Carlos Gutierrez

Day 41 – Monday, August 15th – Ojo Caliente to Taos, New Mexico

kcarlosgutierrez — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:42:00 GMT

I planned on hitting the hot springs at the 8:00am opening time, but ended up just hanging around the quite campsite going through my maps and working on a plan for the next few days…my trip is winding down and now I have to start decompressing. Once packed I swung by the hot springs office to check email…and met Frank and Cecilia, some folks I had seen at the monastery and then again at Ghost Ranch. We got to chatting and ended up having coffee on the veranda of the historic hotel – a stimulating conversation covering the quest for spiritual direction, Zen and the myriad faces of Christianity. Cecilia gave me some good leads – The Zen Christian Spirit by the Jesuit priest Robert Kennedy…the work of Carolyn Miss…Ignatius Loyola’s decision-making tools. I could have talked to Frank and Cecilia for days and days…but they’re headed to Albuquerque and I have 42 miles to before I reach Taos, I had a quick enchilada + green chili lunch at one of the roadside cafes, then I hit the road. I’m meeting so many interesting folks and we have so much to tell each other that I barely have time for cycling!

The 42 miles to Taos were easy – a long mild climb north out of Ojo Caliante, then east coasting 9 miles to Rio Grande River Gorge State Park, then north to reach the spectacular gorge bridge, finishing up with 10 flat easy miles to Taos (with a tailwind!). Once in Taos I called Barbara, my cousin Teri’s friend from Santa Cruz, who is going to put me up for a few days. My off-road adventure will end in Taos, not a bad place to end an amazing six week journey. After Taos I’ll go through Santa Fe where I’m excited to visit the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, then to Albuquerque for my flight to Baltimore on Saturday.

This is my penultimate post – my final story will have some reflections upon which I need to ruminate before uploading to the blogosphere.

Day 40 – Sunday, August 14th – Abiquiu to Ojo Caliente, New Mexico

kcarlosgutierrez — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:40:00 GMT

Beth cooked up some scrambled eggs and bagels and pumped me full of coffee. We sat around and chatted all morning about our travels through life and the reality show idea, visiting my blog and looking at all the pictures, and taking a tour of Wanda’s beautiful adobe home.

The road to Ojo Caliente turned north (and uphill) out of Abiquiu; in about two miles a white Toyota slowed down and pulled alongside – it was Gloria from the art gallery opening last night! I said I was having lunch at El Farito Restaurant in El Rito and asked Gloria to join me. Beth recommended this hole-in-the-wall which is known for its green chili dishes – Gloria knew the place and the lunch did not disappoint! Gloria then took me to her home – 18 acres bordering the Carson National Forest – and gave me a tour of the chicken coop, garden, house and rowing shells; we were led around by Valentino, Gloria’s 140 lb. very friendly Rotweiler who almost licked me to death!

After all the eating and talking and talking and eating I made it to Ojo Caliente, the historic hot springs, here’s the website: http://ojocalientesprings.com/

I had a mud bath ($91 + $10 tip) and soaked in the various hot pools (arsenic, sulphur, iron, etc.), then bedded down in the RV park ($20 for tents) – not a bad day, at all.

Day 39 – Saturday, August 13th – Ghost Ranch, to Abiquiu, New Mexico

kcarlosgutierrez — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:38:00 GMT

I lingered at Ghost Ranch and spent most of the day there, since I was enamored with the place and because I only had about 16 miles to ride today. The road to Abiquiu snaked through colorful sandstone canyons, almost like a painted desert. There was a stiff headwind and some hills to climb, but I was so relaxed and rejuvenated from my sojourn at Ghost Ranch that I didn’t much care – blow, baby, blow!

At the Abiquiu crossroads there were some guys in a beat-up truck selling fruit, so I stopped and shot the bull with them and bought a bunch of cherries. I stood around chomping on them and talking to one of the guys in Spanish about how hungry biking makes you. He happily agreed, and directed me to this art gallery about ½ block up the road that was having an opening. I ambled up there and met the gallery owners right out front, I told them I was just passing through on my way down from Yellowstone to the Mexican border, I guess they didn’t know what to think of me so they invited me inside! I was still hungry (the cherries didn’t cut it) so I loaded up on all sorts of tasty tapas and drinks to wash it all down. I started chatting with one of the other guests, Gloria, and she asked about my biking. She lives in El Rito, which I’ll pass tomorrow on my way to the hot springs at Ojo Caliente, and gave me her number in case I needed anything.

