Day 13 Lake City to Silverton

Another late start as we lingered in our cabin munching down the breakfast John had brought from home augmented with some yummies from the Lake City Bakery. More jeep road today to bypass the Weminuche Wilderness but it was a glorious stretch of the Alpine Loop, the noted 4WD route connecting LC, Silverton and Ouray. We took our time climbing up to Cinnamon Pass (highest point on our trip at 12600 ft) We took lots of photos, gawked at 14ers, id'd numerous wildflowers with John's handy field guide, and explored ghost towns. Not much left of Sherman wiped out by a flood when the dam broke in 1923 but lots of old buildings that escaped the 1919 fire in Animas Fork. John captured a brave pocket gopher on film (see photo). We were annoyed by all the 4wheelers, most just roared by us, but 2 gentleman from Florida set a easier pace and were fun to talk to. We were glad to see 2 hikers and 1 biker (60 years old and training for the Pbville 100) taking the non-motorized approach. We descended to a gorgeous camp, one of John's favorite spots, on the Animas River just outside Silverton. We'd had enough of towns and wanted to sleep out. We convinced John to cook dinner though it was his bday with the promise we'd take him for a celebration breakfast in Silverton in the AM. I wrote in my journal "Despite all the motos this was the most beautiful bike ride I'd ever done." That was before the next day.