Summary Details
Distance: 239 miles
Total Elevation Gain: 15,100 feet
Elapsed Time: 4 days
Riding Time: 18.6 hours
Loaded Bike Weight: 74 pounds
Well, I know you've all been anxiously awaiting the trip report from my most recent venture. It would have been published earlier, but I only had 3 hours at home in which to shower, unpack, and pack for a weekend of mountain biking with my son. That was also a great trip, and would be the subject of another trip report, except I won't be writing one!
I started bicycle touring with my brother while I was still in high school. At that time, nobody had ever heard of wearing bicycle helmets, and I don't think lycra had been invented. A full leather saddle was best conditioned by riding in a rainstorm (or what it your butt that was conditioned? Remember, Jim?) All this is prelude to asking how a svelte 22 pound touring bike becomes a 30 pound monster without adding any "stuff." Can it really be that a mirror, clipless pedals, frame pump, rear rack, front rack, aero bars, 3 bottle cages, tail light, bike computer, ... can add so much weight? All this indispensable stuff was unheard of when I started touring. Now add in lycra, fleece, gloves, ... and all the specialized biking wear that didn't exist before, and suddenly you're pushing 75 pounds up some pretty steep hills! I think all of this gear has improved comfort and performance, but it is tough to see the weight add up!
Even my most recent self-contained tour was over 14 years ago - a lovely tour of Nova Scotia with my wife Joyce during the BC (before children) period. We did add in helmets by this time, and I think we may have each had a pair of tights. But that was about it for "modern" equipment.
At any rate, I did do this tour as fully self-contained. I carried a tent, sleeping bag, pad, stove, pots, and food in front and rear panniers. Although I had most of my meals out, I did eat most breakfasts and two dinners in camp. As the date approached for my tour, the weather forecasts looked more and more ominous. The predictions were for constant rain. As it turned out, the day of the tour started with heavy fog, but I decided to head out anyway, figuring I was downhill to home if I needed to give it up!
The morning was bleak with heavy fog that threatened to turn to rain. I was extremely disappointed in the weather, but unwilling to give up on the trip. Since I had another commitment at the end of the week, it was either get started or cancel the whole tour. I decided that I could always backtrack if the weather turned too bad, so I got started. On Jack's excellent advice, I decided to start the tour after the hills around Horsetooth Reservoir, thus saving me 13.5 miles and about 1500' of climbing. Joyce dropped me off at the Bellvue post office for my start. As I wound my way on back roads to Ted's Place, I was pleasantly surprised to see how my bike handled fully loaded. If anything, the bike was more stable than without all the gear. As I headed up the Poudre Canyon, I was surprised to find that I "flew" up. I was averaging 15 to 17 mph the whole way up the lower canyon. Traffic was light and, in spite of the fog, I found myself having a good time. Later I discovered that I had a gentle tailwind in this section - which grew to a strong and welcome tailwind later.
I stopped at Rustic for lunch at the Glen Echo Cafe after learning that my favorite spot - Mountain Greenery - was closed. I wolfed down a bacon cheeseburger with fries and finished it off with pie. I love biking for what you can get away with eating while you're riding! As I lunched, the sun came out. The day remained partly cloudy to the end with no rain at all. The ride up the rest of the Poudre continued to be fairly easy, due in part to the strong tailwind. The only "grind" came in the last 10 miles to the summit of Cameron Pass. I had debated long and hard about whether to camp around the pass or continue on to Gould. The parks service made my choice easy by closing all the campgrounds from Big South onward. An apparent cost cutting measure as this was the day after Labor Day! Since I needed water, I decided to continue on over the pass. I screamed down the hill from Cameron Pass stopping a few times to take in the spectacular view. In spite of this, I was at the Ranger Lakes Campground outside of Gould in not time at all.
Since the Gould restaurant is closed on Monday and Tuesday, I decided on a delicious dinner of freeze dried Stroganoff (anything tastes good if you're hungry enough!) Then I did some exploring on the local hiking trails. I discovered that this was an area I had skied last February when I was in Gould for a Boy Scout Klondike Derby. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken a camera on my walk - there were some beautiful scenes. As 8PM rolled around and I started to think about going to bed, the neighbor turned up whatever game he was listening too so I'd be sure not to miss any of it! Then another guy down the road fired up his generator - presumable to enjoy some TV. None of that compared to the loud metallic banging that commenced at the same time. Ah, life in the wilderness!
