Day 16 - July 29

We had originally planned on climbing Mt Evans today, but when we woke up to rain, thick clouds and cold temperatures, we decided to forego that experience. We had also heard and seen that the road up to the top was in very bad shape, so that made our decision to pass on it that much easier. For the entire day, the temperatures just barely made it above 60F and at times, was in the low 40's.

So instead, we took a leisurely ride alongside I70 on secondary roads and then took the Guanella Pass road south. Along the way, Bob's bike was having issues with the water pump, so after reaching the

village of Grant, he and Dave made their way to Littleton, CO and Rocky Mountain HD to have it looked at, while Brian, Jana and I continued on towards our destination.

The ride on Hwy 285 was a bit busy, but once we got to Fairplay and headed north on Hwy 9, it was a nicer ride, even with the persistent, drizzly rain. At the town of Frisco, we headed back south on Hwy 91 and stopped at the Golden Burro Cafe and Lounge for some coffee and soup.

After lunch, we continued south on Hwy 24 alongside the Arkansas River and eventually came across to US50 at Poncha Springs, where a fuel/rest stop was in order. From there, it was a straight line to our destination in Gunnison, CO and the Quality Inn & Suites. Only to get there and realize that when I called in the reservation, they had

mistakenly made it for August 29 - things got a little scary when the hotel manager told us that all rooms in town were fully booked already, but in the end, he was able to get us set up for the night.

Dinner was across the street at Mikey's Pizza.

We were obviously in ski country today, with some very "chique" and touristy towns, like Frisco, Leadville, Brekenridge and others. We crossed a number of different Passes at around 12,000 feet too.

Tomorrow, we'll go see a man about a canyon and try to get us some million dollar views :-)