10,000 feet. . . And Climbing

Wednesday, August 9. Guffey, CO to Fairplay, CO

Matthew's plan for today was to try to reach Fairplay, rather than stop in Hartsell. Looking at the climbing profile gave him confidence that we could make the 46 miles, even though we'd climb another 2,500 feet.

After yesterday's climb of 4,300 feet over 32 miles, I had my doubts. By the end of the day, my legs felt not wooden, but more like cast iron-encased wood. I was turning the pedals, but my muscles were not contributing a thing. The climbing profile for today showed a long descent into Hartsel, but there was a 20-mile climb after that into Fairplay.

I still had my doubts when we stopped in Hartsel; the morning's ride had a few more rolling hills than I had anticipated. As we sat in the town's cafe, I realized that we'd have to go on to Fairplay--Hartsel offered no lodging of any kind.

Still, here we are in the Rockies. We crested Currant Creek Pass after 11 miles, and stopped to enjoy the view. At the top of this pass, you can see the smaller hills, but there are more layers of mountains beyond. This is where you can see the end of the front range, and get an eyeful of the rest of the mountain range. It's the proverbial picture postcard view, enhanced the fact that we're this close to it (and possibly suffering from the elevation).

Anyway, the next 16 miles are "downhill", according to the profile. Not exactly--it still took us another 90 minutes to get to Hartsel for lunch at the bottom of the hill.

Luckily for me, the road to Fairplay started out with very gentle climbs. The first 10 miles took us through another beautiful valley, lush with green grass, colorful wildflowers and sleek, fat cows and buffalos. The morning's gray clouds drifted away, replaced by the fluffy, perfect-looking clouds that we've come to expect in Colorado. The mountain ranges ahead of us were again that majestic color purple, and we had a nice cross breeze and cool temps. My legs were contributing today; we were climbing virtually the entire time, but the climbs were a lot more manageable.

We crested another hill to see the Platte River snaking around the valley below us. I don't know what it looks like in other years, but the river today was moving fast and furious, twisting sharply one way, then abruptly twisting the opposite direction. The road below us plunged down into another valley, then in a straight line across the valley floor to--a city?

Yep, we could see Fairplay from the crest of that hill. Only 6 miles to go. Whoohoo!

The last 5 miles only looked flat. We could only manage about 6mph, on a road that looked flat, but had a very gentle upslope the entire distance. By the time we got to Fairplay, I was happy, but happy to stop, too.

Fairplay is an 1880's mining town that has survived better than many other towns like it in the west. Fairplay is a restored Western town, sitting at the junction of Hwy 9 and Hwy 285. They've capitalized on the western theme, and also created a whole festival celebrating the burro--in particular, one burro named Prunes. Unfortunately, we just missed Burro Days--it's held the 3rd weekend in July.

We had dinner tonight at the Hotel Fairplay, since almost every other eatinig establishment in town is either closed on Wednesdays or just closed. The hotel dates from 1922, when it was rebuilt after a fire swept through the town and destroyed the original hotel. The hotel is built on the foundation of the original, and looks identical to it. The new owners added modern conveniences in the rooms, and added a great bar off the dining room. It's a charming hotel, and the dining room features homemade pies. I recommend the oatmeal pie. Similar to pecan pie, but substituting raisins and oatmeal for the pecans.

As we enjoyed dinner, the skies darkened with storm clouds again. We saw lightning strikes in the distance, and could see the rain already covering the towns we had ridden through today. The temp has already dipped from 75 to 59 as the rains move in.

Tomorrow we head for the highest point of our trip--Hoosier Pass. From Fairplay, it's a 12-mile ride to the top, climbing from about 10,000 feet to 11, 542 feet. From there, it's all downhill, theoretically. We'll stop in Silverthorn for a rest day on Friday, to celebrate our passage through the Rockies. We'll still have a few more days in the mountains, but the big hill will be behind us. I'll drink to that.