I woke to a clear, crisp morning. My bike computer read the temperature as 42 degrees, but then it tends to read high! Since this was the same place I'd camped at 23 degrees below zero in February, I was inclined to believe it! On local advice I found that the Gould restaurant would be open for breakfast, so I packed up quickly and rode down the 4 miles to Gould anticipating a huge breakfast. This was not to be. It seems Jack was right, and the restaurant is never open for breakfast! By now, my craving for a big meal could no longer be satiated with Oatmeal, so I downed a Clif bar and set out for Walden, 25 miles down Colorado 14, looking for food. The first half of the ride was basically downhill, so I was averaging over 20 mph. I would have gone faster, but it was too cold! Eventually the route broke into rolling hills and I began to warm up. I came upon a guy walking from Zimmerman Lake to Steamboat Springs pulling 500 pounds of sand (I am not making this up!) He was trying to bring awareness to brain aneurysm research. We had a nice chat before I sped on to find food.
I was rewarded for my patience when I found a Walden restaurant offering all-you-can-eat breakfast for only $6.95. I went in with every intention of getting my money's worth - and I was not disappointed! With cereal, yogurt, french toast, waffles, eggs benedict, biscuits & gravy, sweet rolls, bagels, hash browns, ... it was a bike riders paradise! As it turned out, I ate so much that I was left with a killer stomach ache and had to nap for half an hour another 5 miles down the road!
From Walden I left Colorado 14 and headed south on Colorado 125 toward Rand. The road was basically rolling hills, but a slight headwind made going difficult. It was one of those roads you can see for 10's of miles as it continued down North Park, and hence was a little depressing. However, it ran through the Arapahoe Wildlife Preserve which was pretty neat. I spent a fair amount of time watching raptors (predator birds - hawks?) pursue their prey on the open prairie. It was exciting to watch. Looking south, I could see the town of Rand a full 10 miles before I arrived - it seemed like a desert mirage at which I was to never arrive. Once I got to Rand I "enjoyed" a packaged turkey sandwich, a sweet roll and a quart of Gatorade. Why I thought this sounded good after the morning's stomach ache I will never know! Be forewarned, the Rand store will no longer sell food - just books and gifts - starting in 1998. It was a long story about Colorado requiring upgrades to their gas pumps! They may, however, open a B&B.
The approach to Willow Creek Pass was supposed to be easy. The pass, at 9683' is only 1000' higher than Rand. I don't know if it was the food, or just the headwind into Rand, but I sure didn't enjoy the approach. The road continued to roll all the way to the pass. For every 100' you gained, you'd lose 50' before the next climb. It got old after a while. Once on the pass, it was a very fast 9 mile descent to the first campground, Denver Creek. I had the first rain of the trip here, but not until well after my tent was set up and all my gear was stowed. Since I'd had so much to eat the rest of the day, I enjoyed some Cream of Wheat and tea for a light dinner. The campground was pretty, and the bugs not too bad.
This was to be my "light riding" day of the tour. I'd recommend that, psychologically, you never consider any day to be light - then it's always tougher than you expect! This was not a hard day, but it was clear that I was getting tired. It had rained heavily through the night and I had to pack out a few extra pounds of water in the tent. The morning broke to heavy fog at 48 degrees. Since I still had a long descent, I put on all the clothes I brought and covered them with rain gear in a mostly successful attempt to keep warm. I was grateful that I had thrown in a head warmer at the last minute! As the fog broke slightly, there were beautiful pastoral scenes during my coast down the canyon. With a few short climbs, I joined US-40 heading east. After about 2 miles I turned on to US-34 heading north thus avoiding Granby and starting my ride toward Grand Lake. This was a mostly gentle, but sometimes steep climb. The road passes Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain Reservoir before reaching Grand Lake about 15 miles north of the road junction. There are spectacular views of the southern part of Rocky Mountain National Park all along this route.
