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.
