Steamboat Springs

September 19
We were greeting with another nice, sunny morning. I took a stroll along the forest service road before we were back on the road again. A pleasant drive along Yampa River, with nice fall colors, and bigger hills as we neared the mountains again. We stopped on the west side of Emerald Mountain bike trails.

That tiny little hill kicked my butt!

I took on the easy Rotary trail, that was enough for me, and Rudy went out for a bigger loop. My excitement was seeing a Porucpine! Luckily I was putzing up hill and he had plenty of warning to meander off the side of the trail. Following my ride and a little break, I strolled back along trail to try for some better photos of the fall colors - impossible to do it justice!



Next, try to find camp. We headed up a long gravel road outside Steamboat Springs and were surprised to see a lot of people camping for a Monday night! We settled for a pull off along the road, all that is really needed for the van. Sauteed some veggies with bulgur for dinner. Then, after finishing dinner, we spotted a moose!



 Definitely used to people, we were not making an effort to be quiet or anything, he just hung around, eating berries for about an hour. That excitement was followed by a game of Trivial Pursuit, then some more Game of Thrones.
 
September 20
A decent morning - warmer than expected for 9,000' elevation. I spent a little time sitting on a stump, watching birds and critters and enjoying fall colors. We headed back into Steamboat Springs to meet Dee and Paul from Duluth, who just happen to be vacationing here this week! Dee and Rudy biked the east side of the Emerald Mountain system, while I undertook my first run since Wasatch. I jogged the flat, paved path along the Yampa River through town for an hour - felt OK, but my knees were just a little achy toward the end. The rest of the day was just hanging out and chatting outside Dee and Paul's motel room. Rabbit Ears Motel seems like a decent place and is right on the river and bike paths - might be a good option if you ever need to pay to stay somewhere in Steamboat Springs! Leftovers and cereal for dinner, then we just slept in the van in the motel lot.

Maybe not 'wild' but I like the flowers

Kinda amusing/kinda creepy

 


September 21
A relatively early morning - Paul dropped Dee and Rudy off for a long downhill ride on his way to get in a full day of fishing on the Elk River. I biked some of the Emerald Mountain trails from town, and actually enjoyed myself out there for a couple hours!
 
The blue trails were wide and less steep and technical than I expected, but I still avoided the black trails, especially since I was on my own. Next was a little blog catch up (reducing picture sizes did help immensely!). More hanging out after Dee and Rudy returned - they had quite the day, lots of cool scenery, with moose, falcon, and fish sightings - a big crash for Dee though, so she was sore from that! We eventually ventured down to the Yampa River where there is a little hot springs literally a minute walk from the motel.
 
Later on we got to hear about Paul's fishing fun, then went out for some pizza and beer! I do miss making pizza at home. Everyone was pretty tuckered from the day, I know I barely made it past 9 before falling asleep.