Boreas PASS

Day 45—Thursday, September 15—Frisco to Hartsel, CO

60 miles 

Snowshoe Motel in Frisco in the rain…HBO, wow!

Despite earlier forecasts of the weather clearing in Frisco, Thursday morning dawned with a light rain for several hours. Rather than get soaked and then having to dry everything out, I checked the forecast again and learned the rain was supposed to stop mid-morning.  So, I pursued a few projects: one pannier developed a tear along its zipper so I sewed that up, and the pad in my biking shorts needed a little seamstressing as well. Good thing I got that needle and thread back in Elkford (and my sleeping bag is no longer losing a half-goose of feathers every morning).

Nice breakfast; John (from Colorado Springs), a counselor who was in Frisco to conduct a workshop on helping patients who are in crisis

Maximized my continental breakfast—calorie-loaded as much as I could: cereal, hard boiled eggs, sweet rolls, bagels, toast, coffee, banana…amazing how much you can put away and still lose weight! Forget the fad diet, ride a bike!

Lovely bike path extends from Silverthorne to Breckinridge 

Climbing above Breckinridge

Hit the road at 10:30 am in dissipating light rain and continued along the same bike path as yesterday up to Breckinridge which is probably several hundred feet higher than Frisco in elevation. (If you’re ever visiting this area, use these bike paths, they are terrific!)

Breckinridge is beautifully situated in a high valley but has become the victim of its own beauty.  Everything is way too cute and the stores and services feel like an overlay on what could have been a really genuine pedestrian street. (Of course this is just my opinion.) I have heard Aspen has fallen to the same fate…oxygen treatments? Huh?  It's a far more attractive town than Silverthorne but clearly set up for tourism: well-dressed older folks (like me) looking for something to consume, purchase, eat, drink, absorb almost by osmosis…OK I’ll stop with the critique. I think most people love this place!

I couldn’t find a grocer so spent $15 on a ham sandwich to take up the Boreas Pass road. It was perfectly wrapped in that white deli paper: I put it on top of my front bag as a enticement to get to the top (think of a carrot on a string leading a donkey).

The road up Boreas Pass (11,450 some odd feet) stayed steep with a couple of switchbacks but eventually assumed the grade of an old rail bed, which it is. Lots of cars going up and down the wet dirt road because the views were stunning. The high peaks got a dusting of snow and it was quite beautiful.

Dusting of snow at the higher elevations

Sun breaking through on the old rail bed on the way to Boreas Pass

Easier than I thought with the railroad grades

Hail-sun squall 

Where I am headed as seen from the top of the pass

Autumn in the Rockies

Broad high valley…my immediate future

I made the 10 mile climb to the Pass in about two hours from Breckinridge.  A hail-sun squall came up over the pass and I took shelter in the entryway of one of the old railroad buildings that had been preserved and ate half the sandwich (which by that time tasted worth $50).

At the top I met Taylor and McKinsey, two young women who had started heading south that morning from Breckinridge. McKinsey was finishing the trip she began back in 2018.

The descent was fantastic even though the road was rocky…a nice railroad grade so I didn’t have to use the brakes too much. Passed through aspen groves that are displaying their autumn changes and enjoyed a far view of the broad valley below.

The road down…kinda bumpy but I still have all my fillings 

In the valley, I passed through a tiny town called Como which seems to have once had some prominence: it had a train depot. From Como I still was hoping to cover 30 miles to Hartsel where I heard there was camping. There is so much private property here where camping is not permitted.

In Como…old hotel? Great building

More Como structures

Check out the Laundry sign over the door on the right. Love the collage aspect of this facade

Sky and plain

This broad valley was described in my maps as having tons of “elbow room.” The road passed over rolling hills with one long climb up a watershed divide. So much space.

The last four miles were on a two-lane highway with a 18” shoulder into the teeth of a headwind with cars and trucks speeding…that’ll keep you on your toes, even after 55 miles.

The local pub/cafe allows folks to camp in their back yard which is OK for sleep, filled with a lot of old furniture, a propane tank, dumpsters.  Mo, the proprietress of the joint gave me the nickel tour and was wonderfully hospitable. This is a very small town.

Mo—so hospitable!

My home for the night; nice thing about being behind a pub is the two beers (in glasses!) that I could have with my supper!

Being a pub with a pizza joint nearby, things didn’t quiet down until midnight: lucky I had my earplugs!  Sharing the campsite with Taylor and McKinsey who rolled in at dusk, and Eric from Idaho Falls. Very chilly in this high valley. On to Salida mañana.