I hopped back on Boris (my bike) and the three of us (me, Boris and the trailer) headed about two miles down the road to the Old Abiquiu Bed & Breakfast, which has “cyclist only lodging” as listed on the Adventure Cycling Maps. I had called ahead and made a camping reservation ($15) with Beth. Beth answered the door to a beautiful adobe house; I explained that I was late because I got caught up at the art gallery opening down the road and there was all this food that had to be eaten. Beth is the house sitter for Wanda, who owns the house and is in Europe making a London-to-Rome pilgrimage. Wanda must be in pretty good shape…she’s 73!

Beth showed me the camping spot, which had a “Wanda’s Cove” sign on the small pavilion, down by the Rio Chama. Plenty of mosquitoes but it was an exceedingly charming spot with lights, electricity, a chaise lounge and even kerosene torches to keep the bugs away! I set up my tent right by the river then headed back to the house to have a shower. Beth is a real estate agent with Sotheby’s, based in Santa Fe, and she occasionally house sits when Wanda is travelling. Well Beth and I got along like a house on fire, and we came up with the idea of a reality show based on mountain bike racing and touring. I showed her my blog and went through some of the pix and the cast of colorful characters I’ve met along the way. Beth’s daughter is a casting executive for a network in New York…who knows where this reality show idea might go? I told Beth I can meet her daughter for lunch in New York before I head back to Prague.

Day 38 – Friday, August 12th – Ghost Ranch (layover day)

kcarlosgutierrez — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:37:00 GMT

I’m captivated by Ghost Ranch and decide to spend another night here. I luck out and snag a seat on the O’Keefe Landscape Tour at 1:30pm, led by a charming docent who shows us the specific O’Keefe painting that matches the tree or bluffs or mountain we stop to admire. After the tour I have a rough afternoon by the pool and hit the (“Always Open” 24/7) library to take care of some business. In the evening at the Agape Center there’s a talk by a visiting astronomer about tonight’s Perseid meteor shower. The group is impatient but we do see a couple of shooting stars which calms them down. Also I ran into the folks from the Stillpoint seminar (www.stillpointca.org) and we have a nice chat.

Day 37 – Thursday, August 11th – Echo Amphitheatre to Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

kcarlosgutierrez — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 04:43:00 GMT

About 9:00am the Forest Service Ranger (and his son) showed up in the familiar green g-ride pick-up to service the campground; I chatted him up and told him about my predicament. He said “wait here” and immediately left for home – 15 miles away – to get me a tube of rubber cement. Yay! By 10:30am I was back on the road again, feelin’ groovy.

The turn-off to the Benedictine abbey Christ in the Desert was just a mile down the road – this Catholic monastery is 13 miles up a rough gravel road. You gotta check this place out to believe it: http://www.christdesert.org/ How could I not visit a place like this? Anyway the road went up the Rio Chama canyon, not too steep but very washboarded, so I took it easy and stopped a few times to take a swim in the cold river, wave to rafters floating downstream, and have lunch + nap under an immense cottonwood tree.

Once at the monastery I attended the “Terce” prayers in the chapel, sung in Gregorian chant by the 15 monks. The windows of the chapel gaze out over the sandstone bluffs of the canyon – impressionistic. There is no cell phone service…no telephone…no Internet…no mail service or package delivery…only a few lights powered by the abbey’s solar array. I had planned on staying two nights there, but some of the literature about guest guidelines and policies turned me off so I headed back down the 13-mile gravel road, stopping off at the river for another swim.

Just before the highway there was a green van stopped on the side of the road, with the doors open and the hood up, and the four occupants standing outside. This van passed me about a mile back; they had a flat tire with no spare (boy, do I know what that’s like!).

Anyway these folks had been as the monastery and were on their way back to Ghost Ranch, which was also my destination. I told them that I had planned on staying at the monastery but then decided against it – they said “well, come stay with us at Ghost Ranch instead, and hurry up because dinner is only served until 6:30pm!” Fortunately it was only about 3 miles to Ghost Ranch, where I met these folks for dinner in the cafeteria. I ate enough for three people!

Here’s the website for Ghost Ranch http://www.ghostranch.org/ another place you have to experience to believe! This was the hangout of the artist Georgia O’Keefe and I’ve been looking forward to visiting here – I’m a big fan of her art.

Well it turns out the folks who invited me to dinner (Judith, Christopher, Ravi and Joe) were conducting a spiritual retreat at Ghost Ranch – The Art of Spiritual Direction. The four were rescued by Ed, Ghost Ranch Program Director, who invited me to camp in his yard. Sweet baby Jesus – how my luck changed! Less than an hour ago I was rumbling down a dusty, rocky road fleeing the inhospitable rules of the abbey…and I fall into the arms of four very welcoming spiritual guides who feed and house and nurture me by inviting me to an evening seminar about the femal spiritual artist Meinrad Craighead http://www.meinradcraighead.com/. And we were brought together by two flat tires!

