TransAm - Day #53
Trip Start
May 04, 2007
1
11
17
Trip End
Aug 05, 2007
Where I stayed
Frisco, Colorado
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
A week or more ago three of us with an unusual bank of energy, elected to do a "century". We rode from Ness City to Tribune, Kansas - traversing 105 miles with fully loaded (~50 lbs) bikes. As one might imagine upon arriving to our destination - Trail End's motel - we were ecstatic.
Leaving Kansas as I entered Crowley County, Colorado (east of Pueblo), I began to see an awesome sight ahead...not on the horizon - but above. There was the vague, majestic, daunting, untouchable (at that point), outline of the Sangre de Christo range of the Rocky Mountains. It was an amazing view from the Colorado high plains. What a sight it must have been for the early settlers of this area of the country! The majesty of the Rockies truly assumes the role of ruler of the western US. An inspirational sight, indeed!
We entered Pueblo, CO at an elevation of 4200-4300 ft. Our campsite was the maintenance yard of the city park. Facilities - showers, bathrooms - were located well on the other side of the park. It was an unpleasant setting and perhaps as a result, I left tent poles behind the next morning; our guide lost (or had stolen since the yard was maintained by prisoners) group funds and his ID, credit cards, etc; and another member left behind his toilet kit. Pueblo is not a city of interest to me.
However our next stop after Pueblo was Fort Gorge, a commercial camp and RV site at Royal Gorge. Our route took us through Canon City - a viable, old city with brick buildings of Spanish architectural style. We had a rest day at Fort Gorge during which 10 of us rafted the Arkansas. That afforded us a magnificent view of the Royal Gorge. The evening prior, nephew Lyn Myers of Colorado Springs visited and was kind to pick up tent poles for me from the REI shop in the "Springs". All of us enjoyed an evening meal and margaritas at the very popular (rafters) rustic restaurant across from our campsite.
Yesterday, a sentinel event of our trip - we, at 11,500 ft, crossed the Continental Divide at Hoosier Pass, Colorado. We were a jubilant bunch with plenty of "high fives" and photos to go around. Then we had an exhilarating 6-8 mile descent (max speed of 37 mph) into Breckenridge, stopping at the Breckenridge Brewpub and Restaurant for a congratulatory lunch and micro brew.
Here in Frisco, CO we are housed in our guide's (Frank) brother's home. I have the luxury of sleeping on a carpeted floor in addition to my Thermalite ½ inch air mattress. We, incidentally, have experienced sleeping on many different surfaces - porches, gravel, sand, and grass. Needless to say an uninterrupted night of sleep is rare indeed. We combined three travel days earlier into two. Thus we are taking two days off in Frisco. Tomorrow, four of us are going fly-fishing. Frisco is a very attractive city. It is an old mining community that has been refurbished with obviously very rigid architectural requirements. The main street is lined with restaurants and boutique shops as well as retailers focused on the outdoor oriented tourist trade. The city sits adjacent to Lake Dillon and has numerous bike paths though out the area. One connects Frisco with Breckenridge. Numerous second homes dominate the residential areas on the mountainsides of the two cities.
I had a massage this morning; so life is good. We have completed one-half of our trip; there are beautiful areas ahead of us.
Please excuse the rather disjointed content of these updates. I hope to embellish the travel journal upon completion of the trip.
James
Comments
Sounds Like You Haven't Been Roughing It!
You have been some places in a short time. You have taken me back to places where we spent our honeymoon throughout CO. Royal Gorge is just magnificant! Keep well and you are halfway there! Next time have a magarita for us! Love you, WW
You Go Dr. Nelson!
All of the QA Queens are wishing you well!
We're so glad to hear of your progress. We all agree that we would not have made it very far. We probably wouldn't make it out of the parking lot here at the hospital. Veronica just returned from a trip in Estes Park and Colorado Springs last week. She says that it's beautiful.
Meanwhile, everything is quite on Sanders Ave.
Keep moving! You're almost there!
Jessica and the QA Queens!