The day started with a lousy breakfast that was no where near enough to sustain us for the mileage that we needed to do today. In order to get to someplace to stay that night we needed to travel over 80 miles. We packed up and headed to the first small community on route. There was nothing in this community. Next stop was Hot Sulphur Springs. There was a convenience store but it did not open until noon and it was still a few hours before it would open. Next stop was Granby. I knew there would be something in Granby because it was a larger town, but it was off the route by 2 miles. No big deal when you are traveling 4400 miles. From Granby there was still approximately 45 miles to Walden with nothing in between except for a store in Rand that sold more dry goods than drinks. To get Rand there was a large climb over the Willow Creek pass. So, it was important that we get the nourishment needed so we would not bonk. We had to go into Granby to get what we needed. Google identified the Java Lava Cafe as a good place that served breakfast all day.
On the way into Granby we passed two other restaurants that we could have stopped out but I was in the mood for breakfast food more than lunch food. When we arrived at the Java Lava Cafe there appeared to be people waiting outside but they were sitting at tables eating. When we stopped a well dressed couple walked by and asked us briefly about our trip. They went inside the cafe and we were right behind them standing in line to order food. Everything looked good on the menu. When it was my turn to order and pay for my food I saw that order was $41. That is an expensive breakfast. It was then that the person taking the order said it was okay and it was taken care of. The couple in front of us was buying us breakfast. It was a total and unexpected surprise. Once we placed our orders we asked to join the couple at their table. This is how we met Carolyn and Steve. What a lovely couple.
They told us of the house they built in Grand Lake and the experience of building in winter and cold temperatures. But, what was very interesting was the story of the forest fire that hit this area in October 2020 and their not knowing if their house would survive. It did. The video that Carolyn showed us as she was evacuating was pretty scary. It was dark and the sky was lite up because of the forest fire including seeing some of the flames flickering over the ridge line. In all total we may have spent 60 minutes with Carolyn and Steve but it seemed like minutes. The time flew by as we ate our breakfast/lunch and they ate theirs. I could have talked with them for hours. Thanks Carolyn and Steve for the breakfast and conversation. For me, it is the encounters like these that make the trip special as we cycle across America. The scenery is beautiful but it really is the people encountered along the way that I will remember the most. Thanks and I hope we can keep in touch.
After breakfast and saying goodbye to Carolyn and Steve it was time to tackle the remaining miles. There was about a 20 mile climb to Willow Creek Pass, another continental divide crossing at 9683 feet above sea level. Almost the entire route along CO 125 up to Willow Pass was impacted by the forest fire of October 2020. Not many trees survived but some did. However there is not much of a seed source for the next generation of pine trees. Because, I understand the fire was so hot that the seeds were burned in their cones and not released like they typically are. Hopefully the trees will regenerate quickly and the forest re-established before too much erosion occurs.
From Willow Pass it was down hill to the small store in Rand. After a somewhat lengthy stop we were on to Walden. By now the winds had shifted and were coming in hard directly from the southwest. That was a cross wind for us. Another storm was on the immediate horizon. I was unsure if the storm would hit or miss us but as we got closer to Walden the rain was inescapable. We were going to get hit. The winds blew harder but the worst of the rain missed us. We did get wet and at times I looked for safe places to wait out the strong winds but none came up. We kept on riding and did get a little wet but other places got wetter. By the time we made it to Walden that was enough for the day.
Today’s stats: total mileage 83.63 miles, average speed 13.3 mph, elevation gain 3455 feet, elevation loss 2877 feet, maximum speed 34.7.