In the Rockies - Gunnison to Boulder

Breakfast this morning was at the W Cafe in Gunnison after which we packed up and headed east on US 50.

The day begins with a road construction delay on US 50.

Aside from a couple of road construction delays, there was little traffic and many places to pass, and we soon crossed the Continental Divide at Montrose Summit (11,300 feet) and began the steep descent to the junction with US 285 at Poncha Springs, where we stopped for gas.

The Rockies along US 50

The scenery along US 50

US 285 is a very heavily traveled road for residents of the Denver area who are escaping to the many vacation and weekend spots in the Rockies. Since tomorrow (Friday) is the July 4 holiday day off, I suspect that a lot of folks got an early start and took Thursday off as well, since there was a lot of traffic going south - the opposite direction we were going.

Ominous looking sky ahead - why we stopped to don rain gear

There were a few sprinkles and it became colder, so we stopped in Fairplay (elevation 9900 feet) for coffee at the Java Moose and to put on cold and rain gear. Java Moose was similar to the Peace Tree Cafe south of Moab where we stopped yesterday, and also the Escalante Outfitters, I suspect that they are part of a chain of New Age-y coffee shop/deli/bakery/ places that are located in towns where bicyclists and rock climbers and kayakers and hikers congregate. Just north of Fairplay we hit wet roads, although it never really rained hard, but there was enough water being kicked up by the cars and trucks that we were riding in spray for twenty or thirty miles.

US 285 runs along a pretty creek for many miles

Soon enough we were in the Denver megalopolis and I trusted the GPS to direct us to The Broker, a hotel of faded elegance in Boulder at which I've stayed in the past. This evening we'll have dinner with daughter Vanya, and tomorrow we'll head east into Kansas.