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miles 40 elevation gain 4500 ft
Cassi- "It is a lot easier to keep pedaling when you keep smiling."
We started the day with some fabulous riding around Buffalo Creek. I'd been here 14 years ago but forgotten how much fun it was to mt bike- undulating single track nestled in aspen and pine forest with gurgling streams all about. We passed another set of thru hikers as we climbed out of the Buffalo Creek drainage and to the forest service road that was our bypass around the Lost Creek Wilderness. The CT passes through 6 wilderness areas which are protected areas that do not allow any mechanized form of transport including mt bikes. Our bypasses were usually on dirt roads, a combination of forest service (FS) roads and county roads (CR) , with a little bit of asphalt on highways at times.
We zoomed down the dirt road, sad to waste our hard earned elevation gain on a road, and into the town of Bailey. Since it was lunch we decided to dine at the Canyon Grill and then, as our scrumptious meal settled and the sun became even warmer and brighter, siestaed in the shade of the local post office. We had all planned to travel light keeping our gear weight (sans food and water) to around 15 pounds per person but 2 days on the trail made us true zealots. John gathered extra stuff from each of us and mailed a 5 pound package home.
John and Dave spent some time chatting with a thru hiker and his mom who was resupplying him. She offered us some chips and extra food. We consented, having quickly learned to never say "no" to more calories. Two other thru hikers showed up in the camp ground that night. We would not see anymore for a week.
The afternoon saw, in my opinion, the hardest part of the trip as we road up highway 285 to Kenosha Pass. It was hot. It was Saturday with plenty of Denver traffic. Our rears were not toughened yet for all day in the saddle. Always the optimist, I kept encouraging the others that the pass was just around the bend but they knew me too well to take me serious. Finally after an agonizing climb (not steep but monotonous with little mystery of what was behind the next curve and little need to change cadence or seat position) we pulled into the Kenosha Pass campground. The pavement ended, an elk grazed down in the meadow and a golden eagle soared overhead. I knew we were back on the CT.
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