Shakedown trip - Day 3 - Mueller State Park to Painted Rocks Campground.

Start - Mueller State Park - Elev ~ ~ 9600'
End  - Painted Rocks Campground  ~ 7850'
High Point -  ~ Probably Mueller @ 9600'
Low point - End of Manchester creek ; Elevation ??
Elevation Gain - ~ 800' to 1000' guess
Mileage - ~ 23 miles
Riding Time - 2:18, elapsed time ~ 5 hours

Today's ride was through rolling hills, forests, and drainage's of the South Platte River north of Divide, Colorado. After our wet spring and early summer, all of the open park areas were green and flowering, with great views of Pike Peaks and the Tarryall mountains.
The route we took was not the intended route I had previously scouted, but Don convinced me of a more direct route, that avoided a 4-5 mile steep climb out of West Creek. After a couple of days lugging the trailer, that sounded fine by me! Also, I got to practice trailer touring on some more primitive forest service roads in this area.

Stopped at the super market in Divide to pick up an item or two, and we did get to meet a couple of colorful fellow citizens as the trailer beckoned some questions. One was the great grand daughter of Nikolaus August Otto, who invented a practical combustion engine. After mentioning that he was unjustly rewarded in his own time and by history, she did go on and on about needing to get the heck out of our country after having just escaped the Carolinas. The other fellow was a friendly older gentleman who asked me about my bike, why I bought  that particular one, if I was happy with it. It seemed the more I engaged, the twinkle in his eyes laughed more and more. I guess I'm not sure if he was genuinely interested in bikes or more with toying with me, in a friendly way. Perhaps a bit of both.
After a few miles of paved rollers on a ruler straight county road, it was off pavement and forest roads for us.

Great downhill for 4 or 5 miles down Manchester Creek drainage. However, biking karma never seems to sleep, and we did have to make up that descent with a push up FR 358. And I mean push, as it was too steep to ride for either Don or I. More "*good*" training experiences I suppose as there are number of places on the Great Divide Tour that will result in some pushing ith the BOB. Great riding on Rule Ridge road, and Don even pointed out an Indian tree to me. Apparently, the Native Americans used to mark trails by bending young trees over with a rock or log, and the young tree would adapt and keep growing for many decades. ( sorry no picture).

With the updated map that Don bought, we found a back way into the campground, which led us to an old kiln, at least that what we think it is.

The Kiln!

Shortly after the kiln we entered the Painted Rocks area

Dan with a shy "Abe Lincoln " rock

Dan and Don in the campground

Dan, with Glenda, our lovely shuttle driver!

Once again, the trailer with gear and refreshments was waiting for us!

Shakedown trip - Day 2 - Wye Campground to Mueller State Park

Day 2

Start - Wye Campground off of Gold Camp Road - Elev ~ ~ 9800'
End  - Mueller State Park - Elev ~ ~ 9600'
High Point -  ~ 10,000' on Gold Camp Road.
Low point - Dome Rock Wildlife area parking lot - Elev ~ ~8750'
Elevation Gain - ~ 1500'
Mileage - 34.2 Miles

















It was a bit of a slow morning in the Wye campground, as I needed to dry out much of my day gear and tent  after the rain of the previous evening. and had more thing to pack up, such as the tarp. It was a typical beautiful clear morning sky, and the air was crystal clean and fresh. My buddy Don showed up right on time, though I was running late. I'll need to work on my morning efficiency as it took about 3 hours to do breakfast, dry things, and break camp. We didn't get going until about 10:45 AM.



The ride it self was about 25+ miles of gravel county roads out of the 34 total, with a fair amount of easy cruising on the railroad grade. Closer to the tour distribution of pavement/gravel. Starting to get a feel for the fully loaded trailer at higher speeds on gravel. It tracks well, but you definitely know it is there, especially when the road gets bumpy. It is becoming clear that loose surfaces need your attention as front wheel is not as heavily weighted, relatively with a trailer. Good to get some practice in this regard. Again, some beautiful scenery along Gold Camp Rd, such as the shot from Cathedral Park below.

Cathedral Park on Gold Camp Road

A bit of historical map of the area

Corley Mountain Highway ( aka Gold Camp Road)  - Circa 1930

With the late-ish start however, the weather turned cloudy early on and was pretty cool to coldish during the day, though we dodged any serious sustained rains. The road was pleasantly lightly traveled mid week, and given the fact it was partially washed out at Clyde, so auto traffic was stopped part way through our day. We had a couple of short stretches on the paved CO Hwy 67, lots of traffic, and I'm glad for the flag on the BOB and bright cycling jerseys. 

We pulled off Hwy 67 and into Mueller for a steep 1.5 mile climb to visitor Center, and into the campsite about 5 PM.
A welcome site greeted us as we arrived as our camping trailer was already in place thanks to Glenda, with happy hour accouterments readily available after the quick setup. 

So about 6:15 hour day with mayhaps 4.5 hours of riding, average speed about 8 mph.