Day Sixty Four: Sun and Wind in Salida
Distance: 40 mi.
Elevation: 7,083'
7AM: I wake first and creak and clunk out of the tent, huff from Liz but she doesn’t wake; I smirk as I pass Rob sleeping soundly peacefully by the remains of the fire with slumber’s grin marked on his face. I survey the area I find myself in, thus producing the following observations:
Five Points Campground: Kyle’s Foray into Flora and Foliage
- Shrubs wind-whipped up toward sun; broom like branches; thin, sinuous leaves
- Stout dry green trees tufted up on craggy canyon walls
- Sunlight cuts into the canyon face, casting shadowed convex slants of red granite into sharp contrast with the ponderosa pines sparsely dotting the canyon walls
- Prickly Pear and Cholla cactus compliment the sandy shrubs lining the paths to the river
- Thick slabs of red or slate-colored granite tumbled down to the river gorge, now silvered with mica or lichen
- No bighorn sheep to be found anywhere.
I return to the campsite for breakfast and two rounds of coffee with Rob before we depart; setting off for Salida we boost off tailwind boosts, making the 1,700ft climb a little easier, but still a lot to tackle on sore legs. The ride is about 3.5 hours with plenty of room for scenic view breaks.
Climbing into Salida we loop through town onto G street and pick up a few burritos at Mo’s. Liz and I chow down but Rob declines, frowning, “I WANT POPSICLES!”, then darts off, only to return with a box of five frozen blueberry greek yogurt popsicles, Everyone’s satiated and Rob’s saved some money!
I notice a man scarfing down some chips and plotting a GPS route; he’s racing the Continental Divide. Over 210,000 feet of elevation climb in total; it’s the most brutally challenging off-road biking race in the US and quite possibly the world. His bike is an alien planet to me:
I call Mark, our Warm Showers host, and explain that Rob has joined Liz and I; it’s a slightly awkward conversation, Mark is stressed out about a bike build he’s wrapping up before a big ride tomorrow, and his wife Loni has several obligations in Salida’s big art show which is starting to get in motion around town. Without persuading him one way or the other, he decides to let Rob stay as well, albeit on his lawn and not in the designated bike tourist shack.
TODO: Add more about Mark and Loni here…
Some festivities carry into the evening; Loni returns home dressed like a silver alien from head to toe; but Lizzie and I opt for an early night’s rest and a 6AM wake up to tackle the terror of Monarch Pass in the morning.
