Thursday, September 21. Kremmling, CO to Heaton Bay CG/Dillon Reservoir/Frisco, CO. 46 miles, 2,980' gained, 18 Garmin Beers Earned
With a relatively warm morning, light wind, and a route that promised to be all up hill for the day, we got on the road after the usual leisurely breakfast and morning chores. We made a left turn onto Colorado 9 in Kremmling, and were greeted with a headwind that would last all day. Today's wind wasn't too bad, maybe 10mph or so. The wind had some minor effect on us, but probably not as much as the altitude. We began our ride at a little under 8,000 elevation, and ended at a little over 9,000-we could definitely feel it.
The road steadily climbed, with awesome Rocky Mountain scenery. Riding conditions were generally good, with occasional zero shoulders, with crumbly pavement edges. After a while we veered onto Colorado 30, along another reservoir. We saw a sign for a marina and a shop called "Master Bait and Tackle". When we got there, the store appeared closed, or maybe it just a self service operation. Anyway, we didn't stop. We saw Jo, Janet and Bob in the Sprinter, and they took pictures and videos of us as we rode. We had hoped to stop at the store in Heeny for a snack, but they were "closed for the season", but luckily, down the road a bit, the Melody Cabins and store was open and we had lunch-prepackaged sandwiches. They weren't bad-but we certainly avoided the chicken salad and egg salad choices.
Back on hwy 9, we continued to th town of Silverthorne-a very busy place with outlet malls and a Target, where the Sprinter crew stopped for supplies. In Silverrhorne, we picked up a bike trail, one that we will be able to ride one all the way to Breckenridge. We looked at our ACA map and noticed a squiggly line leading to the lake-our original thought was that the was the trail DOWN to the water's edge, but in fact it was a steep climb up the face of the earthen Dillon dam. The entire town of Silverthorne is built below the reservoir. The steep climb up to the top of the dam,at 9,000 feet elevation,was arduous for us low-land sissies!
There's a road along top of the dam-with various security gates and guards. The Sprinter crew was stopped and questioned about the van's weight, propane etc. After a complete grilling, they were allowed to pass, and found our camp for the night. John and I soon met them, and enjoyed a warm afternoon in the sun. Another excellent dinner of curried chicken, zucchini, and potatoes. Also, an avocado, tomato, and balsamic vinegar salad!
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J-Nut from Gmail
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