By the time we got up the next morning, James was already gone. We planned for a leisurely morning. Lars’ knee was still quite painful so we planned to take two days to make it back to Steamboat Springs. Our goal for the day was the small town of Yampa.
We ate breakfast, packed up, and headed back down the road a couple miles to the turn-off to Steamboat Springs, State Route 131. The climbing began right after we crossed the river and continued for the next ten miles.
At one point on the highway there was a herd of cattle milling about, and a bit further on several cowboys driving them. This is pretty typical in the Western United States where you have open grazing and ranches all over. Lars had a bit of stand off with some cattle that didn’t want to move, but by the time I got there, they were just trotting along the side of the road. We finally topped out then had a very fast five mile descent down to the Colorado River at a place called State Bridge. It was actually not too far downriver from Radium where we had camped a few days earlier. We crossed the bridge then climbing back up out of the river gorge. We had another 15 miles of mostly climbing up through sagebrush, then as we got higher, into the aspen and pine forests, intermixed with open meadows. The highway paralleled the Colorado River for a few miles to the small town of McCoy. We finally topped out again on a high open grassy area and a tiny town called Toponas. By this time I was feeling pretty lousy; I was actually close to bonking. I probably hadn’t eaten enough. Lars forced me to eat a handful of Shot Blocks, and that really did the trick. I took off feeling strong and energetic, passing Lars with a sheepish grin, and pushing it all the way to Yampa.
Yampa is a quaint little ranching town that also caters to hunters and fishermen. It is right on the edge of the Flat Tops Wilderness Area. There was no camping anywhere around Yampa, unless we wanted to ride several miles out into Forest Service land and stealth camp, or ride about 14 miles out to a reservoir. Instead we booked a reasonably priced cabin in town. The main street in Yampa is dirt, and there are a couple historic buildings there. One is Montgomery’s General Merchandise, a grocery-hardware-hunting supply store that has been in continuous operation since the late 1800’s. It is the oldest continuously operated grocery store in the state of Colorado. It had an eclectic mix of items, from groceries and a deli counter to firearms and hardware.
After settling in and showering we walked over to Antlers Bar and Grill. This is also a place that has been around a long time, starting out as a saloon. For such a casual place, in such a small town, the food was surprisingly very good, and also quite expensive. We enjoyed a really nice relaxing meal. It felt good to eat real food after a long day pedaling.
After dinner we went for a walk, exploring the town, then headed back to the cabin to relax. Evenings on a bike trip are enjoyable, talking, reading, planning future trips, and so on.
Day 5 totals: 44.8 miles, 4033′ elevation gain, 2965′ loss
There was a bakery in town that sold pastries but it didn’t open until 9:00 am, and we wanted to be gone by then. There was also a little place in Oak Creek, about ten miles north, but it was a little off route. So we just ate some energy bars, and headed out. Friday night the skies were clear, though we did have a storm blow through with rain and wind. Saturday morning, the air was thick with smoke. We had this California and Oregon wildfire smoke in Utah the week before we left, and now it had blown east into Colorado. It was pretty bad and within a couple miles my throat was feeling raw. So we put our masks on and almost immediately felt better. It wasn’t much fun riding with a mask on, but it was better than breathing that bad air.
Luckily it was short ride back to Steamboat Springs, and mostly downhill. We turned off route 131 and headed back to Stagecoach Reservoir, then north into Steamboat through farm country. It was a chilly morning so we wore long sleeves.
In two hours we were back at our car in Steamboat Springs.
Day 6 totals: 26.8 miles, 629′ elevation gain, 1730′ loss
We headed to a grocery store and bought a bunch of food for the 5 1/2 hour drive home. It was a great trip. The riding was beautiful, though lots of climbing. But that was to be expected. It wasn’t a big mileage trip, but the climbing made up for that. It was too bad Lars’ knee was giving him trouble, but we were still able to complete most of our planned route. I would really like to go back and do some more riding in Colorado.
Trip totals: 261.9 miles, 17,194′ elevation gain, 15,703′ loss
Into the Outdoors 