I chatted several of the seminar participants over glasses of wine and cheese, and with Ravi about his spiritual journey as both a Hindu and Christian – lots to think about as I dozed off to sleep under a big cottonwood in Ed’s yard…the quiet whir of the sprinklers watering the alfalfa fields…soft winds drifting down from the sandstone bluffs…the full moon crying out to be admired…

Day 36 – Wednesday, August 10th – Chama to Echo Amphitheatre, New Mexico

kcarlosgutierrez — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 03:35:00 GMT

I lingered in Chama, visiting the rail yard and chatting it up with some volunteers busy restoring one of the box cars, then walking around the small historic downtown area and talking with some locals at the coffee shop. There I met Jim, proprietor of the Narrow Gauge Gift Shop, who invited me to the shop and the small inn he and his partner built above it. Jim sent me off with a small box of chocolates – I promised to look him up when I return to the area next year (I’d like to take the moonlight cruise on the Cumbres & Toltec railroad).

About an hour south of Chama I stopped in the small town of Tierra Amarilla after I saw this cool-looking sign for the Three Ravens Coffee Shop. Hailing from Baltimore where Edgar Allen Poe made ravens famous, how could I resist stopping at a place with such a name? I couldn’t. The town had just a few buildings, including an impressive-looking court house, adjacent jail, and the coffee shop. While ordering my café breve I met Phil, Barista/Owner, who was lured from his home in California a decade ago by a woman artist from Tierra Amarilla. She’s now his wife. Phil also makes box drums, and while we were chatting he sat on one of them and give me a mini concert. We talked of bicycle touring and our common love of coffee, Phil’s epic ride of many years ago when he go this Bianchi road bike up to 62 miles on a downhill run, his relationship with his son, then I told Phil about the legacy of Francesco Illy (of Illy Café, from Trieste, Italy) and he told me of his friendship with Alfred Peets (of Peets Coffee in the San Francisco Bay Area). What a warm person and a warm place!

The day’s ride was gently rolling, then mostly downhill about 35 miles south of Chama. I stopped at the Echo Amphitheatre, a large sort of open cave where sounds naturally echo off the sandstone canyon walls. While in the parking lot I noticed my trailer tire was flat – no problem, I just throw a patch on it and continue on my way to Abiquiu…or Christ in the Desert Benedictine monastery…or Ghost Ranch…or the Army Corps of Engineers campsite at the Abiquiu Reservior (I figured I’d let the afternoon decide which path to take).

Anyway I set to patching the tire: I remove the tube, find the hole caused by a small metal staple, mark and rough up the spot…only to find my rubber cement tube all dried up. Um…Houston, we have a problem. Some folks from Espaňola offer to take me to Abiquiu, but they’re driving a small Kia sedan and there are five of them, and although I have no idea how I’m gonna find any rubber cement to fix the trailer tire in a small town, I’m sure all the shops in Abiquiu are closed by now (it’s 7:00pm). Plus there is no way me and Boris and Boris’ tail (the trailer) are gonna fit with all those folks in that small car…

There’s a nice campground right here at the Echo Amphitheatre, so I figure I’ll just camp here and figure out what to do tomorrow. There’s one campsite (#8) with a load of firewood next to the fire ring, so of course I take that one. Happily I find the bathroom has hot water (yay!) so I fill up my collapsible REI bucket and take a bath. There is nobody else in the campground so I act like I own the place, walking around naked to dry off after my bucket bath, gathering kindling in my birthday suit, unpacking my trailer bag, etc. Life is grand.

I have a little can of Libby’s Vienna Sausages for an appetizer while I cook up some Ramen noodles for supper. This is nasty food but it sure tastes good while you’re on the trail! It’s windy out so I keep the fire small. The moon is full and illuminates the walls of the Echo Amphitheatre and the Rio Chama River valley which is stretched out before me. The far off town’s lights glisten in the evening air and the moon reflects off the water of Abiquiu Reservoir.

Serendipity once again – this is a pretty sweet place to have a breakdown. I just hope the cougars (mountain lions) don’t get me tonight…

Day 35 – Tuesday, August 9th – Antonito to Chama, New Mexico (via Cumbres & Toltec steam train)

kcarlosgutierrez — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 03:32:00 GMT

Oh I forgot to mention that while I was checking out the mini-RV park last night, a hobo wandered by and directed me to an old railroad box car where I could sleep that was clean and warm and dry; he knew because he had spent a few nights there himself! I went over to check it out and was planning on sleeping there, until Justin’s much better offer materialized. Serendipity (I told Basti that’s my favorite English world, although I don’t think it translates easily into German) is the one thing I like best about traveling by bike – you never know when your luck is gonna change…from headwind to tailwind…from cold-and-lonely to fat-and-happy…from freezing downpours to sunshine and lemon drops!

