June 9, 2010
Day 42: Dolores to Rico
54F in the tent at 6 AM, perfect. I got on the road at 8:30. Today will be a short easy day, less than 40 miles upstream to Rico. Highway 145 stays close to the river all the way to Rico. The forested mountains looked wonderful.
The temperature climbed to 85F in the afternoon. Noticeably cooler as I gain elevation. As usual I had a southwest tailwind.
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I took a long stop in Rico (population 205, elevation 8825 ft.). Rico was once a thriving mining town, but now it's a very small low-key historic tourist town. I had lunch at the Mine Shaft hotel because the main cafe was closed. I used the Wi-Fi for quite a while, and finally left Rico at 4 PM to find the hot spring.
Rico hot spring is exactly 1 mile from downtown Rico. It's near a gravel road about 1/4 off the highway, across the river from the highway. The water has a high mineral content that builds travertine that looks very similar to my local hot spring (Umpqua hot spring). It's only a few feet from the river, so you can cool down there any time. The water was 110F when I got there, so I diverted the flow and waited an hour before having a soak.
I set up my camp on a bluff overlooking the hot spring, in a grove of young aspens. I had another nice soak starting at about sunset. I soaked until 12:30 AM. Another old guy showed up for a while. He claimed that he and Edward Abbey were once buddies.
Distance: 39 mi. (62.4 km)
Climbing: 2600 ft. (788 m)
Today's ride: 39 miles (63 km)
Total: 1,951 miles (3,140 km)
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