day 8
day 8
i knew this was going to happen, but it's odd none the less. a week ago i was wet and freezing, looking for shelter, preferably dry and with a hot shower. yesterday i was praying for water and the sun and heat were going to waste me away.
i did a stupid and naive thing, but got away with it. i wouldn't want to test that kind of luck too many times. i left john martin reservoir early in the morning under spectacular purple and yellow sunrise. 27 miles got me to bent's old fort, an adobe fort on the santa fe. the inside was closed, but i could walk the site. another 7 miles got me into la junta. to a subway, where i got a tuna sub, a big drink, and illegally filled my water bottles. seriously, it is against shutdown rules to refill a water bottle.
i knew i was going to need more water than just my two water bottles, it was 70 miles to walsenburg with nothing in between. clouds were all gone and the temps were starting to climb towards the mid 90's. but heading out of town there were no stores, no water. a few farms and houses for the first 10 miles, then sage. nothing but sage. no houses, no barns, some barbed wire fencing. i was having serious discussions with myself.
i figured if worse came to worse i could flag somebody down. at 50 miles i still had two full bottles, so i started rationing, a quarter bottle every 15 miles. sips at a time. i knew i could make it. fortunately i didn't need to prove how dillusional i was, at mile 43 i came on a house. i stopped, of course, there were 3 people sitting on the back porch. i asked if i could get a drink, the woman came back with 6 - 17 oz cold waters. i drank two while talked. i packed the other 4 for the ride. i eventually made it to walsenburg, exhausted and with one water bottle still partially full.
so i'm at lovely lathrop state park, taking a day of rest. went birding. yes, that's right. several interesting birds including magpies, which i haven't seen and have only seen 7 years ago on my cross ountry ride.
as it turned out, the people camping next to me were a couple with bike touring experience so we had a little discussion about that and what i can expect up the road. apparently once again, there is nothing between here and la veta pass, 30 mi, and then down to ft. garland, another 30 mi. so today, it was ride back into town to load up on water bottles and food. hopefully i'm learning important lessons. one interesting thing about colorado state parks is that the showers are not open yet. bathrooms, yes; showers, no. also, great sand dunes np is still closed, so i won't be going there. i may end up in a hotel tomorrow in alamosa. we'll see.
then, it's down the valley to taos, santa fe, and albuquerque. it looks like the present schedule will have me picking up a rental in albuquerque on monday, memorial day, and arriving home tue night.
all this assumes i can get up the mountain tomorrow. i forget i 'm at 6,400 feet here. about as high as i've ever riden (6,600 going through glacier). hope the wind settles down, it's been blowing strong all day out of the pass. i'll be up and going early while it's cool.
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