The steam train ride was great – something very different and unique and definitely worth the detour of the Great Divide Route. The huffing, snorting, steaming locomotive was impressive – massive and fearful up close, yet dwarfed when approaching full-growth Ponderosa pine trees and while snaking it’s way around the bottomless Toltec George. I cannot do the trip justice in this post and you can get a better feel for the grandeur by visiting the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad’s website: http://www.cumbrestoltec.com Also there are some good videos on YouTube.

Day 34 – Monday, August 8th – Conejos Campground to Antonito, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 03:30:00 GMT

My clothes weren’t totally dry because they were frozen – it was a cold one last night and I woke up about 7:00am to see frost on everything! I didn’t put the fly on my tent because I wanted to enjoy the moon and the stars while dozing off, and the night’s steep temperature drop caused lots of condensation on my sleeping bag – it was a little bit icy on the outside when I woke up. Normally the condensation is on the tent fly…but that was packed away so the condensation was on me.

A short five miles to Horca, a hamlet with a few tourist services, where I lunched on a burger + fries. With all my maps laid out on the table, I decided to make a detour to Antonito, the eastern terminus of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, America’s highest and longest coal-fired steam narrow-gauge railroad. The fare is $103 one-way from Antonito (Colorado) to Chama (New Mexico) and takes me over several passes, and includes an all-you-can-eat lunch at Cumbres Pass and the $10 fee for taking my bike + trailer. Then from Chama I’ll ride about 60 miles down Rt. 84 to Abiquiu where I will rejoin the Great Divide Route.

The ride to Antonito was downhill plus I had a strong tailwind – I basically coasted the whole way! Once in Antonito I spent some time watching the 1925 Baldwin Locomotive Works steam engine being serviced for tomorrow’s run – loading 5,000 gallons of water and a tender of coal. Then I rode around town and looked for a place to camp, which ended up being the mini RV park behind the hotel next the train depot. I scored a 59 cent burrito at the grocery store for dinner, then went to the restaurant/bar next to the hotel for a beer before bedding down.

The restaurant was empty except for two impossibly cute college guys – Justin, from Antonito (his mother runs the restaurant), and his boyfriend Basti, from Bremen, Germany. Justin fixed me up some nachos and served them at the bar, and after he closed the restaurant he came by for a chat, along with Basti. Justin studies biology and German in Colorado Springs and spent last semester in Germany on a State Department scholarship; Basti studies personnel management at a German university. They met at Hanover Pride and quickly fell in love, so Basti came to Antonito two weeks ago for a visit. I really liked these guys and I relished the time we spent talking over a couple of beers. Justin asked me where I was staying and I replied right next door, camping in the mini-RV park behind the hotel. I told them about my trip and how cold it got the other night at the Conejos Campground when I woke up to the heavy frost. Justin took pity on me and invited me to spend the night at his mother’s house, and of course I accepted!

We left Boris (I decided to name my bike “Boris” because although it’s an old Trek bike it’s made from butted steel tubing and therefore strong like a Russian tank, and with no suspension it’s rigid in character, like most Russians I’ve met) in the restaurant and headed to Justin’s mother’s house on the outskirts of town, riding in Justin’s old Honda Accord with 350,000 miles on it. Unfortunately we had to get up early because they were driving to Denver tomorrow (4 hours by car) to meet up at Water World with Justin’s mother and sisters.

I was impressed with these two guys and appreciated our serendipitous meeting – not so much because of Justin’s million-dollar-smile and Basti’s ready-for-modeling-physique – but more so because of their authentic presence in very small town America, their trans-Atlantic quest for love and emotional fulfillment – and most of all for taking in a total stranger (me). I invited them to Prague where I promised that we’ll have more fun than should be allowed!

Day 33 – Sunday, August 7th – Indiana Pass to Conejos Campground, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Tue, 9 Aug 2011 08:16:00 GMT

The day dawned cool and clear – not a cloud in the sky, although it got pretty cold last night. After coffee and oatmeal I hit the trail at 9:00am, mostly downhill to Summitville, the EPA Superfund Site (old mining operation) and ghost town. The few buildings left are in a slow state of collapsing – someone ought to restore the place before it disappears!

