On seeing the Welcome to Colorado sign I screamed in joy. The landscape didn’t change immediately, it was my mindset. I know Colorado from having lived here and I knew that soon the vast, boring, unending sage prairie would disappear. I was free of Wyoming’s psychological hold.
Soon the landscape turned green and the mountains, instead of being so distant, began to snuggle around me. Then I glided down into North Park, a vast fertile farming/cattle valley. As in Wyoming, the ranches extended to the horizon but here the vegetation is lush compared to desiccated Wyoming. And when I looked across the huge valley I could see signs of human habitation—farm buildings, houses, and other man-made structures.
I camped in Walden’s city park for free and showered at the city pool for $5. By the time I returned to my campsite it had become a compound. Two riders from Holland were setting up tents. Two men from Denver, on a loop of Colorado, rolled in soon afterward. Dee, the guy I had met and camped with at the Muddy Gap, WY gas station arrived. A young gangly man rolled in after Dee and I returned from dinner.
We tried to trade stories about our individual ride experiences but were soon driven to the safety of our respective tents by mosquitoes.
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