The sleep last night was better, but still pretty warm, even with the fans still working. There is no AC in most of these buildings here. It has been a warmer and drier summer than most, and probably a trend that will continue. I got up before the backpackers and made myself breakfast. Hamish and Jess were already in the kitchen brewing their stew. They are much more disciplined than I am about their meals. Of course they brought an extensive cook set as well. I mixed up some granola with my yogurt, and had some of the community coffee at hand. I left ahead of the rest of the gang to get a head start on crossing Marshall Pass today. We had all decided to end the day at a small town called Sargents at the other side of the pass, which has a convenience store, restaurant, and campground. What more could you ask for?
The ride started off with 10 miles along a fairly busy highway. I find it very annoying when the cars and trucks don’t move over more, even when they have an empty passing lane next to them. They may be abiding by the “3 feet passing distance” rule, but when they pass you at high speed, that is a bit concerning. The turnoff on the gravel road couldn’t come fast enough. Sean eventually pulled up and passed me. I like that everyone has their own pace and number of rest stops.
Me being passed by Sean
The climb up to Marshall pass now started in earnest. Not much traffic and the road surface was pretty good. The grade was similar to that of Boreas pass, so no hike-a-bike needed. Some really nice views going up. I had really never spent much time in southern Colorado, and really like it. There were a few side-by-side 4x4’s, which for the most part were courteous with the exception of maybe one or two.
I passed Sean sitting on the side of the road eating a few fruit items for his lunch. He said that he was trying to eat a bit better than before on the trip. He said that his grapefruit had rolled down the steep hill, so he scrambled 120 ft down the ravine to get it. Now that is dedication! 😆
Sean
The downhill into Sargents was nice and I was ready for my daily cold Coca Cola from the convenience store. I stayed in the shade under the front porch, waiting for the rest to roll in. There was also a couple young guys on road touring bikes that were doing a modified TransAm tour. They each started solo and met somewhere in Kansas. It was the first bicycle tour for both, and they matched up well in age, personality, and riding abilities. Anderson had left his phone about 10 miles up Monarch pass. He didn’t want to climb the 4,000 ft again to get it, so he was looking for a ride back up at the gas pumps. He finally found someone pulling a couple motorcycles on a trailer, so he loaded his bike in the trailer and went back up the pass with them. It took him no time to come back downhill again on his bicycle, with phone this time. Anderson was wearing an interesting T-shirt with a bearded guy with Colorado shades on. It fit him well, and I was thinking that Colin would like it too. Unfortunately they are only sold in Salida. I’ll see if I can order one remotely.
The campground was very nice with grassy flat spaces for tents and showers. Looks like they had set this up mainly for bicyclists. It was next to a little bubbling stream, so that would be nice for sleeping. So much nicer than that hostel. Anderson and Parker decided to camp here as well, and we all had a nice “mini” party in the shade with a couple six packs of beer. It was funny listening to their tales on the road so far, and the hard lessons they had learned. Both were very interested in our off-road venture and I bet they will do it one day. They were very interested in the adventures Hamish had done in New Zealand and other places in the world.
Anderson and Parker
We all had dinner later and retired to our tents afterwards.
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