6-28-06
Start: Pueblo West, CO
Destination: Florence, CO
Elevation: 5190 ft.
Miles: 21.0
Weather: Scattered Storms That We Somehow Dodged All Day
We started out with a good, hearty breakfast. I had French toast, bacon and sausage. Mom had pancakes, bacon and sausage, and dad had an omelette. So we were all calorie'd up and ready to go.
Dad bought a cooler this morning, too, so that he could load it up with goodies for our lunches and breaks. We are even getting cold water throughout the day. I tell you, it's little things like cool water that make us so happy! Warm water does the job, but the cold stuff does it so much better.
We walked Hwy 50 for a stretch this morning, and saw thousands of prairie dog hills. These little creatures amaze me with their communities that they build. There were mounds as far as the eye could see. And they are so cute and funny. They certainly don't appreciate intruders, so when we walk by, they run to their hole, chirp really loud, and frantically flick their tails. It makes for some serious entertainment along the way!
Dad showed up right around noon for lunch. He made us venison sausage sandwiches (thanks for the sausage, Dick - and the cereal!). We were even treated to some strawberries, plums, peaches, and pudding! After an awesome lunch, we were on our way - but first dad had to come out with a couple of squirt guns that weren't working. He handed them to us, and as we inspected them, he surprised us by squirting us with a high-powered super-soaker! What a trick that was! It felt good in the heat, though. And I forgot to mention that dad's rental vehicle ended up being a bright red Hummer, so we're calling it the "Fire Truck." Fully supplied with water for squirting and drinking. :) And he decked it all out with window paint - our new "support vehicle" tradition.
We had another scenery overload day. I can't even stand it. It seriously gives me a stomach ache sometimes to think about all the mountains, all the things to see, all the things to do, and me with just so much time. I wish I could venture in and see every last square foot of those mountains. They are so overwhelming, but in such a good way. It just gets me so excited to think we'll be smack in the middle of all that soon.
In fact, today we got to see 3 different storms come over the peaks, and we thought for sure we were going to get soaked. But somehow, we didn't. I think there's a few special angels that put that one hole of blue sky over us today.
As we walked, I noticed the color of the mountains. They were well off in the distance yet, so we got to see them sort of in layers. The first low hills were a dark charcoal color, then behind those hills was a wall of peaks that were an orange-pink color. Behind those was another layer that was a sage green, then a dusty blue, and finally, way in the back, far off, was a light gray. And a haze hung out in front of them making the colors soft and light. The clouds would block the sun and cast shadows along the mountain slopes, and that would change the way they looked, too. They just looked different every time we looked at them. And now we are getting swallowed up. Yesterday it was a wall of mountains to the SW, and a wall to the NW. And by the end of today, we saw peaks all around us except for directly east. So after tomorrow, we should be engulfed by them.
Our climb to Cripple Creek (tomorrow) includes a 4,000 foot jump in elevation, over about 20 miles. So we will experience our first major elevation gain. Hopefully we all take it well!
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