Stretching our legs

August 23, 2021

Fruita loop

It was spitting rain a little early this morning which I'm sure the rafters camped across the way from us didn't appreciate since they weren't using any tents. Just rolled up in their sleeping bags on top of the picnic table, under their raft trailers or just out in the open.

The rain didn't last long so after it warmed up a bit we decided to take Garfield out for a quick spin along the Colorado River Trail. Since we only had a short window of time before we needed to vacate our spot and move across the road to another spot, we opted to do just a short ride.

After yesterdays long drive, it felt great to get some exercise. It was a beautiful morning with clear air, something we haven't had in Denver for at least 2 months due to the wildfire smoke being blown into with the jet stream. It was a little windy, but not bad.

We've never ridden this trail so other than what I found 0n-line, we were winging it. After leaving the campground, we decided to turn west.

The fairly flat trail followed the Colorado River for awhile and we had great views of the red rocks at the Colorado National Monument. It was a nice wide trail with good pavement and although there were a few other people out, it was very quiet.

After a bit, the trail left the river and began to parallel I-70 so it was a bit noisy with the traffic. This part of the trail was fairly rural with lots of scrubby trees and little birds flitting about.

At one point we passed a small lake that had what looked like waterski jumps and strange cables stretched across the water. Hmmm - we weren't sure what that was all about.

When we got back home, I researched it and found out that it was a cable wakeboard park. Apparently it's quite a popular sport now. Rather than being pulled by a boat, you are pulled by a tow rope attached to an electric cable. Because of the higher angle, wakeboarders can achieve "big air" - higher than they can being pulled by a boat. Speeds can go up to 60 mph! Think I'll pass......

After we had gone about 5 miles, Don wanted to turn around. He's been nursing a sore foot so didn't want to overdo it on the first ride. Plus we have to move camp before check-out at noon.

Back at the campground, we quickly shifted the trailer over to her new site and had lunch.

The rest of the afternoon wasn't too exciting. We both just sat around reading and relaxing. While the morning had been pleasant, later in the day it got up into the 90's. We really appreciated the nice tree shading our site and the trailer's 2 air conditioners!

We had a great view of the Colorado River and the red cliffs in the Colorado National Monument

We passed this lake on the ride and noticed all of these cables and waterski jumps. Apparently it is a cable-driven wakeboard park. Wakeboarders hang onto a tow rope attached to the cables and get towed across the water. Speeds can range from 19mph to over 60 mph! Yikes! The inflatable structures are for kids to play on. This is a private park but you can rent it for parties.

At one junction on the trail we found this fun signpoint sculpture. Think I'll go to Australia.

Today's ride: 10 miles (16 km)
Total: 1,121 miles (1,804 km)

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