What's Fred Up To Now?: Day 23 - Monday June 11; Canon City, CO to Guffey, CO (34 miles)

After yesterday's update, my daughter Jenny called to make sure I knew about the new wildfire in Poudre Canyon. The smoke was so bad yesterday that US287 between Laramie, WY and Ft. Collins, CO was closed due to low visibility from the smoke. US287 is my planned route to Ft. Collins on the last day of this trip which should be Sunday June 17. I'll check on the situation when I get to Silverthorne and make a decision about whether to proceed to Laramie of figure out a Plan B.

I had another good night's rest last night in Canon City. After a hearty breakfast, I was off by 7:00 AM. It was 12 miles to the Royal Gorge recreation area, all on US50 which had a wide shoulder. I decided to skip the Royal Gorge attractions and do that some other time with Susi. At Royal Gorge I turned onto CO9 which I will be on for several days. The first five miles of CO9 were downhill/flat, then the climbing started. Miles six to nine felt nearly straight up! That was some really slow going with a number of short rest breaks. Miles eight to 20 were very nice - high, open meadows with only a slight uphill grade while climbing from 7,000 to 8,000 feet. My destination for today is Guffey, CO which is off-route about one mile. About three miles from the Guffey turnoff I met Laurel Goodman and Jamison Henkle who are on their 41st day of riding the TransAmerica route from west to east. They had good things to say about Guffey and the Rustic Cabins. The one mile road up to Guffey was pretty steep. By about 12:30 PM I found the Guffey Garage and Charlie who set me up in a "bunk house" which, in reality, is a 6' x 8' storage shed with a fold-down bed. I was able to get all my gear and bike inside. All this and a hot, outdoor shower for $10. I'd made much better time getting here than I thought I would.

After unloading my gear in the bunk house, I headed for the only open bar/restaurant in town, the Bull Moose Restaurant and Bar. I highly recommend the Guffey Burger if you are ever in this area. After eating, I hung out drinking free soda refills. About mid-afternoon I headed back to the bunkhouse, took a shower then went over to the garage and talked to Charlie for a while. He works for a man named Bill who apparently owns half of Guffey including the old City Hall building which they have turned into a museum. Charlie gave me the key and I took a self-guided tour. The museum and the inside/outside of the Guffey Garage are a real trip. Around 6:00 PM I went back to the Bull Moose for dinner. After dinner I found the library which, while closed, still had their wifi up and going. I did not have cell phone coverage but was able to make the above blog update and send Susi and e-mail letting here know I'd arrived in Guffey as planned.

Tomorrow I'm off to Fairplay 47 miles away. There is one pass tomorrow at 9,400 feet but there won't be as much climbing as today. I probably did around 4,000 total feet of climbing today when you add all the ups and downs.

A few photos from the day follow.