be staying in a hostel in Breckenridge as we didn't realize weekends here would be well booked.  Abby's Hilton friends and family couldn't help us find a hotel, so we'll give the hostel a chance.  I'm looking forward to a day off the bike. 

Today's ride was 79 miles, with 3,250 feet of climbing.  The Willow Creek Pass was the second-highest point we will make on this journey, only surpassed by the upcoming Hoosier Pass after Breckenridge.