I slept in this morning and as a result was rushing to get checked out of my hotel on time. After an early lunch and a couple errands I was headed south at about noon.
The landscape today was pretty dry like yesterday, with bluffs lining my path to the left and tall mountains to the distant south – where I was headed. The road was rather busy for a while but eventually the traffic calmed down after I got out of the vicinity of the “city.”
I reached a small town for lunch, but the only restaurant was closed so I had to eat at subway. It was to be a while until the next town so I stocked up on an additional 20 oz of water and headed towards the hills.
Passing over the first ridge, I was buffeted by a strong headwind. Great. Despite the winds though, I made my way up the 2000 ft climb with no difficulty and reached the pass at nearly 9000 feet.
Winding my way down the valley after the pass, I was surrounded by steep walls of pine trees and cliff faces. It was getting late in the afternoon and it was already pretty dark in the valley. The road turned south-east and my minimal shoulder completely disappeared. I found a restaurant/lodge a few miles later and had a nice dinner. They didn’t have any rooms available for the night though, so it was back on the road. It was a pretty bad road to ride on in the dark, with lots of curves as it wound between a river and cliffs.
As I rounded a corner, I found a van had stopped and its driver was hailing me. Apparently it was a free shuttle service and he offered me a lift to Telluride. I accepted and got dropped off at the town park/campground and pitched my tent in the dark.
Today’s mileage: 57 miles.
Total mileage: 2721 miles.
Thanks for the gorgeous pictures and the updates Galen. And another great break from the shuttle service when really needed! Sure liked your Uncle Dan’s note to play it by ear and never mind a set schedule if you don’t have to! This is an awesome solo journey already no matter what you decide to do from here! Bravo!