I was running low on water, and my maps warned of drinking water in the area due to contamination from the mining operations, so I bummed some water from some RVers, they could not believe I came from Yellowstone! I can’t believe it, either. Then I met a day mountain biker from Kansas, he was pretty excited to meet a Great Divide rider and even took my picture. I got his email address and I’ll email him the link to my web blog.

I lunched at Skyline Lodge (burger + fries) and had an easy afternoon ride through the Conejos River basin. At Gold Pan, a small mercantile in Platoro, I met Mandy, another cycling enthusiast, her boyfriend and his dog. They offered me some pizza which I readily accepted (even though I just finished a big lunch at Skyline Lodge!). When you offer a cyclist food he/she will invariably accept – it’s a rule of the road!

To finish the day I traveled another 20 miles mostly downhill on heavily washboarded roads, camping along the Conejos River at a primitive site. I took a swim in the river with my cycling clothes on to wash them, hoping they would dry by morning.

Day 32 – Saturday, August 6th – Del Norte to Indiana Pass, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Tue, 9 Aug 2011 08:15:00 GMT

I got a late start today – didn’t hit the trail until 2:00pm. In the morning Patti, Gary and I hit the pancake breakfast which was part of the 1^st annual “Covered Wagon Days” weekend in Del Norte. While there I ran into Matt, a Colorado Conservation Corps trail worker I met at the hostel in Salida.

Then back at Gary and Patti’s house I went through all my gear and ended up mailing home 5 lbs. of stuff to lighten my trailer load. Gary and Patti are ultra light mountain bikers…no trailer…no racks…just a few minimalist packs on their bikes with lots of lightweight gear. No stoves, pots or utensils – they eat “cold.” No tent – they sleep under a 10oz. tarp. Well, I’m not traveling ultra light, but at least I left Del Norte 5 lbs. lighter…

Although not ridiculously steep, the climb to Indiana pass was long…and since I got a late start I didn’t crest the 11,910ft/3,630m pass until 8:00pm. I took the first campsite after the pass, a sweet little number nestled among conifers with lots of firewood and a wilderness toilet someone had constructed back in the trees. The moon was half full and the sky was clear – with my nice little fire I had an enchanting evening, camped at the highest elevation along the entire Great Divide Route.

Day 31 – Friday, August 5th – Sagauche to Del Norte, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Sun, 7 Aug 2011 04:59:00 GMT

I left the motorcycle rally after muscling in on the group pancake breakfast and headed towards La Garita on paved Rt. 285 – an easy 23 miles with no headwind. I had a 2^nd breakfast at the small restaurant – a very tasty egg and sausage breakfast burrito with green chile. There was an eerie church and cemetery on the outskirts of town, I walked around and got some good pics (check the PHOTOS tab).

Next stop was Penitente Canyon, a climber’s paradise! My Blackberry photos don’t do the place justice – Google for some better photos, and if you’re into climbing here are the details about what you can do: http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/photos/search.cgi?AreaID=2499&AreaID-opt==

On the way towards Del Norte I was chased by afternoon thunderstorms…and made it to the café in Del Norte minutes ahead of a massive downpour! I stayed with Patti Kelley and Gary Blakley from the services section on the Great Divide Route map, enjoying their beautiful restored home, warm bed, and cycle touring hospitality!

Day 30 – Thursday, August 4th – Upper Dome Lake to Saguache, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Sun, 7 Aug 2011 04:49:00 GMT

It was an easy climb through clear weather on good roads to Cochetopa Pass (10,000’/3,058m) – nothing to complain about! I stopped in USFS Luder’s Creek Campground, met Chris Ivich and his dog Rufus (both escaping the heat at home in Oklahoma). Chris pointed out the spring at the end of the campground, and a few mushrooms that I should avoid stepping on as he was planning on having them for supper. Chris also invited me to lunch – we dined on some locally made bread and I supplemented my normal tuna with some relish, horseradish sauce, and mayonnaise, things you usually don’t get while on the trial. Tasty!

The normal afternoon thunderstorms were gathering and it started to rain, so I decided to forgo the GDR roads and detour through Saguache where there was in interesting little museum, highlighting the notorious Alferd E. Packer, the “Colorado Cannibal” who was out with some companions, got into a fight and either were killed by Packer or killed each other, then Packer ate them. Here you can read more about it: http://museumtrail.org/AlferdPacker.asp

At the museum I met Kenny and Bernie – two dirt bikers who stayed at the hostel in Salida…small world! Turned out the dirt bike rally they were attending was right down the road at the RV park, so I headed down there and paid my $8.00 for a tent site. I met Gary and Kay in their 5^th wheel trailer – they offered me a sumptuous dinner of homemade chicken soup and homemade peach cobbler.

