Got out for 6.30. It was a nice morning but chilly. I already had on an extra layer but had to stick on a jacket for the first while. The sky was clear so at least it would warm up rlatively fast once the sun came up. I was heading south west for 35 miles to Rabbits ears pass where I'd cross the Rockies. Another 25 miles would bring me to Steamboat Springs.
It was another quiet road which ran parrallell to the mountains in the West. A couple of miles outside Walden I saw a moose, far off drinking from a pool of water. As the sun came up I stopped to get some photos as the area was gorgeous. But everytime I stopped mosquitoes would swarm out on to the road and take lumps out of my legs.
The first 30 miles were relatively easy as the road rose gently into the mountains and, aprt from the mosquitoes, it was a very pleasant route. About 5 miles from the summit the road met a junction and I turned on to route 40. It was like meeting an old friend as I had followed route 40 for a few hundred miles from Maryland over to Indianapolis. So route 40 would ferry me to the highest point I would achieve in America. Rabbit ears pass sits at an elevation of 9,400 ft, one of the lower passes in this section of the Rockies. It was a fairly stiff 6 mile climb to the pass but I was looking forward to what I thought was a 25 mile spin down to Steamboat. As I got to the summit I found that the summit plateaued. I would have another 8 miles of rolling mountain to reach the western summit before descending for only 7 miles where the road levelled off into Steamboat.
It was beautiful up here, not the dramatic, rocky cliffs that I'd expected. It was a rolling mountain with great views of far off peaks, with natual pine forests and streams. A lovely cool dry air carried a fresh pine scent. I saw an old guy fishing for trout in a clear shallow stream no more than 2-3 metres wide. Overhead the sky was a brilliant blue with a scattering of bright fluffy clouds and not the dark hail laden stormclouds I had feared yesterday evening It really was idyllic.
Earlier I had met a couple hiking down from the summit, heading for Walden 35 miles away. a long walk. Now I started meeting mountain bikers coming down from the top. There's an unspoken convention on the road that you acknowledge a fellow cyclist. I wave to most cyclists and a lot of bikers as well. Loads of the bikers, even the hard looking ones wave back, give the thumbs up and even shout encouragement. There's a certain camaraderie and it gives a feel-good factor when mutual respect is displayed. Today, however it was too much trouble for the mountain bikers to as much as nod an acknowledgement as they passed. If it was done it was cold and nonchalant. I suppose thats what you expect from the day trippers....... amatuers!!
At the western summit I met a group who turned out to be a support team for a group of about 140 cyclists doing a charity trek from Seattle to Jersey City. They had 3 support cars and two trucks, one of which had a kitchen facility, theother carried the luggage. They brought me over for drinks and we swapped experiences. The eldest of their cyclists was 72 but she had crashed and had to quit. They due to get an 80yr old in Denver. They advised me not to stop in Steamboat as it was very expensive and to head on an extra 42 miles to Craig which was quieter. It was 12.10 and I felt fresh so I felt I could do it.
I left the group just as the first of their cyclists crested the summit. The next 7 miles was a panoramic helter skelter of a downhill as I had to wave to 140 cyclists crawling up the mountain. Be careful what you wish for!!
I got to Steamboat for 12.50, had a break and some food. I hit the road again at 2.15 and really pushed those 42 miles. I had been told in Steamboat that I would drop over 1,500ft in the distance so in my mind I was flying downhill all the way. In fact I only dropped 500ft, just under 200 metres. Its funny how the road seems easy when you're mind thinks it is. I followed the Yampa river out of the mountains and onto the Colorado plateau to where the town of Craig sits at an altitude of 6,100 ft, nestled between some lowlying hills. I got a good cheap room into the bargain.
I'm out of the Rockies, they're behind me. The've been the landmark I've been building towards since I got out of Pennsylvania. In a sense they've loomed over this journey but, yet, went through them with relative ease. I didn't see the great dramatic peaks that I had imagined but I'm not disappointed. Today, in its own way was a watershed on the journey. I reached my highest elevation 9,400ft and I also achieved the longest stretch so far in mileage, 103 miles. It was like doing a wee league and cup double. It felt good.
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