I decided to treat myself to some relaxation in Grand Lake. I started with the requisite lunchtime breakfast of breakfast burritos and pancakes. Then I wandered the town and played tourist for a while. I even looked at some properties - this is definitely a nice place! As I final decided to leave town in the early afternoon, it began to rain and I spent about half an hour reading a book under the cover of someone's porch. They never did show up to complain!
I headed out of town toward RMNP. I stopped off to see the Grand Lake Lodge. This is a fantastic 1930's structure which overlooks the lake and town of Grand Lake. They call their deck "America's Favorite Front Porch" and it certainly deserved the appellation. This is definitely going to be a future stop. I headed the last 10 mile into the park and to the Timber Creek Campground. This CG is the easternmost one on the west side of the park. At 8900' it gave me a good start on the next day's climb.
It was fun to be in a park service campground after arriving by bike - except for the $12 fee! This particular campground doesn't have the $3 hike/bike in sites I expected. But, I was rewarded by being close enough to the Never Summer Ranch to be able to hike in from the site. I also enjoyed the ranger-led slide show on bears and mountain lions. (There are only about 15 bears and 30 mountain lions in Rocky - they think!) It did rain during dinner causing me to cook dinner (freeze-dried lasagna for 2) in my tent vestibule. As a result, I had condensation in the tent the rest of the night!
OK, let's dispense with the whining! Yes, I did cut off 17.5 mile of the trip by not going all the way home. But, it was mostly down hill, I'd ridden it hundreds of times before, and I had to pack for the mountain biking trip with my son Jeff. Sorry!
I was very excited about starting this day. I expected it to be the toughest, but the most scenic of my 4 days. I awoke before 6:00 in anticipation. Unfortunately, I awoke to cold fog. The temperature was again in the low 40's and everything felt damp. I packed quickly and downed my 2 oatmeals, 1 cream of wheat and hot chocolate to give me sustenance. I knew I could eat an early lunch at the Alpine Visitors Center at the top of Fall River Pass. The climb was steady and the fog stayed with me until I passed 10,000'. It was an eerie feeling to see the road disappear into nothing only a short distance ahead of me. I was blessed with little traffic and made good time.
As I broke out of the fog, I was able to see the clouds hanging in the valley below me. I was also passed by the only other cyclist I'd encountered on this trip! Without gear, he flew by too fast to say much. The climb up and over Milner Pass was rewarding. I stopped to explore the trails a bit here, but didn't stay too long due to the cool breeze. The final ascent to the Visitors Center was long and tough. As I crossed over 11,000', it got a bit tougher to breathe - but wasn't too bad. The good new came when I'd misjudged the road and found the Visitors Center about 1.5 miles sooner than I'd expected! Thoroughly famished I headed straight for the snack bar to order the carbo-loaded baked potato covered in chili and cheese. I was again foiled in trying to eat - it seems they don't serve "hot food" until lunch and I had arrived at 10:15! I settled for a bagel with cream cheese and a Danish to tide me over. Then I killed some time in the visitors center and gift shop waiting for the "hot food." I finally did get the potato, and then headed on up the road.
The last few miles from the Visitor's Center to Rock Cut are the toughest of the climb. It's still steep and the elevation is above 12,000' so there's little oxygen. I'd ridden this part before on my mountain bike after riding up Fall River Road with Jack, so I knew what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that I survived this part of the ride reasonably well. With only a stop or two, I made it to the top. There I donned my rain suit to act as a windbreaker and headed down. I must admit that I really don't like downhills all that much - it's too nerve-racking. This one proved worse than most since the strong winds continually pushed me all over the road. I was grateful when I was again riding in the trees and the wind was not so strong. By the time I arrived at Horseshoe Park, I was downright hot and gladly shed all my extra layers. From there it was a quick descent into Estes Park and my favorite eatery - the Safeway Deli.
Joyce had assured me that she would be happy to pick me up anywhere I wanted on Friday. I called to take her up on her kind offer. We agreed that we would each leave and meet up wherever our paths crossed. I sped down the Big Thompson Canyon (as fast as I could with a steady headwind) and finally met up with here at Viestenz-Smith Park. She'd even brought me a jug of ice water - what more could I want?
All in all, this was an excellent tour. The riding was great and the scenery spectacular. I rode in some fog and some cold, but never in hard rain (or snow!) I highly recommend this route to anyone.