Day 29 – Wednesday, August 3rd – Marshall Pass to Upper Dome Lake, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Sun, 7 Aug 2011 04:39:00 GMT

The morning was easy - downhill 9 miles on nicely graded roads (albeit with some fresh cow crap, ostensibly from the herd I ran out of my camp after waking up). I passed through the hamlet of Sargents, unfortunately the café was closed so I couldn’t get a 2^nd breakfast, but I did get an unsecured WiFi signal so I checked emails. No phone service, though, this AT&T prepaid card is only useful in the larger towns and cities.

I camped at Upper Dome Lake instead of the recommended day’s end on the other side of Cochetopa Pass, due to the pile of nice firewood in the campsite, the proximity of a concrete craphouse, tired legs, and a pump for water. Oh yeah and the nice lake where I took a bath in my birthday suit.

While setting up my tent another GDR rider came by – Bobby Dery from Grand Junction, Colorado. He’s an emergency room physician and was out for a six day ride, traveling ultra light without panniers or a trailer. He had 4 packs:

1/ Camelback with 100oz. bladder + gear

2/ Bike frame pack with a Platypus 100oz. bladder + gear

3/ Under-the-handlebar bag with tent, sleeping pad and ground cloth

4/ Rear-facing seat bag with sleeping bag, clothing and a very small alcohol stove

Nice full-suspension 29er bike, too. All-in-all his gear + packs weighed only 13lbs/8kgs! I don’t even want to think about what I’m carrying in my trailer…

After all the gear and life and travel talk, I made another big ass fire, we watched the lightening of far-off storms, enjoyed the night sky, then bedded down.

Day 28 – Tuesday, August 2nd – Salida to Marshall Pass Campground (6.2m west), Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Sun, 7 Aug 2011 04:29:00 GMT

Hit the trail about 11:30am after answering emails in the hostel and arranging a shuttle ride for the end of my trip, from Silver City, New Mexico to the airport in El Paso, Texas. Felt sorry to be leaving the hostel – it’s a cool place and I met some interesting folks there.

I took the hard road up to Marshall Pass (Road 203 instead of the 4% railroad grade Road 200) and ended up walking 2/3 of the way because the road was very steep and very rocky. I crested Marshall Pass about 6:30pm with looming clouds and raced downhill to the sweet campsite about 6 miles away. The campsite was in a grove of aspen trees with a creek nearby. It was cold and damp so I made another big ass fire. It rained most of the night and I woke up to the mooing and snorting of a herd of cows in my campsite, munching on the grass under the aspen trees.

Day 26/27 – Sunday + Monday – Salida, Colorado (layover days)

kcarlosgutierrez — Sun, 7 Aug 2011 04:22:00 GMT

After stopping by Café Dawn for my morning latte and then Safeway to load up on groceries, on the way out of town I started to have some shifting problems, and although it was Sunday I figured the bike shop (Absolute Bikes) was open because of the weekend races in town, so I swung by and had the mechanic take a look at my bike. Well the mechanic (Scott) was a magician – the best I’ve ever seen! – and he took care of my shifting problem and a bunch of other small issues that had been bothering me. All the bike shops I’ve visited along the Great Divide Route have been great about seeing you right way – no appointment, no waiting, it’s really nice to have them understand that you’re just passing through and can’t leave your bike and pick it up next week.

While waiting for Scott to finish with my bike, I thought about of all the mountain towns I’ve passed through in the past few weeks, I like Salida the most – large enough to have all the goodies (great bike shop, thriving main street, Safeway) but small enough to be personal (like Matt waving to me from the corner when I turned into town!). So I decide to stay another day (ended up being two more days) at the Simple Lodge & Hostel, which I had read about online – bunks for $23 a night and it’s located right on main street. The hostel was closed until 4:00pm, so I went to the public library and worked on my journal for a few hours.

At the hostel I met a bunch of backpackers – David from Durango, Colorado who was several weeks into climbing the various 14,000’ peaks in Colorado; Paul from Chicago who was hiking portions of the Continental Divide Trail, and Shawn from Louisville who was doing day hikes and climbing the local peaks. Although we just met each other I sensed there was some positive chemistry between us, so I suggested that we do some grilling on the Weber grill out back, and afterwards make a trip to Cottonwood Hot Springs (Shawn offered to drive us in his F-150 pick-up. Then the four of us set off to the outfitter for some camping gas for David and then to Safeway for the grilling goodies – Paul wanted Steak, Shawn wanted boneless chicken breasts, David wanted veggie burgers, and I got a package of drumsticks, plus fixings for a big summer salad.

