For our last day in Wyoming, we headed to Six Mile Gap campground in Encampment, Wyoming. The campsite was a pain to get to — about two miles of rough hills and all bumpy gravel — but worth every inch of struggle. The actual sites were hidden from view with stairs leading up a hill into a glittering aspen grove. There we saw a picnic table and a leveled out area to put our tent. It felt like a magical forest and I loved every minute of it.
The next day as we crossed into Colorado, we were welcomed with a pop-up hailstorm! It ended as quickly as it started, but it was still a funny, dramatic entrance. That night, we celebrated with some Chef Boyardee. As we did the pass into Granby, Colorado the next day, we met four other bikers at our campsite. After enduring some light rain, we took primitive baths in the river and ate some snacks in the tent before calling it a night.
After Granby, we quickly rode through Hot Sulphur Springs and into Heeney, Colorado where we met up with Paula’s mom and (a surprise visitor) her brother! It was such a nice treat to see them. That night we drove to an Airbnb nearby and had Italian food for dinner.
The following day was a rest day. After we dropped our bikes off at a nearby bike shop for some tuneups, we drove back to Hot Sulphur Springs and went to around 18 different Hot Spring Pools! It was such a fun getaway, and we ended the day with some steak, a romantic comedy, and ate a lot of veggies! We went to bed early to prepare for Hoosier Pass — the highest point of the trip!
The climb was long. And difficult. But as we reached the peak of Hoosier Pass, we felt so victorious. Paula’s brother joined us (how hardcore to do that with no training) and after eating some much deserved lunch at the top, we coasted down into Hartsel, Colorado. Crossing the highest point on the Trans America made me think back to all we have done. I was overcome with pride for us and all we have accomplished thus far. We were officially halfway done with the trip and I felt like it flew by. I started to get the feeling the next half would fly by just as quickly.
The next day we said goodbye to Paula’s mom and brother after they gave us a jumpstart to our week by dropping us off in Cañon City, Colorado. We rode on some pretty big roads Google took us on into Pueblo, where I got a flat around 4:30pm. By the time we got it all fixed, it was around 6pm and we just resigned to staying in Pueblo as opposed to going the extra 12 miles. We booked the cheapest motel we found and prepared ourselves to continue our adventures the next day.
A Funny Moment of the Week: Well, on our way to Pueblo, CO we made a detour for lunch to celebrate the end of the sixth map. Google was directing us back onto the main road but it wanted to take us along some smaller country roads first. Why not, right? The main road had a lot of traffic and we didn’t want to deal with that right away. As we continued, the small roads turned to dirt paths and we suddenly encountered a big wall of rocks that separated the road into two. We SAW the road. We KNEW it existed. And it was still our route for Google Maps. So we said, “There’s technically no sign?” And we crossed over it like the adventurers we are. We rode along and the route continued. All of a sudden, these large signs started popping up: “NO TRESPASSING!” “PRIVATE PROPERTY!” We hurried along. We noticed a large gate looming closer… more locking us in than letting us out. We found a break in some surrounding wood fencing and hurried out. As we turned to leave, we could finally read the large sign on the iron wrought fence: “PUEBLO MOTORSPORTS ARENA!” Google had, unknowingly, taken us through a dirt bike and monster truck course. What a journey!
What We’ve Learned: Don’t trust Google!