2003-08-04

He's hit Colorado!







Here's the text of Bob's email, sent today:


Well, I’ve finally made it to Colorado. Crossed over from Wyoming this
morning and am camped in the City Park of Walden. Things have been
somewhat lonely since my brother left and the other day I dropped and
ran over my CD/radio player so I guess I’ll have to get another.
Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons were very pretty and interesting, but
the remainder of Wyoming seems to consist of long stretches of range
with the occasional mountain thrown in for good measure. Head winds
also make for an interesting time. The thing I’ve missed is trees,
although now that I’m back up in altitude, the heat hasn’t been that
bad.


I’ve met some interesting people along the way (both bicyclists and
non-bicyclists). This morning I met a pair of Brits that were heading west
(boy were they in for a head wind) and had been on the road for 3
months. Today in Walden, I ran into a couple of local cyclists and we
had lunch together. For those of you I haven’t told, in Eastern Oregon
my brother and I ran into two guys that were running across the
country. They had all of their camping stuff packed into one of those
runner’s child strollers and took turns pushing it. They had left NJ
in February and should probably be done by now.


My odometer passed 2000 miles today, and while I sometimes get
discouraged, I’m still planning to do the whole thing. I think that by
the end of this week, I’ll be at the ½ waypoint with plenty of flat
ridding coming up in Kansas.


Well, that’s it for now; they’re getting ready to kick me off this
terminal. More as I find libraries.


Captain Bob











July 1, 2003


We made it to Belknap Hot Springs at the base of McKenzie Pass. As this was to be a climb to be feared we would take a rest day here before tackling the mountain. The place was pretty nice, except for the tent area.

This was pretty typical. It appears that people actually seem to think that tenters like to pitch their tent in the mud, on rocks, etc. You can see
here that our view is that of the resort's backhoe.

On the other hand, maybe they have prior experience with the antics of bicyclists.

The hot springs were a little weird. You actually got into a swimming pool that was fed from the springs. Getting in was a little like getting in the pool at your swim club. You might do it slowly and try to become acclimated to the cold water, or you might take the plunge. Same thing here only it was hot water. Skippy found where it was feeding into the pool. I think you could get scalded there.



Belknap Hot Springs




Belknap Camp Site




Why Bicyclists get crappy sites





I brought back a couple of CDs of pictures and thought I would go back to where they start. Although I'm home now, you might enjoy the show. My plan is to do two or three a week. Sit back and enjoy.