After shopping I went for a dip in the Arkansas River, which flows through the edge of town (only two blocks from the hostel), then I got to starting the charcoal grill and cutting up things for the salad. The other guys brought some beer and we really had a nice time talking about backpacking and bikepacking. We were joined by a dirt bikers, Rick from Tampa and Kenny from Oaklahoma, who were passing through town on their way to a rally.

It’s interesting how a community of like-minded travelers can come together spontaneously, share some comforting time together, and then go their separate ways. I guess that’s the beauty of a hostel – I love them!

Day 25– Saturday, July 30th – Salida, Colorado (layover day)

kcarlosgutierrez — Tue, 2 Aug 2011 01:43:00 GMT

Matt rustled up feta cheese omelets made from fresh eggs (their chickens) and chard (their garden). We talked about bicycle touring, the Camino de Santiago, and I walked Ethan through my Great Divide maps, explaining the map key, elevation profiles and the average temperature + rainfall charts.

Matt then handed over the key to his Toyota truck so I could visit Cottonwood Hot Springs. The family was headed to the county fair for 4H competitions and more rodeo-watching. I spent the morning touring downtown Salida, watching the bike race that was in town for the weekend and walking through the farmer’s market.

Then I headed to the hot springs to spend the afternoon soaking in the pools. Got back to Matt’s ranch about 9:00pm and laid out my maps and did some route planning and figuring out how and where to end the trip…Eric and Shirl will meet me in Santa Fe? Silver City? Push to the border at Antelope Wells? Then how to get to El Paso for my flight to Baltimore?

Day 24 – Friday, July 29th – Hartsel to Salida, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Tue, 2 Aug 2011 01:38:00 GMT

Phil and Shannon kept going on about the warmshowers.org bicycle touring Internet site, so I got on there, signed up, and found a host in Salida – Matt Burley. I emailed him in Breckenridge and got his response the next day when I stopped for lunch at the Eating House in Como, he’s up for hosting me and gave me his cell number.

The ride out of Hartsel was mostly flat but lots of washboard sections. Without front suspension this slows the ride considerably because your teeth rattle. Lunched at a spot shaded by Aspens and watched thunderstorms north and south of me. One nailed me with rain and hail but I found a big pine tree and waited the storm out next to the trunk, I stayed reasonably dry. After the rain stopped I hit the road again, crossing a treeless meadow…and suddenly CRACK POP BOOM SLAM a thunderhead let loose right above my head, scaring the living hell out of me. And I’m not the kind that scares easily. The sound almost knocked me off my bike…I hit the ground and huddled against the tallest thing around, which was a fence post, not too comforting. I take stock of my situation: Here I am crossing this meadow, the highest thing around, and I’m traveling with a metal bicycle towing a metal trailer.

After a few minutes I got back on the bike, figuring the storms were moving away from me, and while crossing under a power line it happened again CRACK POP BOOM SLAM. This time I was near some Aspens, so I got in among them and waited. I haven’t been truly scared too many times in my life, but this was one of them. Two cars went by, and the third one was a big Dodge Ram pickup, so I flagged down the rancher and asked if he would give a lift away from the storms. No problem he said – so I piled in the back and dropped me off about 3 miles down the road, at the crest of the hill between Park and Freemont counties.

From there a monster 9-mile descent into Salida – ostensibly the best downhill on the entire Great Divide Route! Had to stop a few times to let the brakes cool off. Views of the Sawatch Valley were spectacular. I crossed the Arkansas River and turned left on Rt. 191, and as I’m making the turn a guy was on the corner of this medical clinic waving to me – it was Matt from warmshowers.org! Turns out he’s a doctor and his new clinic is right on the Great Divide route. I guess I’m easy to recognize with the trailer I’m pulling. We greet each other – since we share a love for bicycle touring we’re instant friends.

Matt invites me to the local Rodeo where his son and daughter (Ethan 10 and Quinn 8) are going to be in the pig chase later that afternoon. I ride downtown to visit the local bike shop (Absolute Bikes), and grab a quick latte at Café Dawn, then Matt cycles by and we ride out to the county fairgrounds to meet Matt’s family (wife Leslie and kids) and spend the next few hours watching the local talent at various rodeo competitions, including the pig chase, sheep ride, wild cow ride, calf roping, and trailer loading! It was a great evening; we suppered on fairground food (pulled pork and ring fries) and then loaded everything into the family Toyota for the trip home.

Home for Matt and Leslie is a 40-acre ranch with some outbuildings from the 1800’s and a rebuilt farmhouse. My quarters were the bunkhouse – a building made from locally salvaged railroad ties.

