Day 30, June 26

Happy Birthday to me.

Hartsel to Lake Pueblo State Park, CO
100 miles

Thanks to everyone for the happy birthday wishes.

This morning I got up and wandered over to the Hartsel cafe/saloon for breakfast.  On this journey I have been continually amazed by what I can now eat. It is as if my stomach has doubled in size. The breakfast burrito I ordered turned out to be a 4 egg monster that was over a foot long and smothered with too many things to list. I thought I would get through maybe half but 15 minutes later it was gone.

On the window next to my table was this flyer that one of the waitresses created.

Today was a day of descending.  Hartsel was around 9000 ft and my destination near Pueblo was around 5000 ft.

The grassland quickly gave way to canyons during the first 20 miles or so.

Pond near Guffey

Coming into Canon (pronounced canyon) I met Bob, who was riding across the country to raise awareness about dementia after losing his mother to it.  He was not carrying any gear and was unsupported.  He was obviously relying on a credit card and hotel/motel stays.

In many places along the road I started seeing the plant in the pictures below.  It was producing what looked like baby watermelons.  Some internet research revealed that it is actually something called buffalo gourd, which is common in the southwest.  Its flowers were similar to those of zucchini and since all squash/gourd flowers are edible I ate a few.

Historical marker somewhere between the towns of Florence and Wetmore.

Late in the day i was getting pretty tired of the CO roads, 90% of which look like the picture below. CO appears to hate cyclists as the roads here leave no space for us.  I probably pulled off the road 50 times today when I had large vehicles approaching from both the front and rear simultaneously.

Cliffs just outside Pueblo

Lake Pueblo State Park, where I ended my day, had some wonderful views. The sunset below was much more pink than what my phone camera captured.