Steamboat to Fort Collins

Finally, too bad it wasn't the only summit

On Saturday I left Steamboat and had to make it to the summit of Cameron's Pass in order to meet some boaters to run the Little North early in the morning.

I was on the road by 6:00am and spent the next few hours of the morn climbing Rabbit Ears Pass. It was about a 7 mile ride at a 7% grade to reach the West summit. I had forgotten that Rabbit Ears had two summits and so I had to continue with more up and down riding to reach the East Summit. It was then down hill for only about 2 miles and then a 50 mile ride to Walden.

I can't think of too many places that are prettier to take a bike ride through. Once in the valley I was surrounded by green meadows which were boxed in by the Zircles and Rawahs. Absolutely stunning.

I got to Walden around lunch time and stopped to eat and rest. My knee had begun to act up and felt like it needed to pop. It felt like it could pop and relieve all the pressure or pop and tear my quad so I was a little worried. My Achilles were starting to tighten up again.

A cow and two of her calves, probably last year's offspring

I left Walden and headed for Cameron Pass and around Gould the rain hit and it was freezing cold. It was however still beautiful out and the mountains were awesome. I also can't think of a time that I am on the west side of Cameron's and don't see a moose. I saw 7 moose that night.

Same moose as the above picture, but if you look into the background there is another cow and she had three first year calves, I only saw one.

I was starting to get dizzy and bonk and had to pedal hard to Gould. I stopped and had some homemade ice-cream at the Drifter's Cookhouse. Blackberry White chocolate Cheesecake and it was probably some of, if not the best ice-cream I have ever eaten. Thanks again for the ice-cream.Typical Cameron's scenery

My bike and the Crags

I was feeling exhausted and the owners not only gave me the ice-cream, but offered me a cabin for the night. i politely declined because I needed to be at the meeting point by 8am. So I kept trucking and by 8pm I had reached the summit of Cameron's and was at the designated campsite. I was freezing cold and completely wiped, but it felt good to have gotten to point B.
I put in about 100 miles that day and summited two passes.

We still got snow here on the Front Range