Location: Camped by Dillon Reservoir, Frisco, Colorado
The temperatures last night did not fall as I suspected them to do. I stayed warm in my 35̊ sleeping bag, and I even sweated a bit on my chest. The wind blew hard, but the heat stayed trapped in my tent and I was comfortable through the night. Because of my comfort, I fell back asleep twice in the morning, forcing Brian again to holler to get me up for good. We packed our bags and headed to Frisco, a short and uneventful 25 miles down the road. Much of the riding was on Highway 9, and the traffic was terrible. We had a break though from the cars when we merged onto a bike path that stretches from Silverthorne to Frisco to Breckenridge. The network of paths is really spectacular, and the residents and tourists in the area use them to walk and ride.
I envy these towns for their bike lanes, and I hope to discover similar lanes in Raleigh when I return. I’ve never really looked for them but they are there on the greenways. I love to see how progressive the towns and cities in the mountains and northeast have been, including the infrastructure for means of transportation alternate to cars. In Portland, Eugene, and those towns in Colorado, people were walking and riding bikes everywhere I looked. I suppose it takes three things to accomplish this, the space, the infrastructure, and the people desiring to build it and use it.
When Brian and I reached Frisco, we immediately went to the post office and picked up the packages that had been mailed to us. Mom sent drink mixes and candy, and Katie sent candy, snacks, and a Saltwater Sportsman magazine. I relished the treats and the thought that went into them, and I called Mom and Katie to thank them.
Surprisingly, Brian’s box had already arrived as well. It arrived quickly from Topsail. We thought that we would have an extra day waiting for the package, but no, now we can climb out of the valley and over Hoosier Pass tomorrow. The pass will be our highest point on the trek eastward, and it will be our last major climb in the Rockies. I greatly anticipate being done with the Rockies, though they have provided me with some of my most memorable experiences yet.
We loaded up all of our goodies from home, including the HAM radio that Brian purchased. We treated ourselves to a great lunch in a sit down restaurant and then a spin at the Laundromat. The afternoon warmed to a pleasantly high temperature, and I read my new book in the sunshine in the lot behind the Laundromat.
After casually finishing all our chores in town, we headed back to a campsite we had seen earlier in the day. We actually backtracked a few miles, but we had no option. Frisco and the surrounding areas aren’t accommodating to the meager budget of the touring cyclist. If the hostel in town hadn’t closed last year, I certainly would’ve considered staying there because even the USFS campsite is expensive and we don’t have access to a badly needed shower. We’ll be on the lookout over the next hundred miles for a shower. Hopefully we’ll stumble on one, because it’s been quite a while and we will soon be offending each other and ourselves.
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