Day 56: Walden, CO to Saratoga, WY (70 miles, 2658 total)

Wyoming!!! Today we breezed (literally) into our seventh state of the trip.

It was a fantastic day. We originally planned to end the day in Riverside (suggested by our guidebook), but we were advised by Jonathan to push on the extra 18 miles to Saratoga because the town has more to offer including a free natural hot spring.

After our late day yesterday, we (FYI, since he spent the day with us, everytime I say "we" in this entry it includes Dale) decided to sleep in until 7AM. After meeting Jonathan for breakfast, we finally got on the road by 9:30AM.

After reading about the chances of strong gusting winds in northern Colorado and Wyoming, we were pleasantly surprised by a tailwind pushing us north. From Walden, we had about 22 miles to the state line, all of which passed easily. At one point on a descent, I maxed my computer out a 50mph. That is officially the fastest I have ever gone on a bike, and yet again I did not even mean to. I just crouched down and zipped down the hill.

At the state line, we stopped for our usual "Welcome to..." photos. We didn't dilly-dally long as we knew that tailwinds don't often last.

A few miles into Wyoming, I was blasting along with the tailwind at about 25mph when I managed to collide with a very angry wasp. Well, I'm not sure if he was angry before he smacked into my neck, but he certainly was after as he did not waste much time sinking his stinger into my neck. Insatantly, my neck was in pain, but not wanting to lose my precious momentum, I decided to coast to a stop rather than brake.

Soon, AK and Dale caught up to me. AK inspected my swelling bite for a stinger while Dale searched for a Claritin (in hopes of keeping the swelling down). There was no stinger to be found and we were back riding the tailwind shortly there after.

We rode the remaining 28 miles into Riverside without issue. The tailwind died, but so did the wind in general, so we were just happy to have a wind-free afternoon in Wyoming (something that is rather rare). Although, as we turned towards Riverside we did get a few stiff gusts on our left side, but they disappeared as soon as they came up.

In Riverside we had a great lunch at the Bear Trap Cafe, and all three of us decided that we ought to push on to Saratoga. The last 18 miles into Saratoga were really easy, almost too easy. Once we arrived we consulted our guidebook on how to get to the hot springs.

When we arrived at the "Hobo Pool", we were schocked to discover how hot it really was. We were told that the main portion of the pool was between 110 and 120 degrees and another smaller section was near 200! We could barely dip our feet in the main pool and decided that anyone wanting to have kids should probably swim elsewhere. We found that the mixture of the hot spring water with the nearby river was more our speed.

The hot springs were right next door to the city pool and one of the local lifeguards offered up his parents' backyard for free camping. Free, you say? We're there. He also promised few mosquitos.

After about an hour of wading and showers in the pool locker room, we biked back in to town to enjoy some live traditional African music. We asked a local for a recommended resturant and he pointed us toward the "Cantina" were we enjoyed mexican food and margaritas.

Next, AK led us to our accomodations for the night. Soon we arrived at the house, and the lifeguard pointed us toward the best spot to pitch a tent in his backyard. It turns out that their backyard ends at the North Platte River! So, under the watchfull eyes of several deer, we pitched our tents next to the river. It is a really cool place to be for the night.

All three of us are really happy we decided to blast past Riverside and come to Saratoga for the night. It was well worth the extra miles, and now we will have a shorter day into Rawlins tomorrow.

By the way, we ran into Shawn this morning. It turns out that he arrived at about 1PM into Walden after taking the shorter route. He said he could see the storm over in our direction. It sounds like the old route does have a bit more traffic, and I doubt it is as scenic as the route we took. We also ran into him again here in Saratoga this afternoon. The potential for mosquitos in the campgrounds tempted him (and his tarp-shelter) to spring for a hotel for the night.

All in all, it was a great day. With the sound of the river babbling nearby, we are off to bed.

By the way, yesterday marks one month left of our adventure. I cannot believe it. Time is passing so quickly; I just know I am gonna start missing this trip the day we finish it.

Jeff