GDMBR Day 24

• Start: Del Norte, CO

• Finish: Luders Creek Campground, Rio Grande National Forest

• Miles: 62.7 miles

• Odometer: 897.5 miles

• Ascent: 5,500 ft

• Descent: 3,400 ft

• Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice

Highlights:

This part of Colorado is a big playground. I spent the day gently climbing through various recreational areas and up in the Rio Grande National Forest through canyons, along creeks, and down and up valleys. People were out dispersed camping and enjoying themselves. I even ran into a mountain biker who previously attempted the GDMBR starting from Canada with a group of his buddies. They were traveling light and pushing high mileage days. Somewhere in lower Montana he said that “my Achilles tendon just exploded” and his trip ended. He rode with me for a while and we compared notes on bicycles, gear, and Colorado terrain.

Arriving late to the Luders Creek Campground campground at over 10,100 feet of elevation the temperature began to drop and it started to drizzle. I pulled out my new tent and hoped that the instructions were idiot proof since I didn’t have time to read the manual. In a phone conversation with a member of my support team (Dad), he suggested that I pitch the tent before I head into the mountains to make sure that it was not defective and all the parts were there. At the time I was exhausted from the previous couple of days and I told him that I was too tired. He said, “Well you can do what you want but you’re the one who always tests everything beforehand.” He’s right, but fortunately all the parts were present and accounted for. I even managed to get it right after the third attempt. 

After about an hour of light rain the sun came back out so I started my first campfire of this trip. There is a natural spring at the back of the campground where I was told you could fill up water without having to filter. I have a pretty bad phobia of Giardiasis so I’ve been filtering water regardless of the source’s reputation. But I decided to give this one a try. I’m crossing my fingers.

Follow up:

I forgot to mention: I had a near death experience! A couple of days ago when I was stuck in the middle of the snowstorm with high winds, I got off my bike and sat on a log in the middle of an aspen grove to snack and consider my options. The winds were whipping up pretty good. Suddenly I heard a loud crack and one of the aspen trees came crashing down about 10 feet away from me. I felt fortunate that it didn’t hit my bicycle. That would’ve been a real disaster.