Another RV Park meant another rec room, and again we did our breakfast in there. This time we had company — there were four guys seated around a table, “solving the world’s problems.” I was hoping to eavesdrop on some political talk but most of the problems in their world seemed to revolve around vehicles of one kind or another. They were super friendly, offered us coffee, entertained our questions about the RV lifestyle. Yes they know they have “accents” — most of the people in the RV parks around here are from Texas or Oklahoma. (The question came up because I wondered if people in western Colorado sounded like Texans to an east coaster.) Yes they come back year after year and have a community here. They’re mainly retired, sometimes spend a couple months at one park and then move on to another, maybe do some road tripping. One of them is on a mission to visit every courthouse in Texas, so he’ll be taking the long route home. While here they might fish, or hunt... visit the national parks and generally enjoy the area. That doesn’t sound so bad.
They asked about our plans and made the obligatory “more power to ya” comment, but they’ve seen people cycling these routes. They didn’t seem particularly surprised or impressed with what we’re doing. Some people are definitely amazed. Dixie’s owner seemed plenty fit but he was positive there was no way he could do this.
As we headed out of town we passed a lot of beautiful wooded campgrounds, and I wondered aloud why the hell we stayed on the highway instead of here... but of course Bill reminded me it was because we were sick of riding into headwind with looming thunderstorms. Evidently one of the campgrounds around here was in the original National Lampoon Vacation. Pretty much anywhere you go in this part of the country has been in some movie. Creede had a whole list.
Heading out of South Fork, toward Wolf Creek Pass. I like the sign about watching for wildlife and rocks. I often see rocks that look like wildlife. It’s confusing.
We had heard in Creede that last week there was 4 inches of snow on Wolf Creek Pass. Today the weather is clear, but I’ve definitely wondered whether we might hit snow at some point on this trip. We learned later that Wolf Creek Pass gets the most snow of anywhere in Colorado. Average of 430 inches a year. There’s even a song about it by the same guy who did “Convoy,” which I remember from my childhood. Worth a listen. It’s about a truck losing control, weeee 😖.
Wind wasn’t too bad during the ascent, and we’re both feeling much stronger than a week ago, so we just cranked for a couple hours and eventually were at the top.
Warmly dressed for the descent.
The wind was much stronger on the other side of the mountain, and the grade was pretty steep at the top. I didn’t like it. The right lane was designated for trucks over a certain weight, who were supposed to keep it to 25 mph, so at least we mostly had a lane to ourselves. About a mile down Bill realized he’d left his backpack at the summmit, so I waited at a pullout with his panniers as he rode back up.
Heading back up for his pack. He looks so tiny compared to that monster truck.
Eventually we were protected from the wind by the mountains, and on one hairpin there was a fantastic view of the valley below. There was also a bunch of construction on this side, which meant we often could get completely out of the path of cars by going on the closed section of the road.
View from the hairpin. Once off the pass we rode through this valley for an hour or two, really nice.
We weren’t certain of today’s destination, whether we were going to stay in Pagosa Springs or continue further. Stopping for microbrew was a given, and we lingered for a while eating a late lunch and talking to our dog sitter about Bella’s latest bacterial infection, uggghh $$$$$$ vet bills. At one point a whole series of police cars and ambulances sped by, sirens blazing. At least five of them. We wondered if there’d been an accident.
We decided to push on toward Chimney Rock since it wasn’t too hilly and it would shorten the next day’s ride. We ended up camping at Lake Capote, where the caretaker refused any money from us. I was filling out the form, and noticed that Tribal Members get lower prices. He said “you’re better than Natives... you’re bikers. I like bikers.” I’m hoping he didn't mean anything bad about the Tribal discount, just that he admires people getting around by bike. Anyway he told us about a couple other cyclists who’d been through a couple days ago, “a lot younger than you,” as well as an older couple who’d been on their bikes for 7 years, cycling all over the world.
He wrote $18 but wouldn’t take it. He also comped Bill a coke. I wanted a Snickers but didn’t mention it cause I didn’t want any more free stuff.
Another fun campground bathroom.
There was nobody else in the non-RV area the campground, and when we’d asked about bears he said well they’re around but... knock on wood... So again we stashed our stuff in the rest room. During the night we heard a coyote choir, very cool! No bear sightings though.
In the morning we set off toward Durango about three hours after waking up... sigh... Talking about Durango led to a discussion of Django Unchained, other Tarantino movies... just sitting around drinking coffee and solving the world’s problems. A few miles in we stopped to buy some peaches from a roadside stand, and spoke to a couple sisters who were traveling with their little kids.
Buying peaches. I think this might have been a scam because the samples he gave us were delicious but the ones we took with us (like a buck each! Highway robbery!) didn’t seem much better than what we get at Safeway.
The sisters told us they had planned to come over Wolf Creek Pass last night, but it was closed around 5:30 after an RV smashed into four other cars. So, those were the ambulances we’d seen. One fatality and a couple other injuries. This is horrifying to hear when you’re on a bike, though when they said “that could have been us” I realized people in a car have the same thought. It’s more about being in the wrong place at exactly the wrong time.
I was still a little freaked out about that accident, so I put one of the flowers right on my bike to enjoy.
We booked two nights in a hotel in Durango so we could have a day off the bikes, and took it easy all day. Couple museums, local beer of course, and a lot of blogging. I’m all caught up now!
Railroad museum
Cannabis museum.
Look below for link to next installment!