Day 49 - Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado - Walden, Colorado

Sunday, June 12,2016, 64.2 miles(103.3 km)

After a good nights sleep in the park in Hot Sulphur Springs Pioneer Park I headed to a cafe called the Glory Hole for breakfast.  I had an outstanding breakfast burrito smothered in green chili, just what I needed for the climb I would have on my route.

Once done with breakfast I headed east a bit more before heading north.  Almost immediately after turning north my climbing began but was intermittent. The climb up to Willow Creek Pass at 9683 feet had some amazing scenery, though at times the climb was quite difficult

View While Climbing To Willow Creek Pass

View While Climbing To Willow Creek Pass

View While Climbing To Willow Creek Pass

View While Climbing To Willow Creek Pass

Willow Creek Pass Sign

Deer Watching Me

Once reaching the pass it was a quick descent.  I stopped in the small community of Rand, Colorado as it was sprinkling a little and I also needed to refill my water bottles.  The rain stopped as I was eating a snack and I decided to move on.  I had not gone 3 miles and the clouds darkened and it began to hail.  Fortunately the hail was only pea-sized and did not last long.  It was still stung a bit when it hit my bare legs or my hands.  After that short hail storm I seemed to ride between the storms as I could seem them both to the east and west of me.

Storm Clouds

More Storm Clouds

 I spent the night in Walden, Colorado, known as the Moose Viewing Capital of Colorado, I did not see any moose.  As I entered town it started to rain again so I headed directly to a restaurant for dinner and to wait out the rain.

Walden Sign

I camped in the Walden City Park, a nice park with one big draw back.  It had sprinklers that came on about 11 pm for about an hour and then they came on again at 7 am just as I was packing up.  My tent was almost dry from the overnight spraying when the sprinklers throughly drench it again in the morning.  Fortunately I had packed up everything else so only the tent got wet.