Days 27 to 30

Rawlins, WY to Slater, CO

Before leaving town I picked up a couple of days of food. The first ten miles or so out of Rawlins were paved. After that was a long stretch of dirt/ gravel roads, ending with 15 miles or so of pavement into Slater.  Slater was right on the WY/CO border. The cabin I rented for the night was in CO but the house 50 feet away was in WY. The terrain was insanely hilly all day long. I'd spend 15 minutes crawling up some hill, then spend the next two flying down the other side. The scenery was worth it though.

Two days of junk food:

Roller coaster:

Finally some dirt:

Random shots along the way:

An area called "Aspen Alley":

Descending into Slater:

$40 cabin rental:

Slater to Steamboat Springs 

The scenery and the cool weather this day were wonderful but the day included a nasty little climb called Watershed Divide. Up until the last 2 miles I thought I'd be writing about the easiest almost 10k foot climb I ever did, then out of nowhere popped some very steep, rocky 4x4 trail that had me walking for some time.

Leaving Slater:

Brush Mountain Lodge (below) was a nice surprise since there had been no food options in Slater. My map showed the lodge as just offering accommodations but no food. It turned out that they serve breakfast to great divide riders at no charge. They also had free energy bars and other snack items.  They did have a donation bucket and I of course contributed. I also dropped off my bear spray there since I am past grizzly country.  There was a bin of probably 30 cans of bear spray left for north bound riders to choose from.

Pictures and video from the rest of the climb:

The rough stuff:

The first 5 miles down the other side were similarly rocky and I had to crawl along at maybe 5 mph in order to not shake anything loose. Along the way I found a 1.5L bottle of water lost by another rider. I picked it up hoping to return it. Through the divide grapevine I have learned it belongs to Aaron (who was at Brush Mountain Lodge same time as me), who didn't realize right away that he broke a fork mounted cage on the descent. It's likely we will cross paths again, so I am still hoping to return it.

The last miles of this day included a meal at Clark followed by an uncomfortably busy and narrow paved road into Steamboat Springs, where I spent the night at a KOA.

Steamboat Springs to Lynx Pass Campground 

In the morning there was a light rain that had me thinking of just waiting it out while exploring Steamboat Springs. I decided to get on the road though after breakfast at a cafe. Thankfully the rain stayed light and only lasted for an hour or so after I started riding. From then until late afternoon wad a wonderful ride.

Later in the day was another story. I had my first real encounter with a thunderstorm while climbing Lynx Pass.  About 7 miles from the top a storm started moving in over the hills, accompanied by a light rain lightning.  About 3 miles from the top it became an absolute downpour that had me take shelter under my tarp in some trees. Unfortunately my tarp and some of my bags were not entirely waterproof and about half my clothing and part of my sleeping bag got wet. Despite my best efforts to keep it dry my phone  (which has my primary navigation app) started giving a message that moisture was detected in the charge port and not to charge until it was dry. 

The rain returned to normal I made my way to Lynx Pass Campground and decided to stay there for the night. I had been planning to get to Radium, another 25 miles down the road, but the rain showed no signs that it was going to let up and I was already soaked.

Dirt road out of Steamboat Springs:

Pleasant mid-day riding:

Trouble brewing:

Lynx Pass Campground to Kremmling

Trying to warm up in one of the available slivers of sun in the morning:

Descending Lynx Pass:

Looking back after crossing a creek:

Mid day riding:

Just outside Radium CO:

At the Radium CO store:

At the top of the climb out of Radium:

Wheee:

After a high speed drop to a major road (CO hwy 9) I took a 2 mile off-route sidetrack to Kremmling to pick up some food and have a restaurant meal. While I was there a thunderstorm started coming in from east of town, and not wanting to repeat yesterday's experience with Lynx Pass I decided to make it a motel night rather than doing the additional 20 miles I had been planning to get to a campground.