BagLady's Travels and Torments: Aug 31, 2016

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Back At It

August 30, 2016
Routt National Forest
Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA

Lying here, hidden in the forest (because it's illegal to camp in undesignated spots), looking up at the Ponderosa and Lodgepole pines (I can't tell which is which), I'm home. Now if my home were just a bit further from the road so all I heard were the sounds of the wilderness, I'd be ever so much happier, if that's possible :). Colorado is wonderful and yucky at the same time. The wonderful is the wildness, the mountains, the rivers. The yucky is all the people that have forced strict regulations because folks don't know how to be in the wild and not harm her. This is a very touristy state...I didn't realize that. With so many people come too many rules. Don't do this. Don't do that. I'd rather be cycling someplace less popular because wildness beauty is everywhere. I deliberately avoided Rocky Mountain National Park because I thought there'd be many more people.

And many months off the bike has left me so out of shape :/. What was I thinking when I decided to cycle into these mountains? Wonder Woman I'm not.

I left Denver a couple of weeks ago and headed north. I knew some people in Fort Collins that I had met in New Zealand during my first tour there 4 years ago. We met as I cycled into Franz Joseph and stayed a few days at the same hostel, waiting out a west coast storm. Kathleen and I stayed in touch and I contacted her when I realized I'd be coming her way. Actually she and Adrian were going to be out of town when I was to arrive but she welcomed me to come stay anyways and they'd be back in a few days. Worked out perfectly! I had a few days to familiarize myself with her kitchen and made myself right at home. These guys are kindred spirits loving biking and the woods, kayak trips, and skiing. Adrian built a cabin up in the mountains many years ago and we got to spend a might there with another visiting friends from Park City, Utah. What a sweet spot except for the rutted and rugged dirt road the last 3 miles. Ah! Now that's wilderness!! Not a sound!

But alas, I stretched my stay as long as I could and finally 10 days later I pedaled away to attack these mountains. (Guess what Kathleen and Adrian were doing? Guiding a llama-packing trip up in the mountains. Yup. Kindred spirits! Adrian's got me thinking about doing a llama-packing trip of the Colorado Trail perhaps next summer. Why llamas you ask? So I can carry healthier food:). And it would be such fun. Anyone want to join me and share a llama?)

So in talking about a route with Adrian who knows these mountains, I opted to take a quieter route up by Red Feather Lakes Village and then a dirt road over Deadman's Pass. Looked so doable on the map! When I got to that road on my 3rd day, I was climbing so so slowly...less than 2 mph. Grind. Grind. I stopped for a late breakfast but felt nauseous and was dry heaving. I just didn't feel good. So I set up my tent and went right to sleep. It rained and I dozed all afternoon. Good thing I set up when I did. But I always second guess myself. I should have gone on. I wimped out. What a wuss. But I also had a signal up there and was able to explore another route. I wasn't sure how long this route would take me and if I had enough food for as slow as I was pedaling. When I have so little energy anyways, running out of food is a big worry for me. And yet I probably had enough for a week! But I saw another way by backtracking that would put me on paved roads, and they're usually graded less steeply. So the next day I went back to Red Feather, my favorite little town so far. Wow! I couldn't believe how steep that climb had been the day before! No wonder I was bonked! That explains a lot! This day was downhill. Downhill to Red Feather. Then downhill to Route 14. Down and down and down. And when I got to Rte 14, a sign said Ft Collins 41 miles. 4 days and I was only 41 miles from where I started! But oh the sights I'd seen:). And it was 8000 ft there...so I must have been near 10,000 ft where I camped and wheezed.

So for the last few days I've come over Cameron Pass of the Medicine Bow Mountains at 10,247 ft and across a high Plains called the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Today I crossed Rabbit Ears Pass and am camped at the west summit. I forgot to get some water today although I didn't see a lot of options. Tonight when I set up camp, I had 1 liter for drinking and bathing and for tomorrow too until town. So I decided to go for a walk and see if I could find some. And I did!! I can drink it up tonight!

Into Steamboat Springs tomorrow. I met this cycling group today and one of the women offered to host me for two nights. How sweet is that?!?