July 15th: Walden – Oak Creek: 120km 1054m climbed

Autor: Tim Goodall

Our motel turned out to be a lot nicer than we expected as we road through the outskirts of town. It looked like a dump for any and everything, but it improved in the centre of town. We tried the Stockman’s Bar but nobody seemed keen to serve us so we turned round and walked over to the restaurant which was good for dinner and a 7 o’clock breakfast this morning. We set off for our longest stage to date and battled a headwind for 32 miles to Muddy Pass where we turned onto US40 to ride over Rabbit Ears Pass. The wind was then less of a problem but we still had plenty of climbing to do before descending towards Steamboat Springs and our turn off to Oak Creek. The road to Oak Creek started off fairly level but after a couple of kilometers went up and down until we rolled into Oak Creek at 6pm. We went straight to the supermarket to top up on drinks for tomorrow ready for an early start and then went to the motel for a quick shower, change of kit and a walk back to town for dinner. We sat outside a restaurant and watched the thunder and lightening in the distant mountains and since we got back to the motel it has descended on us. I’m glad we are not camping.

They didn’t want us so we went….
here.
Decent motel but the key card didn’t work after breakfast so John went round the side and climbed in through the bedroom window.
A working pump jack. One of several oil producing sites en route.
An eagle not the least bit bothered about us being close.
A fine example of a beaver dam with a large wet area behind it (that didn’t fit in the picture).
Rabbit Ears peak from Muddy Lake
We had a lunch break on the pass and had to delay setting off afterwards for a minute while this moose cleared the road.
We finally made it to the western peak of the pass. Strangely no Continental Divide sign!
After a long descent and hilly 35km we finally rolled in to town. Worn out and just a little concerned about tomorrow, which is even further at 139km.

54 Gedanken zu „July 15th: Walden – Oak Creek: 120km 1054m climbed“

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