Evening of Day 24 and Day 25 First Half

After my last post, I kept right on trucking, eventually making it to Del Norte with plenty of light, then moving on to South Fork against a rising headwind. Between the two, I passed two cyclists going the other way. I only noticed them as we were already passing, and they didn't seem inclined to stop. The two (one guy, one girl, I think) did yell back that they were headed for New York when I asked where they were headed.

South Fork is a tourism town, with the expected prices on both food and lodgings there. With no desire to spend that much on a hotel, and with the promise of campgrounds ahead, I started out on the road towards Wolf Creek Pass. After a bit, sunlight was starting to get thin, but I had made it into National Forest lands. Given that, I decided to go ahead and use an official campsite. The cost of the site usage goes straight back to the facilities that were used, so I didn't feel bad about it.

The campsite was almost completely empty, with one other tent visible, and a family that pulled in in an RV a bit after me. I spoke to the wife of the troupe. She and her husband are from Kentucky and go RVing with their two kids (7 and 9 years old now) to a different state/area each summer. Last summer, they'd done Alaska, and before that the Yellowstone area. Nice people! The view is great, and having a few people around me in bear country as I sleep is comforting too! :) No internet out here, so I'll save this and get some sleep. Tomorrow, I will cross the continental divide and head downhill for quite a bit! With the sunscreen I've been using and the number of days camping out, I decided I was about due for a shower and did some searching online (finding cheaper hotels in tourism country can be challenging). It sounds like there is a good hotel in Cortez, CO, so I plan to pedal hard tomorrow, camp out, and then have an easy day rolling into Cortez and recovering after that. Once that day is over, it's the Four Corners, then Arizona! Onwards!!!

Alright, that last bit was written last evening. I woke up this morning and broke down camp with temperatures that, while cool, were much warmer than they had been when I slept in the pass! South Bend was the last spot I was expecting to be able to get food until after the pass, so I'd grabbed a bit extra in terms of packed food. After eating a mixed breakfast containing jerky, a bagel, candy, nuts and dried fruit, I started my climb. The pass was a bit further off than I'd been led to believe yesterday, but the incline up to it on this side was actually better than North La Veta for bikers. The majority of the approach I actually bicycled, walking the bike only for the occasional break and to cover the steepest parts. Rising higher and higher, I eventually began seeing snow still sitting under trees on the north facing slopes. Near the very top of the pass, I went by the ski area which as apparently already closed down, although given the amount of snow, I was a bit surprised. Finally I hit the summit! (pictures will be forthcoming when I have an electric outlet available)

At the summit, I spoke with two different groups that were touring. One was an older couple from Tennessee. The husband had worked for the road authority(?) until he retired and they were on the road in their full sized van with two small dogs (sleeping in the van as they vacationed around). The other group was a middle aged couple and another woman who I think was one of their aunts - a lady with a great sense of humor who was very excited to get a photo of herself straddling the continental divide (it was shown by a bronze metal line). As I headed downhill, I ran into both groups again - one when I stopped for a photo op at the same spot they were, and the trio at a waterfall a bit further down. After about 9 miles of downhill rolling, things flattened out again and I found myself struggling to make headway.

Whenever moving forward gets hard, my first assumption is that I'm out of calories. I won't be hungry yet, but it won't matter. Sure enough, after pulling to the side and loading up again, I made much better headway, finally rolling into Pagosa Springs, CO around noon. On the way into town, I passed by several cyclists, but none of them had much gear with them, leading me to assume they're locals. One older guy who I had passed on my way into town showed up when I was resupplying on Gatorade at a gas station. I had a chat with him and he gave me some information on the road ahead. Apparently he's a local and likes to get in about 50 miles or so per day. I'm guessing a retired local, as 50 miles takes a bit of time, even without gear on your bike! He warned me that it gets windy around this time, and sure enough, the wind has been picking up. I'm still hoping to get as close to Durango as I can by this evening, as tomorrow is still going to be a "day off". We'll see what the terrain looks like - after 4 nights of camping and another one planned for tonight, a shower is looking very attractive! Good riding!