4 - 8/22/2017 - Cotopaxi to Lake City, Colorado. 170 Miles

Woke up early, got packed up and on the trail by 9:00am. Nice riding through the high desert and foothills again. We were gradually gaining elevation and soon were in the forest. Not far out of town, we caught up to some fellow TAT riders from Missouri. They had stopped for a coffee break. After some small talk and a few jokes, we said goodbye and set out again. Made it Salida by 11 or so and had a late breakfast. Back on the trail again, we were now climbing into the big mountains! At about 2:00, the thunderstorms started building, the rest of the afternoon we were riding in rain. Not real heavy rain until the last 20 miles or so into Lake City. I had hoped to stay the night at Lake San Cristobal where my family vacationed when I was a kid, but again due to the rain we decided to seek out lodging. We arrived in Lake City cold, wet and tired! This is my kind of town, I think there were more dirt bikes on the road here than cars! We found a reasonable, old motel for the night with a 2 bedroom room. Once we were cleaned up and warmed up, we walked over to the Packers Cannibal Grill and had a great dinner! Wasn't sure what the "Cannibal" reference was all about, it's all over here in Lake City. Apparently, Alfred Packer was an American prospector who confessed to cannibalism during the winter of 1874. He and five other men attempted to travel through the high mountains of Colorado during the peak of a harsh winter. When only Alfred reached civilization, he claimed that the others had killed each other for food, and confessed to having lived off the flesh of his companions during his snowbound state and to having used it to survive his trek out of the mountains two months later. After his story was called into question, he hid from justice for nine years before being tried, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death. Packer won a retrial and was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison for manslaughter.

Anyways, we had a great ride today, beautiful scenery, mountains and forests! Some more challenging riding up in the mountains today as well! We crossed Marshall Pass (10,842ft), Black Sage Pass (9,735ft), and Slumgullion Pass (11,530ft).
After a good dinner we watched a little T.V. and went to sleep early. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, crossing the Rockies!!

 ***NOTE; Clicking on the pictures will open them up in a larger, gallery view.***

I see BIG mountains to the West!

What a view!

Late breakfast in Salida!

Uh oh, sky is getting dark again!

"Borrowed" these photos from internet. It was pouring when we were here and the mountains were in the clouds!

YEE HAW!!

"I need a drink or 10!"

Pretty old school but clean enough and warm & dry!!