Steamboat to Pumphouse Camp Sometime while I was on the bus the previous night another bikepacker came in and occupied the site right next to me. We didn’t get a chance to talk until the next morning. His name was Alvaro and he was from Mexico. Super interesting to talk to—he had a bike shop and restaurant in Mexico, and was on a walkabout of sorts in the US and Canada. While not following the GDMBR to the letter, he was on part of the route when we talked, then he was going to catch the bus to Denver. He was going to do the Baja divide with his daughter later this year, and we exchanged info so I could follow him. My plan for today was to get on the road relatively early, ride to a breakfast spot I had seen the night before, then go to a sports shop for a couple more freeze dried meals, then get on the road. I’m thinking 10. My first part goes well—the restaurant was super busy but they were able to fit a single in right away. Then I navigated to the sports shop down yet another really nice paved bike path. I found what I needed at the sports shop, then suddenly lost my mojo!?! I decided I wanted a coffee so went across the street to a coffee shop and had a latte and pastry. Then I went to the grocery store for I don’t know what!? I finally rolled out of town at the crack of noon. Sheesh! Once I got rolling, I was riding directly into a stiff headwind for about the first 10 miles. I entertained the thought of turning around and having a nice tailwind, but talked myself down from that. Mercifully, I entered a really cool sheltered canyon where I cycled up a nice small river in relative calm and smooth gravel road. The route transitioned to single track around a reservoir for a while, then back to gravel up and over a small pass. Good roads and sheltered riding made this section roll by fairly quickly. I did hang out under a tree for a while during a small thunderstorm, but it passed without getting me wet. I finally reached what looked Iike the high point of the ride, and then I had several miles of beautiful rolling country, only broken up by cows and hunters’ RVs. I got to ford my first creek, where I failed to keep my feet dry, and check out an old restored stagecoach station from the late 1800s. I had to stop again and let another thunderstorm pass. On I went until it really looked like the descent into the river valley was happening. While the descent WAS overall a descent, it had several creek drainages to cross. With each crossing, the road would plunge down, only to tilt back up in a quad-busting climb. After several of these, I was getting tired and realized I was losing daylight. I finally got to the point that I could see I had a sustained descent, and it was wonderful! I plunged down to river level in short order, and had to wait for a train at the only crossing in many miles! I looked at the route profile once more while waiting for the train, and realized I had one more notable climb prior to my intended campsite. I continued without delay and once the road turned and tilted up I could see more ominous clouds on the horizon. I pedaled with a little more urgency with the storm coming my way, but I was pretty empty at that point. I dogged on myself for getting on the road so late and having to race a thunderstorm, etc. Finally I reached the summit of the last hill, and sped down to the turn off to the BLM camp I had spotted as my destination. As I pulled up to the turn off, I saw a sign that said “reservations only”!?! As the first rain drops began to fall, I decided I was camping down there, reservations or not! As the rain and wind increased, I chose a spot that was unoccupied, donned my rain gear and worked on setting up camp via headlamp. My raingear worked great, but it was really hard to keep everything else dry during the downpour. The moment I got my tent fly with vestibule on, I put everything under that and retreated there myself. I sat there and gathered myself. I was hungry and tired, but now at least had a place out of the elements. I set up my little stove in the vestibule and made a cup of hot cocoa. Then I made a pouch of freeze dried food (pad Thai) that tasted better than it was, I’m sure! It was a long, surprisingly hard day. I was glad I was there, happy for all the things I saw that day, but pretty spent. I did not stay awake long after eating; exhaustion leading to a good nights’ sleep.