Day 23 – Thursday, July 28th – Selkirk Campground to Hartsel, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Tue, 2 Aug 2011 01:17:00 GMT

Woke up to one good thing + one bad thing…a clear blue sky, which I needed to dry out and warm me up…and a dead field mouse in my water bucket, which I left out after I filled it up from the creek last night. Poor mouse, I hope it’s not a bad omen. Then I was chatting with some fellow campers from Kansas who came here “to escape the Kansas heat” – they succeeded…it snowed last night!

I was worried that the road would be sloppy, but by the time I hit the trail (9:30am) it was mostly dried out. The run to Como was downhill with good vistas of the South Park valley, totally ringed by mountains. Como has several historical high line railroad buildings – I lunched in the “Eating House” and enjoyed the free WiFi. There’s an interesting stone engine roundhouse but it was fenced in so I could not have a close look.

Then I cycled 25 easy miles to Hartsel through South Park – basically a big meadow with a mostly flat road through it. The clouds had thickened and I could see a few thunderstorms – one to the east and one to the south – but other than a few sprinkles I was able to dodge them. Arrived in Hartsel (population 100) about 5:30pm with nowhere to camp…but the locals at the bar told me I could camp at the Community Center, which is where I am now. Had a tasty bison burger and $1.25 Happy Hour Rolling Rock beers. Set my tent up in the rocky grass around the Community Center pavilion and bedded down early – more and harder miles tomorrow, to Salida.

Day 22 – Wednesday, July 27th – Silverthorne to Selkirk Campground, Colorado

kcarlosgutierrez — Tue, 2 Aug 2011 01:10:00 GMT

After almost a week traveling and camping together, Phil and Shannon and I split up – already we seem like good friends! They head towards Boulder for a Craig’s List rideshare towards Austin and I take the paved bike path 15 miles to Breckenridge, passing through the small town of Frisco with a charming Main Street. My hair was out of control so I stopped for a trim.

In Breckenridge I hung out at the Starbucks to catch up on this journal, organize my pictures, catch up on email, etc. Not much mileage today (28), but I have to cross Boreas Pass on a gravel road, elevation 11,500’. The road follows the old high line Denver, South Pass and Pacific Railroad so the climb is gentle – 4% and I do it mostly using my middle chain ring (no granny gear). I’m passed by a bunch of mountain bike racers who must wonder at the loaded trailer I’m pulling.

As I crest the pass there are some old railroad buildings and a box car, and sitting on a bench right at the top is this figure all dressed in white with a long beard and Whoppi Goldbereg glasses…I rub my eyes and think I’m seeing Jesus…but fortunately it’s just some hiker taking a break. We wave to each other but don’t speak. I check out the railroading historical panels and warily eye the foul weather approaching, but I calculate I can make the campground before I get rained on.

Wrong. About ½ way down I get slammed – rain sleet hail wind thunder lightening – I stop and put on my fleece jacket and rain gear, but the rest of me gets soaked and in five minutes my hands (in open-fingered gloves) are feeling frostbitten and my toes (in open sandals) are freezing. Although the road is downhill and I could theoretically go fast, but I don’t have any fenders so I have to go slow to avoid mud being splattered all over my back by the rear tire and all over my everything else by the front tire. And the trailer doesn’t have a fender, either. Boy, what I wouldn’t pay for some nice fenders right about now… Anyway I coast my way to the Selkirk Campground road, 1 mile off route, and have to decide to continue five miles to the settlement of Como or do the campground. Hmm… My hands and feet are frozen so I opt for the campground, which has about 30 sites but only two other campers. Then there is no potable water, so I have to sludge out to the creek and get some water to cook with. I make something hot to eat (Mexican rice), set up the tent, and dive into the down bag. It rains a lot all night but I’m high and dry, chuckling to myself about what a crazy trip this Great Divide Route is…

Day 21 – Tuesday, July 26th – Kremmling to Silverthorne

kcarlosgutierrez — Tue, 2 Aug 2011 01:04:00 GMT

Shannon had arranged a warmshowers.org host in Silverthorne – my first with a host using this Internet-based community of touring bicyclists. Since we were exhausted from the climbs out of Radium yesterday, and since we got a late start (10:30am), I acquiesced and we rode the highway to Silverthorne instead of taking the GDR on gravel roads, which had many more ups and downs and a 9,000’ pass to boot. Distance was 38 miles – first half with no shoulder and lots of heavy truck traffic – harrowing!

We stayed at John and JC Sabal’s house – sleeping on carpets on the garage floor, Domino’s pizza for dinner, and lots of talk about bicycle touring, winemaking, and the Camino de Santiago in Spain, which John and JC are planning to do next month. I’m all over this warmshowers.org thing – best thing since sliced bread!