Factoid: I must apologize to all of my Australian friends. The road kill that I always bitched about is nothing compared to the feedlots that I have en-counted traveling through the mid-west. Not only do they smell but they are huge and you wonder where does all of the waste go........ No wonder McDonald's hamburgers are so cheap!!
Gooseneck, Utah to Alamosa, Colorado 6.3.08
After having survive the winds of Gooseneck, did I mention that I met a young couple from Germany and the price of petrol is $8.00 plus for a gallon. Down to Mexican Hat for petrol then cross over to Colorado to 4 corners. This is where the 4 states meet(Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona) and there is a plaque for which you pay $3.00 to see, yeah right!
Leaving 4 corners and heading east on Route 160, both sides of the road are littered with empty glass and plastic bottles. Just a dump.
Up until you reach Durango on Rt 160 everything is humbug, but after Durango and through to Del Norte it is just a very beautiful ride. After that it is back to the humbug status to Alamosa.
Alamosa, CO
Spent part of the day at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. To climb the dunes you have to cross this very cold, snow fed stream. Once you get to the other side where the dunes are you can climb to your hearts content and then roll all the way down. Also you have the US Fish & Wildlife Sanctuary which you can do an auto tour.
Alamosa,CO to Gunnison,CO 6.5.08
It was a wet morning and knowing that I would be crossing into the Rocky Mountains I had 6 layers of clothing on just to be on the safe side. Crossed the Continental Divide(this is some imaginary line that someone drew though North America from North to South after he had a proper pint or two indicating the length of your knee socks) and Slumgullion Pass (11.4K) and to add a bit of excitement it was snowing and the snow plows where out in force. Finally into Gunnison for the night.
Gunnison,CO to Rocky Mountains National Park, CO 6.6.08
Having not checked with the locals( as usual), headed north through Almont where again I was told that the pass was closed with snow until Mid or late June. So back down the road again. So finding another way through Monarch Pass(11.3K) and Fremont Pass(11.3K)the most scenic of all passes, we end up at Lake Granby, part of the National Park.
Rocky Mountain NP to Goodland, Kansas 6.7.08
Hoping that the Trail Ridge Pass, part of the NP, would be open but unfortunately it had snowed the day before and the pass was blocked. So it was back down the hill to Granby then north to Walden before heading east over Willow Creek Pass(9.6K) and Cameron Pass(10.3K) to Fort Collins. The La Poudre river follows the road to Fort Collins and of course it was Saturday and every river rafting company was out there on a 2 lane highway along with push bikes which just adds to the pleasures of the traffic.
I don't think there was any road through the Rockies that was not a pleasure to ride on. Of course once out of the Rockies you hit the flat land and its humbug again with straight roads. It was a 9 hour day on the bike and you just feel like someone beat you with an ugly stick.
Goodland, KS to Independence KS 6.8.08
It was a very, very, very long day and another 10 hour ride. But with my case of Depends on one side and the 5 gallon jug of red wine on the other .....
Pulled into Elk City Lake State Park. As the day had been pleasant, the skies were clear and nothing on the horizon to indicate problems. It was another night sleeping on the picnic table( I thought). Well around 2130hrs I was awaken but this loud noise(wind) and lighting next and then, and I mean then, it rained buckets. Everything was instantly wet and having not setup the tent I was in deep ....... I was wet, the gear was wet, I packed everything away wet and finally found within the state park a covered area but open on all four sides. I had every piece of clothing on but being that the clothes were wet, within a very short time I was suffering from hypothermia. How I made it through the night is anyone's guess. Come to find out this storm covered the mid west from Texas to North Dakota and caused massive flooding and deaths.
Independence, MO to Springfield, MO 6.9.08
Well after spending a very refreshing night even with my winter gloves and balaclava on and then finding said wallet in muddy water. It was time to put on a new face and see how the rest of the world was handling itself. Got underway heading east with rain and over cast skies greeting me as I traveled. Pulled into Joplin, MO and stopped at McDonald's and being the sponge that I was, it was a continuous puddle from the door to the counter and return. Had my cuppa and 3 pancakes before I got back on the road to Springfield,MO. Rented a cabin for the night and by the time I had all of the wet gear hanging from rafters the cabin smelled like.............!
Springfield, MO to Columbia, MO 6.10.08
I estimated that just about 75% of my gear had dried out by morning. As Springfield was besett with heavy fog I didn't get underway until 1100hrs.
Taking mostly secondary roads through the Capital of Missouri, Jefferson City, I continued north to Columbia in about 3 hrs time. I'll be in Columbia,MO until the end of the month doing volunteer work for the United States Geological Services (USGS) up on the Great Lakes.
Anticipate I will be back on the road going northwest (Alaska) come the first of July.
Norm Garon
The Grey Nomad
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