Thursday June 15 – Day 26

One more state down – I crossed the Colorado state line today (and without any catastrophic mechanicals, either). I expected desert, and it was hot at the state line, but I actually spent most of the day in a national forest that was lush and actually a bit chilly. I had my layer on pretty much all day. I wonder what the country on the other side of Rawlins will be like. It may not be all that warm, especially if this weather pattern holds.

Despite the balky hammy, which gave me some problems again today, I managed to put together a pretty long day. The first 30 miles were mostly down, through dense pines on what was basically a washed out snowmobile trail. I saw more elk and some big birds of some sort (cranes?) on the way down. From there, it was 20 miles up on a surprisingly tough pavement climb. Then up on top it was mostly short, steep risers. By the end I was cold, sore, and it was starting to rain, so I just set up camp here pretty much right on the side of the road. Quite a few cars have gone by, but nobody bothers me. It’s definitely a change for the worse from yesterday, though.

Day 26 stats:

70 miles
2500 feet up
one sore hammy (again)