Day 53—Friday, September 23—Platoro, CO to Lagunitas Campground
53 miles
Before any light in the sky I looked out the window of our cabin and saw the familiar canopy of stars that heavy rain clouds had concealed. By sunrise, despite massive puddles, we knew we could get back on the road. After packing up we visited the Gold Nugget Cafe and consumed a delicious breakfast, said our goodbyes, and started out.
Our main concern was the condition and quality of the roads after so much rain but for the most part they were sticky and not slippery unless we hit a low spot that was rutted and had deep mud. To some degree trucks had helped dry out the surface; and at the same time created ruts that cause your bike to go sideways.
The road to Horca (“orca”) followed the Conejos River so was generally downhill with some climbs to get over shoulders of mountain ridges. Anglers we’re out in force since the Conejos River is a terrific habitat for trout which has been rehabilitated over the years.
We reached Horca and stopped at the only store in town which was a gallery and craft store featuring locally made goods. We picked up a soda and a couple of Amish fried pies (kind of like a hostess fruit pie with filling of indiscernible fruit lineage but yummy all the same).
We got back on a paved highway to climb over Las Mangas Pass. We followed this road until the next dirt and gravel road we we reached after 37 miles. A few miles prior to this turnoff I got a yellow jacket in my helmet: I have had bees in my bonnet before and this one delivered a pounding sting above my left eye near my hairline or what’s left of it. It ached for the rest of the day but felt fine the next morning. Injuries have been few!
After two days of resting we decided to push on and shortly thereafter passed into New Mexico. We climbed up Brazzers Ridge and stayed up high along the ridge which was spectacular. The road degraded to a rocky and eroded ditch which required some pushing.
At the top of the ridge we passed through a thick forest and the road turned into a muddy swamp since there was no way for the water to drain. It took some bushwhacking to get around that mess.
Eventually among the lovely aspens we made to Lagunitas Campground named for a lot of little natural lagoons or small ponds. We had water, we had a campsite. We shared our site with a Continental Divide Trail hiker guru who has done all the major U.S. hiking trails in his relatively short life. He left very early the next morning before I could get his pic.
Sun was down; day over.
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