11SEP2014

I barely slept last night because it was so cold.  I decided to get up early in hopes that I might be able to complete two segments today.  Spoiler alert:  I didn’t.  I got my stove going and had the best bowl of oatmeal ever, but soon I was freezing again.  I bundled everything I had, but was still freezing.  Oh well, I set off anyways.  After an hour or two, the sun finally came out and started warming up.  The riding was pretty nice today.  I stayed on the road coming out of Lake City and crossed over Cinnamon Pass.  I had been looking forward to Black Bear Pass, which is supposed to be really tough, but when I get there it was closed.  Too bad, as it’s supposed to have an awesome, nearly straight down view into Telluride and you get to see Bridal Veil Falls.  So I went back the ‘normal’ way over Ophir Pass.  Later on I ended up on an OHV trail that despite being over 9000ft, had a lot of mud.  The new (used) tire was pretty helpful here, and kept me from getting stuck.  I did have two lay downs, one of which ended up breaking the mount on my GPS phone.  I had to take a few minutes and transfer my GPS tracks and maps to my regular cell phone via Bluetooth so I could navigate the rest of the day until I had a chance to try to fix the mount.  I noticed that the foliage was starting to give way to a slightly more arid looking scene over time.  At one point I popped out on the other side of this canyon/valley, and I find myself in flat farmland just like Oklahoma.  The scenery really changed quickly.  I rode for a while through fields until I came to my stopping point in Dove Creek, CO.  I got a $45 motel and had dinner at the “Dinner Bell” where I was the only customer.  The motel room is truly the smallest I’ve ever seen, but the price is right and they have wifi.

 

Google Map of today’s ride

 

My camping spot at Mill Creek
My camping spot at Mill Creek
water pump at Mill Creek Campground
water pump at Mill Creek Campground
Cinnamon Pass
Cinnamon Pass
Cinnamon Pass
Cinnamon Pass
road down the other side of Cinnamon Pass
road down the other side of Cinnamon Pass
Black Bear Pass is closed :-(
Black Bear Pass is closed 🙁
Ophir Pass
Ophir Pass
Somewhat scary road down off the backside of Ophir Pass
Somewhat scary road down off the backside of Ophir Pass
Nice view
Nice view
Probably should have picked up one of these hilarious shirts
Probably should have picked up one of these hilarious shirts
sweet motel in Dove Creek, CO
sweet motel in Dove Creek, CO

0 thoughts on “11SEP2014”

    • Steve, I’ve been writing on my computer, but I rarely have the combination of energy and good wifi connection to actually post online. Doing so tonight! Left the trail in Northern California and currently in San Francisco.

      Reply

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