After sleeping in a bit, we hit the road towards Steamboat Springs. We got there at about 11am or so, and took care of a few things. First, to an outfitters store to get a tent pole fixed. I don’t recall if we mentioned this yet or not, but the elastic in one of the poles busted. Yes dad, we have been collapsing it correctly :-) As soon as we walked in, the man says, "oh yeah, cheap tent poles, we fix those all the time." I guess it's not too uncommon when you buy you camping gear at Costco :-) It's been a great tent for us and now that we know how to fix the poles, we can do it anytime for about 75 cents.
There was a small café on the main street, so we walked over there for breakfast/lunch. Great place, The Shack Café. On the way out of town, we stopped by a camping store and picked up some more fuel for the stove. If you go to the specialty camp shops, you can buy it in one quart containers, the same size as the container we carry with us. That way we don’t have to buy a gallon and throw the rest out.
Continuing on hwy 40, the road out of Steamboat Springs is great. Steep hills, switchbacks, passing lanes, and great scenery. We could see lightning in the distance, but we never got much more than a light rain. Turning left at Granby, we took 34 into Rocky Mountain National Park. A quick stop at the visitor center showed that the campground closest to us still had some openings, so we quickly got up there. Grabbing one of the last sites (though a very nice one), we quickly set up, did a little fishing on the river, then headed into town for food.
After dinner and another campfire (that was really difficult, due to moist wood) we again put our food in a neighbors car (there was a bear in the campground the night before, and as it turns out, came back again this night… though we didn’t see it, or hear anything) and hit the sack.
Tomorrow, through the park!
david.
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