Day 12: Walden to Hot Sulfur Springs. Willow Creek pass.

July 14, 2018

I woke up in the morning with a queasy stomach. I could only eat 1/4 of my big breakfast burrito. Kelly took the remainder for Jacinto to eat for breakfast later. After breakfast I laid down in bed for an hour. Finally on the road at 8:45 feeling weak. Kelly, Tom, and Ken left long before me.

South out of Walden, then turn left to stay on CO 125 south. Nearly all of the traffic goes straight on CO 14, southwest to US 40. CO 125 has very little traffic.

South of Walden is the main part of North Park. Once again the valley is used by a small number of extremely large ranches. The road doesn't have a shoulder but traffic is very light.

Small sandflies swarmed around me in the high desert of North Park. Elevation around 8500 feet. The valley is criss-crossed with small irrigation canals that hatch insects. The flies were a nuisance when cruising at 10 mph. Usually they only become a nuisance when I slow down on a hill. Passing motorists no doubt wondered what the crazy cyclist was waving at.

Looking east at the Rocky Mountain Front Range.

After 22 easy valley miles I stopped to rest at the store in Rand, the only services on today's route. The store is a gift shop but it has a refrigerator of cold drinks. Jacinto passed by while I was sitting in the shade drinking a cold Lipton tea. I carried a large supply of food but wasn't able to eat most of it.

The trend is imperceptibly uphill going south in North Park. A couple miles south of Rand CO 125 starts to leave the North Park valley behind and climb into forested mountains. I felt weak but persevered at slow pace, expecting the climb to be extremely difficult in my current state. Fortunately the grade was a gentle 4%. It wasn't too strenuous and my endurance was surprisingly good considering how little I ate.

Forest begins at 8600 feet elevation. At first the trees were small and a large portion of the trees were dead. Pine beetle infestation is quite advanced in northern Colorado. The forest health improved as I climbed. Taller trees, fewer dead trees. Mostly pines.

The 2934 meter summit was 80F/27C and bug-free. Quite nice. Wind was relatively calm for most of the day.

Crossing from the North Platte/Missouri/Mississippi river watershed to the Colorado river watershed.

At Willow Creek pass I cross the Continental Divide for the second time. Back to the Pacific watershed. Now I'm close to the headwaters of the Colorado river. The descent is in Arapaho National Forest, much of it along Willow Creek.

Once again I saw that the forest looks healthy above 9000 feet but lower elevations have extensive pine beetle destruction.

Forests and creeks are starting to be a regular sight now. I'm in the Rocky Mountains now. Very different from the arid deserts earlier in the tour.

Partway down the descent from Willow Creek pass is a 250 foot climb. Then a final long gradual descent to the Colorado river.

The forest gets gradually more sparse, replaced by high desert grass and sagebrush at about 8500 feet elevation.

CO 125 ends at a T with US 40. The tourist town of Granby is 5 miles east, upstream towards the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. I turned west, downstream towards Hot Sulfur Springs.

Shady recreation area at the intersection of CO 125 and US 40.

I rested at a rare shaded picnic table overlooking a small reservoir on the Colorado river. Still 10 miles to Hot Sulfur Springs. I feel weak but the weather is perfect and flies are no longer a problem.

Not surprisingly I had a headwind going west in the river canyon to Hot Sulfur Springs. First noticeable headwind of the day. US 40 has much more traffic than CO 125 but also has a paved shoulder. It's not bad.

The Colorado river is very small here compared to where I started the tour. I'm only 20 miles from the "official" headwaters in Grand lake and 50 miles from the actual headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park. I pedaled that route in 2010. It was the highest I've ever been on a bike, a rare opportunity to pedal in the tundra zone above the forest.

The Colorado river flows through desert for most of its route from the Rocky mountains to the Sea of Cortez, often in deep canyons. Two months ago I saw the Colorado river at the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona.

Colorado river view from Desert View in Grand Canyon National Park.

In 2012 I crossed the Colorado river at 120 feet (36 m) elevation near Yuma, Arizona, where the once-mighty river is nearly pumped dry just before it flows into Mexico.

The Colorado river near Yuma, Arizona. California on left. Arizona on right.

The canyon gets wider a couple miles before Hot Sulfur Springs. Hot Sulfur Springs is small town, population 702, but it's the county seat of Grand County. Strange because Granby and Kremmling are much larger towns.

The canyon widens near Hot Sulfur Springs.

I arrived in Hot Sulfur Springs at 5:15 PM. Got my reserved $88 room at Ute Trail Motel. It has a fridge and microwave but no A/C. Nothing has A/C here at 7700 feet elevation. For once I'm slightly lower than where I started the day.

The room was warm when I arrived, so I cranked the box fan in the window. The room was very resistant to cooling down because the building has extremely thick walls. I ran the fan until the middle of the night.

Hot Sulfur Springs does have a big hot spring resort. But none of us were motivated to pay the high price for their lodging or pay for a day visit.

For dinner we walked half a mile downhill to the historic Public House restaurant. The building was interesting but the portions were small. That didn't matter to me because I wasn't able to eat much. I'm pretty sure I will need to take an unplanned rest day tomorrow.

Distance: 63.1 mi. (101 km)
Ascent/Descent: +2489/-2694 ft. (+754/-816 m)
Average Speed: 9.5 mph (15.2 km/h)

Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 523 miles (842 km)

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