I throughly enjoyed the time I had to relax and recover a little bit while in Steamboat Springs. Seeing entire families going on bike rides and the number of people in general on bikes and e-bikes in this beautiful town made me smile. I took advantage of the hot springs across from the motel and had a lengthy early morning and late afternoon session of sitting in warm water while people watching.

I needed all the rest I could get yesterday because today would be challenging due to continuous climbing required to get me to Kremmling. Today was not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Leaving Steamboat, I understand now where they get the “Steam” from in Steamboat as there was a nice fog layer over the Yampa River.

The first 15 miles today was on pavement, which would have been really nice if the fog did not reduce visibility down to about 1/8th of a mile a few times. I had both front and back lights on this morning!

After I hit the dirt and gravel roads, I enjoyed riding beside a creek for a while and then Stagecoach Reservoir had a nice trail that went around the reservoir following the finger type shape on the east side.

The climb up to Lynx pass would start after the reservoir and would be gradual and constant for the next 17 miles. I ran into Pied at the Stagecoach State Park area and he was doing great. He had camped by the water and was enjoying his morning. I soon took off and I enjoyed listening to Utah Phillips on my phone’s speaker as I climbed up to the top of this beautiful pass.

There was no significant descent following the pass and after a creek crossing, it was back to a steady climb until the descent down to Radium, which had to be taken very slowly due to recent washouts and poor road conditions.

As I was coming into Radium, I was startled and about jumped off of War Dog when the Amtrak train’s horn blew without me having seen the train yet. It was right below me and after I was over the initial shock, I waved to all the passengers from above once the train came into view. The extremely long cargo train that had been impatiently waiting then began it’s journey on down the tracks after giving the right away to the passenger train.

After a lunch break in vicinity of Radium Campground, I began another climb up to Inspiration Point. This time I was on a wide dirt road that was as busy as a highway. Friday afternoons can be busy with adventure seekers hitting the backroads for fun and excitement.

Eventually, I was able to have a nice descent down to the highway that leads to Kremmling and I went straight to Subway for a footlong! I then came up to the same campsite that I stayed at last year and it was nice to talk to the family that runs this joint again. Hard day! Earned my day off, I guess?