Day 42: Salida, CO to some BLM land 5 miles east of Gunnison, CO.

Miles today: 74.

I'm thinking Salida is one of my favorite towns so far. After we left the library where I wrote my last post, we stopped at a pizza place and a group sitting outside invited us to sit with them. They were all super cool and we had a good time talking and telling stories for a while before we headed across town to bed.

Left extra early this morning and climbed up to Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet! The climb took awhile but it was much different than the Appalachians. The grades were less steep, and it was steady uphill for miles instead of up and down and back up and back down, which was a lot less frustrating; it's incredibly disappointing to climb up a steep hill for a while and have to go downhill again only to earn back all that elevation over and over. This was the highest elevation I'd been to and towards the end I really started feeling its effects. Nothing too scary, but the lightheadedness and quicker pulse did make me stop more often than usual. The descent was the most fun I've had riding so far- not at all as terrifying as the one from the Blue Ridge Parkway-- gradual enough not to scare the crap out of me but steep enough to not have to do any work to keep going. The wind held us back from going too fast and I was cruising at 30 mph most of the way, which was kinda perfect.

Those headwinds weren't as welcome on the more gradual downhills we came to after getting off the mountain, and the storm they brought was even less welcome. We'd planned on making it farther but decided to stop for the day near Gunnison. There was nothing in the way of camping close to town, so we headed farther along and a little off route to an area owned by the Bureau of Land Management where we were told you can camp for free. A couple miles of dirt and gravel road later, we set up the tent on very uneven ground covered with sage and tufts of grass (the best option available) while being eaten alive by some voracious bugs. Not so ideal, but hey, we survived another night.