Trip #154 (4): Rough Riders Tour: CO, WY & Dakotas (still trying to escape the heat)
September 7 – x, 2026
Monday, September 7 - Leadville 2 nights
Santa Fe still daily blazing at 90, enough already!!!! Diesel WAY UP $5.69 gal. WTF. Got to Leadville about 3pm. CG on Turquoise Lake #36 but bathroom STINKS so moved to better spot down the road. Flatter too. Host has 2 big cats running around, one friendly one not.
Santa Fe still daily blazing at 90, enough already!!!! Diesel WAY UP $5.69 gal. WTF. Got to Leadville about 3pm. CG on Turquoise Lake #36 but bathroom STINKS so moved to better spot down the road. Flatter too. Host has 2 big cats running around, one friendly one not.
Tuesday, September 8
Woke to about 39º up here. Took bikes to town about 10 am (she got up early!), about 4 miles away, and got in some shopping before hitting the 12-mile Mineral Trail bike loop. Almost cool when the sun's behind clouds but it was a nice ride, all paved, long inclines and declines, and fortunately the visitor center guy said to ride it clockwise. All sorts of old mining structuresd and lots of info signs THAT COULD USE LARGER HEADLINES WHEN YOU ARE RIDING PAST, geez, tiny letters on a busy sign - only walkers can read them all; we'd still be up there if I stopped for them all. Hence, I have no idea what went on up there. That was good advice, tho we were the only ones going that way. Thanks to e-bikes didn't even break a sweat. Back to town to get the cool mug I saw earlier then to Safeway; livin' the dream you know. Took a walk on the trail along the lake. Way in the distance the fire from earlier in the year is still smoldering on the side of the mountain. Not many critters, I fed a bird but took another day for a squirrel to find it. Host said these campgrounds will all close for the season a week from Sunday.
Wednesday, September 9
Even colder this am - 37º. Pretty day and off we go to Encampment, to be about a 4 - 5 hour drive, and what do you know, thru Frisco and Silverthorne - you know what that means, no, not the outlet malls, but the Habitat for Humanity thrift store! They always have the best crap, and I came out with a big heavy red bowl for bread for $10 while he fill up the tank with $5.69 diesel next door. Well, it was next door and all... Loving crossing over the Wyoming state line, never another car on the road. Relaxing enough to coax him into listening to podcasts, yesssss. Nice day, not much over 75, and we arrived to Encampment, thrilled to find some freebie spots open in the little city campground. Elec, water and sewer all compliments of a $.35 donation. Talk about a step back in time, you can probably walk down the middle of any of the gravel roads. Went to the thrift store, the antique store, checked out the one restaurant on mainstreet, then drove around, remembering we did a hike last time here, couldn't find that and then ended up at the new (to us) Grub and Pub for an early dinner. Ooh boy, the locals... smoking on the patio, sitting around the bar. A wild time, no one under 50, except for the staff. Hanging out now, breezy and 71, sunny, no complaints. Except for the man who arrived at 2:30 to cut the grass at the senior center, and was just finishing up when we returned for all out excursions. Yes, a slower pace here. He was strapping everything own on his trailer, I bet he lives around the corner.
Thursday, September 10
Charlie Kirk day.
