Aug 25
Today was a good day. No, it was a great day. Woke up, packed up and continued into the detour. It seems this road I was on was a pretty remote one. After over 2 hours (and probably less than one hour left), a car passed my way. It stopped and took me for the rest of the climb up to the highway. From there I had 10 easy miles downhill to Lake City.

Got to John, the local bike mechanic. He fitted the bike with new brake pads, straightened the rear wheel and also fiddled with the derailleur. Kenosha was like new (except for all the dirt and scratches, of course).

I then went and had a burger. Perfect timing, as a rainstorm just started. It conveniently stopped by the time I finished eating.

From Lake City I needed to get back up the mountain, to the trailhead. Normally, that climb would be 3-4 hours for my heavy setup and my tired legs. But I was lucky enough to hitch another ride. I got picked up by Renee (originally from Switzerland), on his way elk hunting with his bow. Today was the start of the bow hunting season.

I was at the trailhead just before 4 pm. The storm had passed, but it continued to drizzle throughout the evening. I covered the first 8 miles of segment 22 in over 2 hours. There I was lucky enough to find room in the Colorado Trail Friends Yurt.

This yurt was similar to a mountain shelter. It had 8 beds inside. I was sharing it with 3 thru hikers. They already had the fire going and it was nice and warm. There was also a propane stove inside, next to a table and some chairs. The fee was $20 per person. Felt way better paying this fee than something similar on a campsite.

Having arrived here, I was right on my original schedule. Really grateful to everybody that helped me over the last couple of days with moving around and getting the bike fixed. Just 3 more days of mountain biking and I’ll get to the end of this adventure. And one day before arriving in Silverton and finally getting a shower. I stink.