After a number of days camping I decided to take a bit of a breather with some down time in Steamboat Springs. It's a friendly little town in a beautiful location with some great services. I really enjoyed doing some non-cycling related activities here: hanging out in cafes, doing some travel research in the town's incredible library, visiting the local museum. Karen and Mike kindly hosted me; I was very grateful for a night out of the tent!
As you can faintly make out, the colours are starting to change on the hillsides and this promises to be a spectacular time to be riding through Colorado. The seasons are changing; the days are getting noticeably shorter with temperatures dropping too. While I'm not in any kind of time schedule it makes sense to keep heading south before it gets too cold.
Following my Warm Showers stay in Steamboat I was further treated with a stay at the home of Janice and Andy near Stagecoach Reservoir. Originally I had planned a one night pitstop before moving on in the morning. However, with grey skies and the threat of rain in the air Janice and Andy invited me to stay one more night and take some more time off the saddle. They are wonderful company and incredibly hospitable so I hardly needed my arm twisted!
It was a real pleasure to be taken up to the Flat Top mountain range; in the picture I am crossing the Devil's Causeway. While the scenery reminded me a little of the uplands of the Lake District and Snowdonia these are mountains on a very different scale - up to 3600m, I haven't been to such high land in years. I am really grateful to Janice and Andy for taking the time to guide me on this hike; riding a bike you just cannot get to such places and I have benefitted so much from their local knowledge.
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