We woke up this morning at 6:30am with the sun just rising over the horizon. I had to squint my eyes and then realized what I was missing, I grabbed my phone to get a shot of the sunrise. Andrew and I climbed out of the cab and began pulling out the camp stove to boil some water for coffee and oatmeal. Before the coffee finished, it started to sprinkle. We quickly load everything back up while the coffee finished, filled the mug, and jumped in the cab just before the down pour began. I guess breakfast will have to wait. We got back on Interstate 70, looking for an old gas station we can pull under in order to attempt cooking again. The first exit is a fail, but we get some needed gas. The next exit looked a little more promising. We pulled into a Walmart to get some eggs and milk then parked the car in a car wash overhang for a dry place to cook breakfast. After cleaning up and repacking the items we used as well as reworking the tarp on the back hitch we finally got back on the road around 9:30am.
We crossed the state line into Colorado around 2:45pm this afternoon. The Boys are Back in Town welcomed us to this beautiful state on the radio. We stopped at the next rest area and Visitor Center to use the bathroom, rotate drivers, and get some brochures on the surrounding cities, national parks, scenic highways, etc. Now, while Andrew is driving the final 100 miles to Boulder, I sit here flipping through the pages mesmerized with all the things I want to do and see while we are here. This is really going to be a problem. I could spend the entire month in Colorado alone. How and I going to do this? I’m not! I guess it gives me an excuse to come back! How does one choose between Denver, Boulder, the Rocky Mountains, Aspen, Crested Butte, Leadville, Colorado Springs, Vail and more!?!
While browsing through Colorado’s 2011 Official State Vacation Guide I began reading the frequently asked questions. (But before I get into that, let me state that based on what people have been telling me about Colorado, it’s not the actual mountain biking I have to be worried about, it’s the altitude). So what caught my eye on the FAQ page? “How do I avoid altitude sickness?”
This is verbatim from the text: “Altitude sickness – typified by headaches, nausea and/or fatigue – is usually contracted when you go to a high elevation too quickly from lower elevations. When visiting Colorado, make sure you drink more water than you normally would, avoid alcohol and tobacco and do no overexert yourself.”
My immediate response…”Oh great!” First of all, driving from Kansas, which has an elevation of around 500 feet to Boulder where the elevation is 5,400+ feet in a few hours immediately means we failed at the first statement about not making the climb “too quickly.” Next, drink plenty of water. “Ok, I can do that,” I think to myself. Now…the next two cause me to stop and think for a second. “Avoid alcohol and do no overexert yourself.” Not OK, seeing as though one of the main reasons for this trip is to ride and hike our little tushies off. And what do most mountain bikers do after a long, “overexerting” day of riding do? DRINK! We already picked up a brochure of Colorado’s breweries and I know Andrew’s not leaving the state before we hit several of them up!
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We found our way to Boulder and immediately stopped at one of the bike shops on Pearl Street called Full Cycle to have them work on the bearings. We talked to them for a bit about some of the surrounding trails and then tried to find our way to a local campsite a friend told us about. After 45 minutes of searching, we stopped by a motel on the side of the road hoping for some guidance. When we told him we were looking for some where to camp, he said, "yea, that could be a problem around here." Apparently, they recently quit allowing people to camp on the side of the Canyon Road, on the way to Nederland. He said the closest place to find a spot would be in Nederland, which is about 17 miles away. He gave us a map and showed us several other places we could check out. After scoping out some pictures online, we decided to try Lake Brainard, just past Nederland on the Peak to Peak highway. By the time we finally made our way up there, is was already getting pretty dark. We pulled up to the entrance and it says "camping closed until 2012." Seriously? We make our way back down the mountain and begin pulling down dirt roads to see if we can squeeze in for the night. After more than 2 hours of searching, we finally find a small place to set up camp for the night. We cooked some soup real quick, read up on some of the other local things to do and went to sleep, waking up frequently throughout the night due to lack of proper clothing for 40 degree weather.
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| A small park near the motel we stopped at for directions. There were rocks stacked in multiple locations. |
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| Brainard Lake - I was able to get one photo before we had to head back down the mountain. |
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