Even though this was our highest camping to date at 8220 ft there was not any frost on the tent again, in fact there was a gentle breeze helping to keep everything dry.

Easy start at 7.30 am, it was still chilly so hat, gloves and leggings are worn. It is straight into a descent of 200 ft then the climbing started, as we gained altitude the views got better and better, the autumnal colours are fabulous.

The final 2 miles of our climb were steep but steady until at 8937 ft we cross Lynx Pass (it is surprising where the deodorant brand gets to), our highest divide crossing to date. A short coast down to the Lynx Pass Campground where we visited the toilet, you cannot underestimate the need to sit on a proper toilet rather than squat over a hole you have just dug! We were low on water so thought this would be a good place to top up, a nice sign saying hand pump looked promising but in actual fact it was not working. A proper campground without any water very poor indeed.

We moved on, descending dusty tracks for another 5 miles until Highway 134 in all it’s glorious tarmacedness tempted us to ride along it, which of course we did.

A coyote was briefly seen in the distance before it loped off into the sagegrass.

The road was very pleasant cycling, 5 miles of it gently climbing,  then 2 more miles of sustained steeper uphill. We did a water stop, and filtered 4 litres from a clean looking stream.

At 9527 ft Gore Pass is the highest we have been, it was 17 miles since we started out. There was only one way to go now ….. doooooooown! and what a great way this is. Again stunning views, did I already mention the autumn colour?

Down we went, the most I could get out of the cycle was 35 mph, too much luggage and hub resistances. The scenery changed dramatically as height was lost, the lower we got the less water there was and the fewer trees there were (and the more sagegrass).

After 7 miles of down we got to the intersection of the road with the Interstate 40. This was the worst road we have cycled down, almost no shoulder and narrow lanes for cars and lorries. The speed limit is 65 mph.

It was 6 miles to Kremmling our intended stopping point, it was flat or downhill so it took about an hour to get there.

Kremmling is a relatively compact town below a huge outcrop of rock. Even so the supermarket was 3 miles from the campground as they are at opposite ends of town. In the end we popped into a motel, Hotel Eastin, which was lovely inside so $50 later we had our room.

Laundry was next, so we are all clean again. Then shopping for food as we will be a couple of days before our next town. A nice end to a good day.