Day 25: No Escaping the Cold Rain on Marshall Pass
Tuesday July 13
Somewhere between Hartsel and Salida to Sargents, CO
62.8 Miles, 5252 ft climbed, 1660.2 cumulative miles
As we left our wild camping spot and cycled towards Salida, we came across much private land, campers scattered near the road and on the horizon, old cabins, and trailers in various states of repair and that confirmed our solid camping decision last night.
We camped less than 20 miles from Salida which meant a real breakfast in town! It was a nice long descent into Salida and straight to the bike shop, Subculture Cyclery, where Jason took good care of our bikes and got them ready for the final stretch of our journey. And Sarah’s bike was finally blissfully silent after days of squeaking brakes and clicking drivetrain. We ate real, grown-up people food at a nice restaurant and grocery shopped. We finally started pedaling again when it got hot in early afternoon and were anticipating a sweltering rest of our day. We took the bike path out of town and there was more pavement with lots of traffic before we turned on a dirt road which took us the long way up to Marshall Pass at a railroad grade (1-3% grade).
We watched the dark clouds come our way and listened to the thunder, hoping that we could avoid the rain but today was the day that our good weather luck ran out. When the rain came, it rained hard and took no time to soak us. While temps may have been closer to 100 deg F in the early afternoon, they were now hovering below 50 deg F. These passes take us hours to get up and over and Marshall was no different. We made minimal stops; either to get food out, refill water bottles, or put on another jacket/warm layer. As long as we kept moving, we stayed mostly warm.
Irena must have looked particularly desperate because a nice couple, who were driving by to their camping spot, asked if she wanted a rain poncho and before she could answer, they pulled over up ahead and a bright blue poncho was in her hand.
Streams formed on the roadway but dirt was still rideable. We have heard about some roads that turn to peanut butter mud and you can’t even push your bike through it, let alone ride.
The descent was cold and long. We should have put on more warm clothing but didn’t want to spend the time digging through our bags. Luckily, the downhill took us straight to the Tomichi Creek Trading Post in Sargents, where we upgraded a camping spot for our wet and cold selves to a warm, dry cabin. The people were wonderful, got us settled with everything that we needed. We even squeezed in a dinner before their kitchen closed.
The evening was topped off when we ordered some apple pie and ice cream for desert. When Chris, our friendly server who we’d had fun chatting with, brought us one to share, there was an awkward pause and a moment of silence when we looked at each other, then at him, questioning that he expected us to share one slice! We all broke out into laughter and he quickly apologized and was on his way to bring us another one.
Published July 14, 2021