Day 10

Awesome day today. It was still hot (it is all relative, when it got to be 80F in the mountains, I felt cold) but only 280 miles or so and wound up at Amphitheater campground outside of Ouray, CO. I can't say enough about how spectacular it is here. More about that later.

David and I had a nice visit, but unfortunately I may have helped to add some more drama to his life as one of the cats disappeared with the likely outcome that it became Coyote bait. I hope David finds it...

The first part of the ride was pretty typical hot riding through the desert. But once I got to Rte. 550 north out of Durango, I realized why I like to ride so much. This road is a new favorite road for both me and Brian (although it is two thousand miles away from him.. hint, hint). This is old silver mining country and a lot of the roadside exhibits are related to that, including the narrow gauge rail trestle featured in one of the photos.

I chose the campground based on it's proximity to a town. However, it has a lot to recommend itself on its own. It is not called amphitheater for nothing as it is nestled among 120 degrees of peaks that look like a performance venue of the mountains. I made the mistake of not getting a photo before I went down to town for dinner (at a place recommended by the campground hosts who were kind enough to visit for 15 minutes of chatting). I am afraid the lighting will be wrong in the morning, sorry about that (I tried to make up for that with a shot from town of the same view).

Dinner is at O'brien's pub in Ouray (with the hockey game on in the background). The barkeep is the proprietor Rick (thanks for the password to the wireless) who is a combination displaced Baltimorean and Deadhead. How do I know that? Well, the chicken wings were spectacular seasoned with Old Bay seasoning, a Maryland favorite, based on a recipe handed down via his father. The stew, also excellent, came from his mom's family which leant the O'brien name to the establishment. The Dead came up because he checked out my bike and saw the stickers...they seem to be some sort of magnet. Rick dropped out of college in the late '80s to follow the band around. The sparkle in his eyes when discussing that era of his life told the whole story (I am not at liberty to disclose how he supported that particular lifestyle). He attributes his settling here for the last 18 years with his wife to the influence of his years following the band.

So, I have been at this for ten days with many more to come. It is reasonable to ask a few questions at this point:

1) Is it living up to my expectations? I am not sure what my expectations were but it ismentally and physically harder than I thought it would be tempered with a strange sense of accomplishment mixed with excitement. In no way do I want to call it off. I should say that this little piece of the world is worth finding.

2) Will the experience have an effect on my world view? Too early to tell. However, I feel a little like Huck Finn (or Captain Willard from Apocolypse Now or Charles Marlow from Heart of Darkness (wait, aren't they the same character?)) in that when I am riding it seems that I am in my own isolated world listening to XMradio and watching out for drivers that don't see me but if I stop, I get to interact with the outside world. So far those interactions have been mostly great. Let's hope it stays that way. So, the question is...will all that 'alone time' with Fred lead to an epiphany of sorts? It hasn't yet but one can never tell.

[Phil, how was that?]

PGL-Day10 at EveryTrail

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own,
And sometimes we visit your country and live in your home,
sometimes we ride on your horses, sometimes we walk alone,
sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own.
-Robert Hunter