Walden to Hot Sulphur Springs, CO

Via Hwy 125 and US 40. 62 miles.

Days like today are why we like living in Colorado and riding bicycles here. We enjoyed a scenic ride on quiet roads on a classic Colorado early Fall day.
That is, bright blue skies, with cool temperatures in the morning warming to the mid-70s in the afternoon.

We left Walden and immediately began the gradual 32-mile ascent out of the North Park basin over Willow Creek Pass. Part of the basin is a wildlife preserve where we saw a herd of antelope, an eagle, a badger and lots of geese. We also saw a hunter and his young son carrying an antelope carcass across the tundra toward their truck (we did not stop to ask if it was a legal kill). It looked like they were working a lot harder than we were.

The pass turned out to be one of the gentler ones we have crossed and we enjoyed a long descent down the east side. The road ran along Willow Creek, where there were quite a few campers and fishermen. The tall pine trees, as in most other areas of the state, had been decimated by the pine beetle infestation. There were miles and miles of dead and dying trees that took many years to mature. Apparently the Forest Service has no plans to remove the dead trees, so eventually they will probably topple over and then maybe some new growth can occur.
It's sad to see, but nature's way I guess.

We saw a couple of other touring cyclists headed up the east side of the pass as we came down, the first we've seen in several days. It seems clear that the vast majority of riders have completed their east-to-west journey, which makes sense as most of them are of college age and have to get back for school. On the plus side, there aren't too many people on the road. We've had no problem finding places to stay, restaurants are less than half filled, etc. The summer tourist season is pretty much over, big game hunting season hasn't started and it's way too early for skiing.
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