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It was a clear night and I slept well next to the creek which drowned out most other noise. At 8100 feet of elevation it was dramatically cooler in the morning when I woke up than any other place I've camped this trip. 51 degrees. But as soon as the sun came up in a few minutes it was 56. I carefully retraced my steps from the previous night through all the fire and flood damage and didn't get lost, although I took a different way out.
I enjoyed the gradual descent back to La Veta where topped off my food a bit and got going. I had to contend with more open prairie again. Today the wind changed to west, and I battled with it on the gradual climbing I had to do as my route went due west for awhile. But soon I turned north and as I got closer to the mountains they helped block it.
I arrived at the highway and near the little town of Gardner. I rode a tiny bit out of the way to see if there was somewhere I could top off my water bottles. My research had turned up a cafe and store, but it was closed and the building empty. There were two churches but the first didn't have a faucet and the second, newer one did but it was actually locked. First time I've seen that. Although it was the first Catholic church I've scoped out so maybe that's standard operating procedure. I was really close to going into the tiny post office and ask for water but I decided there had to be some water somewhere further on.
I was nervous about this point for all the days previous. Up until now I'd been climbing little hills on the prairie. Gardner was the base of the first real climb, 4000 feet of elevation gain. On paper it looked really gradual thankfully.
It started easy enough, rolling more than a constant gradual climb, and I kept my eye open for water around. The creek at the bottom that the road followed was dry as a bone, so of course there would be none further upstream. I passed a house that had a faucet out front, and I was desperate so I walked over the (broken) electric fence and tried it. Nothing. I continued on. Near the creek wash was a pasture with a herd of cows. They had to be getting water from somewhere. I spooked them even though I was on the other side of the wash and a quarter mile away. They ran upstream in the same direction I was going. I was hoping they would lead to a trough and windmill. I would have gladly trudged through the high grass. But nothing. They went up the hill opposite me. My route turned up the mountain opposite.
I pressed on, now not even on a gravel road but on a rocky forest service alternate road. But around a couple of bends I spotted a windmill faithfully turning and with two troughs beside. I felt so relieved. Everything was going to be ok.
Only nothing was coming out. It was pumping all right, but the well was dry. The two troughs were bare, not even a puddle. I pushed on. I was rationing my remaining 3/4 of a liter. And the sun was beating down on me while doing some serious climbing. I looked at my map and eventually I would climb up high enough that I would cross into another creek watershed. But that was several miles away, all of it hot climbing. I was already really thirsty.
The area did get rain as recently as a week ago. The road I was on had badly rutted, but dried mud. I found a rut that was deep enough that it still held a bit of water. I gathered some with a coke bottle but it was really muddy and my filter pretty much clogged right away. I gave up and continued on.
Eventually I rode by a little road that came off of my route. It looked like an scenic overlook or something. I felt a little sad because I was in no shape to be enjoying any views. But I glanced at the road and it had a very deep rut with a lot more water than the other one. I was able to get 2.5 liters filtered here, although it took awhile. But that allowed me to continue on for sure. Before, I was thinking I'd have to turnaround and go back to Gardner.
But now I knew I could at least make it to the other creek, although there was no guarantee that it would be flowing either. But after drinking up I did feel better and pressed on.
The climb turned out to not really be all that gradual. It had a lot of little downhills and flat sections. Most of the time when it went up it was between 5-7%.
After a while I finally came upon the creek I had been waiting for, and it was sure to have water because it shared my name. Sure enough, it was flowing quite good with very cold water. I really just wanted to drink it as it was but of course the entire mountain was open to cattle grazing despite it being National Forest land. So it would have been a really bad idea. Although it was very clean and after I filtered it, it tasted better than anything I've drank in a long time.
After my creek the climb stopped messing around and got down to business. It mostly was 7-9% with occasional 10-13% pitches as I got closer to the top. I really thought I would fade, both from fatigue and the elevation but it actually didn't bother me and I didn't have to walk at all. The last few miles were extremely rocky because the route kept heading off the main gravel road to lead me on an alternate. But I managed to ride it all.
At length I arrived at the top. By now the temperature was around 70 degrees, at 11200 feet. So I put on my rain jacket for the decent. Only the road kept rolling for a couple more miles. But eventually it went down and I enjoyed the descent except I had to be very diligent at spotting the washboard which was everywhere.
At the bottom just before the paved road I turned into the Ophir Creek campground and decided to actually be pay for a site. It's almost full despite it being Monday. But it seems like a nice spot. The water faucets don't work but I can easily filter water from the creek and there are plenty of toilets.
By: | WTR4 |
Started in: | Huerfano County, CO, US |
Distance: | 81.4 mi |
Selected: | 81.4 mi |
Elevation: | + 8833 / - 8116 ft |
Moving Time: | 08:03:15 |
Gear: | 2020 Lynskey GR300 |
Page Views: | 570 |
Departed: | Jul 12, 2021, 6:58 am |
Starts in: | Huerfano County, CO, US |
Distance: | 81.4 mi |
Selected distance: | 81.4 mi |
Elevation: | + 8833 / - 8116 ft |
Max Grade: | |
Avg Grade | |
Cat | |
FIETS | |
VAM | |
Ascent time | |
Descent time | |
Total Duration: | 11:12:12 |
Selection Duration: | 40332 |
Moving Time: | 08:03:15 |
Selection Moving Time: | 08:03:15 |
Stopped Time: | 03:08:57 |
Calories: | 4427 |
Max Watts: | |
Avg Watts: | 153 |
WR Power | |
Work | |
Max Speed: | 36.5 mph |
Avg Speed: | 10.1 mph |
Pace: | 00:08:15 |
Moving Pace: | 00:05:56 |
Max HR: | 138 bpm |
Min HR: | 68 bpm |
Avg HR: | 111 bpm |
Heartrate zones: | |
Zone 1: | 3 hours 20 minutes |
Zone 2: | 21 minutes |
Zone 3: | 0 minutes |
Zone 4: | 0 minutes |
Zone 5: | 0 minutes |
Best format for turn-by-turn directions on modern Garmin Edge Devices
Best format for turn by turn directions on Edge 500, 510. Will provide true turn by turn navigation on Edge 800, 810, 1000, Touring including custom cue entries. Great for training when we release those features. Not currently optimal for Virtual Partner.
Useful for uploading your activity to another service, keeping records on your own computer etc.
Useful for any GPS unit. Contains no cuesheet entries, only track information (breadcrumb trail). Will provide turn by turn directions (true navigation) on the Edge 705/800/810/1000/Touring, but will not have any custom cues. Works great for Mio Cyclo. Find GPS specific help in our help system.
Estimated Time shows a prediction of how long it would take you to ride a given route. This number is based on your recent riding history, and represents an estimate of moving time. Each time you upload a new ride, your Estimated Time profile will adjust to reflect your most recent riding. Only rides exceeding 10 miles (16 km) will affect these estimates.
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