Tuesday morning I got a call from Russ—he’d made it to Hot Sulphur Springs, but wasn’t feeling well, and he sounded like he had a nasty cold. So I packed up and left Elliot Creek a day early to hold Russ hostage at his motel for an extra night and force-feed him liquids.

The next day, Russ declared he was feeling a little better, though he was worried about his shortness of breath. There was some discussion with a fellow resident of the motel about the possibility of altitude sickness. Russ insisted on riding: I drove ahead to a nearby store and bought him Gatorade and oxygen (they sell little oxygen inhalers around here—I guess altitude sickness is pretty common at 9,000 feet). Thank goodness I haven’t been affected, other than a slight headache, but then I haven’t had to bicycle over the continental divide twice already!

In the meantime, I cancelled my plans to go ahead to Riverside, Wyoming, and luckily found a campsite in nearby Walden, Colorado.

On the way, I drove through the Willow Creek area of the Medicine Bow—Routt National Forest. This area was devastated by a wildfire that burned over 240,000 acres of northcentral Colorado and southcentral Wyoming in 2020, and the damage is clearly seen to this day. I had hoped to visit one of the campsites here, but all of them are closed.

Though my campsite is outrageously expensive and boasts no natural beauty whatsoever (except for the ever-present snow capped mountains in the distance), there is an upside: Walden is only 7 miles from the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. AND I’ve already seen two pronghorn antelopes! Tomorrow I’ll visit the refuge, which has several wildlife loops that can be driven or walked, and lots of viewing overlooks.

(Russ just texted me: he is moving slowly, but moving, and he made it over the continental divide at Willow Creek Pass. He will make it to Walden this evening.) I offered to meet him at Arapaho, eight miles before Walden, and ferry him the rest of the way. Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying!