I Should Cocoa

Day 31

Saratoga, WY to Walden, CO

Distance: 67 miles

Final elevation in Walden: 8,099 ft

Hangover: Bad

Yes, a hot mug of cocoa and an early night is what I should be doing today, after last night's antics...

Waking up for my 7.30am breakfast this morning was not one of the nicest experiences I’ve had on this trip so far.

I was extremely apologetic to Carol, who had whipped up a lovely spread of fruit, eggs, toast etc for me, which I picked at and pushed around the plate, before agreeing that we would wrap what I hadn’t eaten for me to take with me, and that I would go back to bed for a couple of hours!

Wheels were not rolling until around 10.20am in the end, and it was a slow methodical plod out of town in an attempt to keep breakfast in its place. And it wasn’t long before monsieur le pleut made his entrance stage left and I had to get the wet weather gear on. With thunder rumbling and clouds circling, I was feeling a little anxious (and still queasy) given my experience with the lightening just outside Yellowstone, but I kept a troshin’ and after a couple of hours made it to a small town called Riverside, with the only services on the route.

I managed to sip on a cup of coffee and eat some processed lovelies in the grocery store there, before tripping back out into the rain, only to find that The Mirror Man had decided to call it a day – the rain had somehow managed to dissolve the glue on the mount and he fell clean off my helmet.

It wasn’t long before Steed started to make a few gentle complaints too, the rain and grit getting stuck in his chain and producing a periodic grating noise. It’s nothing that can’t be solved with a bit of oil and a rag, so a bit of TLC will be in order tomorrow morning, plus a breath of air in the tyres as soon as I can get to a floor pump at a bike shop.

But we all limped on, climbing steadily for the whole day, and crossing over from Wyoming and into Colorado just as the rain clouds started to clear.

I was amazed to find that the scenery change almost instantly, the smooth green hillsides of southern Wyoming  giving way to the rugged rocky outcrops of Colorado. And all of a sudden the fields were alive with all sorts of creatures that had presumably been hiding in the mists up until then – white pelicans out for a swim on a small roadside lake, antelope bounding around boisterously chasing each other, chipmunks squeaking and looking furtively around before ducking back into the undergrowth, and birdies of all sorts soaring and diving and fluttering.

It was a welcome distraction as I completed the last few miles gently uphill, and into the small town of Walden.

Staying in a very comfortable hotel in the middle out town but didn’t make the mistake of staying out in the bar this time. A quick bite in the café and to bed…

A long day tomorrow with some more climbing, but hopefully sans hangover!

Me x