Day 56: Fairplay to Green Mountain reservoir

June 23, 2010

I got away from the Hand hotel at 8:30, going north out of Fairplay on highway 9. A bike trail runs alongside the highway between Fairplay and Alma.

Alma is the highest town on this tour. You can tell it's a major town because it has an Al-Mart. ;-)

After Alma the road climbs more steeply to Hoosier Pass. I was surprised to see large numbers of homes on the mountainside across the valley. The weather was perfect for the climb to Hoosier pass. Sunshine, light wind, temperature in the 60's.

You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply. Rocky Mountain high, Colorado.

Highest pass so far... 2nd of 3 crossings of the Continental Divide.

I took a long stop at Hoosier pass. Just after I arrived a French cyclist arrived as well. He's riding from Seattle to New York. This is the highest point on the popular Transamerica bike route but neither of us is riding that route.

This guy is from France, biking from Seattle to New York.

A few steps behind the Hoosier Pass sign is this huge slab of granite placed neatly on a concrete pad. A future monument?

The descent to Breckenridge was much longer than the climb from Fairplay. Mostly past upscale mountain homes. I can tell I'm getting closer to Denver.

Descent from Hoosier Pass towards Breckenridge.

I rode into Breckenridge at 12:30. I rode back and forth exploring the main street, then had lunch on the patio at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Breckenridge is a very picturesque town. The historic buildings look great. The surrounding mountains look great. The river through town looks great. It's a very popular resort town only 1.5 hours drive from Denver.

The Blue river flows through a park in downtown Breckenridge.

I left Breckenridge on a bike trail that goes 20 miles from Breckenridge to Frisco, then along Dillon reservoir to the town of Dillon. It's a popular trail and the scenery is great. It's nice to be off the busy road. I saw two touring cyclists going the opposite direction on the bike trail near Breckenridge. Both on long wheelbase recumbents with fairings.

Dillon reservoir was built as water supply for the city of Denver which is on the opposite side of the Continental Divide. A tunnel sends water through the mountains to the North Fork South Platte river.

Sign showing the tunnel that diverts Dillon reservoir's water across the Continental Divide. Construction began in 1942, but it wasn't completed until 1964.

In Dillon I'm back on highway 9 heading northwest to Kremmling. Fortunately there is very little traffic once I got past the sprawling new suburban-style town of Silverthorne. I had some headwind but I'm still following the Blue river downstream. Mosquitoes started to be noticeable about the time I crossed north of I-70.

Dead trees and real estate development in Silverthorne.

The Blue river flows into the Colorado river at the town of Kremmling.

At 7:30 PM I arrived at a BLM campground on the south end of Green Mountain reservoir. Only one other site was occupied. The evening was warm but mosquitoes were bad after sunset. There is no water faucet, so I filtered water from the lake.

Today had perfect weather. High of 80F. The scenery was spectacular and varied.

Distance: 65 mi. (104 km)

Climbing: 2200 ft. (667 m)

Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 2,618 miles (4,213 km)

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