In daylight, the space behind the Hartsel bar looked more like a junkyard, but beggars can’t be choosers. We packed up and hit the gravel, which was far more washboardy than anyone wanted. But you get what you get! The land around Hartsel is kinda bizarre- on the map, it is plotted out with grids of roads and looks like a proper subdivision (in the middle of nowhere). In practice, the roads are all overgrown two-track and the lots are almost all empty. There are a few cute homesteads and many more.. creative structures interspersed. We don’t know the backstory here but there’s gotta be one. Despite the odd surroundings, the road quality improved as it climbed into lovely open sagebrush. The descent into Salida was unbelievably good with great gravel and amazing mountain vistas. We made good time into town, and Alyssa had plenty of time to get her bike fixed up at the shop. We hit a thrift store and found $5 dresses to wear about town while we did laundry at the hostel. Later, we enjoyed a pile of Mexican food and fell into a food coma. Salida is a great town!