Adventures of Tin Can Lulu

The trip from Westcliffe to Steamboat is a 240-mile journey. We chose to drive Colorado Highway 9 to Steamboat Springs. This road takes you through small towns like Hartsel, Fairplay, Alma, Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne and finally Kremmling. Just before Breckenridge you reach Hoosier Pass that is 11,541 feet. After Kremmling we traveled on Colorado Highway 40 and did the second mountain pass called Rabbit Ears Pass at 9,426 feet. There were loads of snow on Rabbit Ears! Thank goodness for “The Beast” of a truck that we have. It makes it easier to conquer these passes hauling Tin Can Lulu.

Steamboat is a repeat visit from two years ago. Here is a factoid; “Upon first hearing a chugging sound, early French trappers believed that a steamboat was coming down the river. When the trappers saw that there was no steamboat, and that the sound was coming from a hot spring, they decided to name the spring, Steamboat Spring.” Thank you to our friend Roger Strauss for sharing this tidbit … that was great! However, we can’t help but wonder if the French-Canadian explorers were not more imaginative naming the mountains south of Yellowstone, “Les Trois Tetons”.

We have spent the first week here cycling and hiking. Our favorite pastimes. So far, we have cycled 109 miles and hiked 11 miles. We have learned that locals refer to the city as “The Boat”.

We have conquered long climbs on smooth roads and wicked descents on gravel roads while cycling. Just when you think you have reached the top you start all over again. Earle is definitely mastering his gravel cycling techniques and is doing a fantastic job of keeping us upright. With only one exception, we dumped Mellow Yellow on washboard gravel… Mellow Yellow was fine but Earle had a few scrapes!

Photos from Mellow Yellow – Cycling Rides

While hiking on Emerald Mountain we happened to encounter a group who were partaking in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. There are four groups hiking in various parts of the US and will be converging in Indianapolis in July. The group we came upon had departed from San Francisco. Their journey is the most challenging and will be covering 2,200 miles through the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains.

Photos from Our Hikes

The Yampa River that runs through Steamboat Springs, which also runs right through the KOA where we are camped, was at its highest mountain snow runoff. During the day snow melts in the mountains and the water begins its journey to the river. Later at night, when the temperatures drop in the mountains, melting ends and less runoff occurs. It has been interesting every day in the late afternoon/early evening to watch the water rise and encroach upon the lower parts of the KOA Campground. The workers had to move their rigs several days ago to the area where we are camping. Their usual sites were under water each evening and early morning.

Photos from the KOA

We still have a few more days left in Steamboat and plan to walk, hike and cycle before we head on to Idaho!