Temp at departure: 64 degrees

Folks, it's been quite a day! Today was one of those days that sticks out in your mind years later when you think back on a trip.

We left Trinidad, CO this morning at 6:15 A.M. MST.The sky was gray and the wind was blowing from the northeast.

For the first 15 miles we paralleled I-25 on a county road to the north. The drought in eastern Colorado is very severe, as with most of the Southwest. There is no green grass out on the prairie.

We crossed I-25 and started moving northwest. We moved into the foothills. The land was now broken scrub, with

winding gravel/rock roads. The grass started to green up a little, and incredible views of the Sangre de Cristos, to the west, began.

As we moved west, though, the clouds began to build. Several times we rode through light rain that lasted for only minutes. Then the clouds would break and the sun would shine.

As we moved northwest, we began gaining elevation. Fairly soon we were at 7500 feet.

The land changed from rolling scrub to a high elevation rolling green mountians. We saw the first Apsens of our trip.

We entered the San Isabel National Forest and began climbing significantly. The views of the Sangre de Cristos to the south were amazing and the rolling green

mountains were beautiful.

As we gained elevation, the temperature began to drop. Unfortunately, by this time, the thunderstorms were bearing down on us.

We passed 10,000 feet in elevation and the temperature dropped into the upper 30's. Needless to say, we were both fairly cold by this time.

As we reached the top of the pass we were climbing the lightening began to strike and the wind picked up.

Then the snow began. To be honest, it was beautiful. The juxtiposition of green rolling mountains with white snow is something that we'd never seen. Add that to finally seeing thunder-snow, and we momentarily forgot that we were really cold.

We started down the backside of the pass we'd been climbing and the snow changed to sleet, then to rain. By this time, Meredith couldn't feel her hands.

The Trail led us to a paved road. We followed the paved road for several miles and the trail turned onto another gravel road. The rain had quit, but as we turned onto the new gravel road, we were staring at another thunderstorm.

The paved road was leading in the same direction as the gravel road. We figured that there was a better chance of finding cover if we stayed with the pavement. So, we turned back to pavement.

By this time we were both freezing. Several miles down the road, and just as the sleet started to fall hard, I saw a barn not far off the road. We pulled off the road, jumped the fence, and went running for cover.

We spent the better part of an hour in our shelter. Meredith ended up putting on most of the clothes she owns.

Finally, there was break in the clouds and we took it. We were around 10 miles from Westcliffe, CO, and we desperately needed a building with four walls.

As we were making the 10 miles to town, we came upon a brand new fire that was just started by the lightening. Fire crews were swarming, trying to get it put out before it spread.

Thank God Westcliffe had several cafes and we spent the better part of an hour in the pizza parlor drinking hot chocolate.

By this time, we had decided to just follow the paved roads into Salida. So, a little more than an hour later we finally made Salida. The hot tub was a welcome site! I think Meredith is still cold, even after a soak.

We're hoping tomorrow will be sunnier. Lake City is our destination. There is a bit of snow on the peaks around Salida, so we may not be able to make the entire trail. Time will tell.

See you down the trail!

Daily Mileage: 200

Total Mileage: 2358

Money Spent: $135

June 17