The campsite offered great white noise that put me to sleep quickly as the wind was blowing through the aspen trees. A couple hours into my sleep, I was awakened by a few coyotes that were howling and yipping. At first, I was not sure what was going on and then I enjoyed the echoes of the howling as it went down the valley and back again.

The early morning before sunrise ride was a little chilly because it was mostly coasting down the backside of the pass. I relaxed and took in all the scenery and watched for the sun to make it’s appearance.

I eventually turned off onto a nice gravel road where I began a gradual 11 mile climb up to Carnero Pass. This pass would be the only significant climbing of the day and I enjoyed making my way to the top.

The descent down from the pass lasted all the way until the planned sit down breakfast spot. I thoroughly enjoyed the views as the landscape is definitely changing as I get closer to New Mexico and a single coyote made an appearance and quickly ran back into the bushes along the way. He was almost as fast as the badger I saw a couple days ago.

I had a great breakfast burrito and enjoyed listening to three locals talk about the number of times they have been to Pueblo in their lifetime. Let’s just say that with the time I spent there last year, I am not too far behind their total time spent in the city. The grass is always greener on the other side as I enjoyed my time in Pueblo, perhaps they did not.

After lunch, I made a mistake in assuming the ride would be like the first part of the day and I was wrong, of course. About halfway to Del Norte from my breakfast spot, I noticed a cooler with water inside for riders. I never pass up a chance for water and as soon as I passed this spot with more water secured, I figured out why they generously offered the water.

The trail soon turned into what we call chunky and eventually into a jeep trail. The first part of the jeep trail was nice and fun to ride and then it also got chunky. Just as the large rocks went away, the deep sand appeared. It was one of those moments where I reverified I was actually on the right trail a couple of times. Yep, definitely still on the GDMBR.

I simply slowed my roll and kept moving forward and eventually made it to the perimeter of an airfield that our route circumnavigates. It was nice to see a sign for our route, but I think the airfield manager posted the sign out of concern that a rider would cut across the airfield property since there is no fence to keep us out.

I eventually made it to Del Norte and it is a nice little town that has a nice wild west feel. I may take a walkabout once the storm passes and enjoy the scenery.