Day: 068
Date: Saturday, 13 July 2024
Start: Ironclad Mountain
Finish: Rabbit Ears Pass (but staying in Steamboat Springs)
Daily Kilometres: 21.7
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 1982.9
Weather: Cold early then warm and sunny.
Accommodation: Rental apartment
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pop tarts
Lunch: Nachos/Mexican bowl
Dinner: Meatloaf, vegetables & macaroni cheese, peach crumble & ice-cream.
Aches: Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.
Highlight: Julie's Birthday!
Lowlight: The biting flies were a nuisance during the latter part of the morning and while hitchhiking.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
We were gone from our campsite (apparently on private land) by 6am without incident. Neither of us slept well. Our tent site was lumpy and sloping and it was unusually warm for the first part of the night.
We had about 22km of road walking ahead of us to reach the trailhead from where we planned to hitch-hike to Steamboat Springs where we had an apartment booked for two nights. The first 3km was along the quiet dirt road we had followed yesterday as a beautiful, but cold, day dawned over the grazing land around us.
The CDT then turned left onto the quite busy sealed Hwy 14, which we followed for about 16km, climbing gradually nearly the whole way through ranchland, though few cattle were seen. The day became warmer and we were soon down to our t-shirts and shorts.
A right turn then took us onto the equally busy Hwy 40 which we followed up onto Rabbit Ears Pass (9142’) and the trailhead where the CDT leaves the highway. By this time the small biting flies were tormenting us, as they continued to do when we stopped hiking and began hitchhiking towards Steamboat Springs, 35km away.
Despite the number of vehicles, it took 20-30 minutes before a young.couple, on their way home to Steamboat Springs from a triathlon yesterday in Dillon, a small town we had stayed in two weeks or so ago. We had a good chat as we drove down to the town and they dropped us off at our accommodation.
We presented ourselves, trying to look tired and in need of a shower, at reception at noon, and asked very nicely for early check-in (check-in time was 4pm!). The friendly receptionist obliged and we were soon checked in to our very nice and very expensive apartment. Steamboat Springs is a well-known ski resort and is also very popular summer vacation destination, with lots of outdoor activities on offer, and some.kind of art exhibition on this weekend.
After showers, we went to a nearby shopping centre and bought some lunch, before returning to our apartment via a large supermarket where we bought some dinner to cook for tonight and the usual “in town” snacks. Also some cheap disposable razors for Dave to use in disposing of his beard, which he did this afternoon.
We enjoyed Julie's birthday dinner in our apartment with a meal she prepared! Now we are looking forward to a day off tomorrow.
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