LOBAA39 - Heaton Bay USFS Campground - Frisco, CO
Sally bike mileage/time 82.9 / 7:01:40
Sally Total 2730.18
Bill bike mileage/time 22.4 / ?
Bill Total 955.6
Jim mileage 80.8
Jim total 7185
Bill:
Boy was it cold this morning - 35 degrees when we started riding and
we had a steep 1 mile downhill first which made it worse. The sun got
up high enough after about 1/2 half hour and soon the cold was no
longer an issue ... in fact, when I arrived back in camp, about 2
hours after we started, the temp had already risen to 65 degrees and
it was downright hot by the time I broke camp. Early in the ride,
Sally spotted 3 elk in the woods and later in the day we saw buffalo
herds, deer and I saw a lone antelope. There were also lots of little
ground squirrels darting out in the road and back. Oh, and we also saw
a burro and a great series of beaver dams. I only rode 20 miles today
but did manage to climb from 8400' to about 9400' before I turned
around. I could definitely feel the thinness of the air early in the
ride but it didn't seem so bad after my morning legs of rubber got
stronger. Sally climbed up and over the 11,542 summit of Hoosier Pass
and road 83 miles to boot. An amazing feat! This general area is a
very popular and built up winter tourist area and it is very crowded
in the summer as well. Also, the pine beetle has reached this area and
has devastated many of the pine forests in the area. As a result many
of the USFS campgrounds we had hoped to use are closed due to the
danger of falling trees. Luckily we found a USFS campground that was
open and I was able to find the last open spot. It did rain lightly
right after we had our solar showers but has mostly cleared up now. We
are still at about 9000' in this campground so we expect another cold
night and morning. We plan a short day tomorrow and the route is
mostly downhill.
Sally:
Yeah, I'm tired. Today was a workout, especially with the altitude.
The morning was beautiful and it's so great to be in the West again.
Indian paint brush and mountain bluebirds as well as the critters Bill
mentioned, snow-capped mountains against the horizon, clear river
meandering through the meadows; gorgeous. The climbing wasn't too bad
in and of itself, but the altitude and gusty winds made it a push.
Finding camp was a challenge as I didn't have a good map of the layout
so I was uncertain, did make it though, just before the afternoon
showers hit. Really wasn't much, but I just didn't want to get rained
on again. Time for a short day and lots of rest--there is another
9,000 ft summit coming up in a couple of days.
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