Tour Divide: Colorado

Left Rawlins and aimed for the Colorado state line. The goal was to make it to Brush Mountain Lodge.

The first half of the ride was on pavement and went by quickly. The sun started cooking us on one of the big climbs. We ran into several CDT hikers who seemed very concerned about water. On one climb, I looked over and saw a woman leaning out of her car holding a bottle of water for me. I told her I was actually carrying a bit too much. In hindsight, I probably should have accepted it. She then offered me a cold apple, which I gratefully accepted. It was a nice surprise!

Shortly after hitting the gravel, we were amazed to find a beautiful creek. It felt almost magical to jump in and cool off. We instantly felt better, and to top it off, a guy stopped by and gave us cold sodas and candy. What luck!

We made it to Colorado and had one long gravel climb up to Brush Mountain Lodge. It went by quickly, and we were welcomed with cold water, hot pizza, and new friends. It was great hearing everyone’s stories. We met Silvio from Paraguay, who had encountered grizzlies, moose, and mountain lions over the past few weeks. We were incredibly grateful to our host, Kirsten, for providing such a wonderful place to camp.

The only issue with the place was the fat chipmunks! We watched one grab an entire package of peanut butter crackers and run off, with Ashley chasing after it. 😂 Then I caught another one unzipping my top tube bag! When I ran toward it, it just started opening the zipper even faster. It was wild to see. They even ended up chewing holes in our feed bags.