It’s about 110 miles between Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado and Riverside, Wyoming. I made great time on my route between the two towns. I know I’ve made judgements earlier about the guys that do a 100 miles a day, losing some of the experience, but lately the town spacing has required me to do so. It was 60 miles to Walden, the first place to eat lunch, and another 50 to Riverside, the next place to eat.
Not bringing cooking equipment does limit me in some ways, but I’d rather work harder to get to the next town than deal with that hasslement.
I’ve had such a pleasant ride through the state of Colorado. I feel like it was easier than Kansas. The wind was barely a factor. The scenery kept me mentally stimulated and the road alignments made travel less strenuous than back East. Most of my riding was through a National Forest in one way or another. It was just an all around great section of the trip.
Now that I’m in Wyoming I’m looking forward to both the Grand Teton, and Yellowstone, National Parks. I should be able to find some great places to camp in there, and I might even take an off day to enjoy life in the wild. No matter what, I’ve got to see Old Faithful put on a show. I’ve also got to remember to throw my toothpaste up in a tree, I hear the bears love that stuff.
Speaking of camping, I’m camping tonight. Lazy Acres is a campground right on the Encampment River in Riverside. The fact that I only paid $8.50, have access to a great shower facility, and wifi, only leads me to reminisce about some of the other places I’ve camped. I still can’t believe I had to pay $26 to camp at Clayter Lake State Park in Virginia. Somebody needs to audit that place; it’s a state freaking park!
Wyoming is beautiful in it’s own way. I can’t wait to watch it unfold as I roll through. I heard from one of my professors that there are natural hot springs in Saratoga so I will be checking that out tomorrow. I will probably wind up ending the day in Rawlins which is about 60 miles from where I’m sleeping tonight.
Just some notes about the weather. It gets pretty darn cold up here at night. I’m talking below 50 stuff. I spent the morning riding in sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt, waiting for the place to warm up. Also, talking with some of the RV people, I discovered that it rains a lot in the evenings in Wyoming. They described it as a quick rain that comes and goes but comes back again. Sure enough, I’ve already caught a little bit of the rain tonight.
