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Labor Day Excursion


Igrok

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I wanted to go on a longer ride over the 3 day weekend, but as luck would have it, my workaholic boss decided to schedule meetings on Monday, so I was cut short to only a two day ride. I pondered heading southwest to Durango, then coming up to Montrose on the Million dollar highway, then home via Gunnison and Salida, but I've been that way close to 5 times now and while it is a nice ride, I wanted new scenery and to stick a pin in a town I've yet to visit: Walden CO. I couldn't sleep the night before, so ended up getting up late Saturday morning and didn't pull out of the drive way until 10:00 am. I headed up the mountain to Woodland Park via UTE Pass (highway 24). Traffic was a nightmare as usual and it took 2 hours just to get to Deckers.
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The road from Deckers to Pine Junction was clean, twisty, and not crowded! I made quick work of getting to 285 and then through Evergreen. I'm glad I was heading east on 285 because west was bumper to bumper. There is a small bar/restaurant just south of Evergreen called "The Well" and I recommend it to anyone! No masks, good beer, and the food's not bad. Did I mention no masks??
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Okay, after spending a few hours in traffic and only a tiny bit of twisties between Deckers and Pine Junction, I rewarded myself with a ride to Idaho Springs via Mt. Evans...
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The next "leg" of the trip was from Idaho Springs to Granby via Berthoud Pass (A lovely road with quite a few hairpin turns).
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Granby to Walden via Hwy 125 through the Arapahoe Nat'l Forest was very relaxing with little to no traffic due to the Cameron Peak fire. I had supper in Walden at the "Mad Moose" (Tiajuana Dog) and headed back the way I came. I spent the night in my hammock and woke up to 30 degrees Sunday morning and two bull moose feeding in the creek about 200 yards off the road.  

 

I went home the way I came, so I got a double dose of some of the best roads in Colorado. It was nice breaking the trip up in two days, but could be a long 1 day trip if needed.

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Nice write-up, maps, and pix.  Thanks for sharing!

 

30 degrees is pretty cold for camping IMO, though I'm not a camper.  Is it better or worse to be in a hammock vs. in a tent on the ground?

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It's colder in the hammock, ONLY because you have the cold air stealing your heat from underneath you. However, I prefer the hammock over sleeping on the hard ground. I bring a liner for my sleeping back and all is well. I cranked up the bike and turned on the heated grips to warm up my hands and I was good to go. My camping supplies:

 

Hammock
Rain Fly
Slap straps (to hang the hammock)
Jet Boil
Coffee
Mountain House (food)

Sleeping  bag
Liner

 

This fits nicely in my panniers along with my tire repair kit.

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Bought a Therm-a-rest in the 80's....  Still does the job; will fit in a hammock as well...

Bought the "half size" as the pressure points are hip and shoulder.

Always sleep with a wolly hat on to keep heat inside.

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