*^%* THE ROCKIES. ^*&% COLORADO. I am done. I am exhausted every day. Colorado is a beautiful state, but I don’t think it is worth the effort. Every day is all about climbing another 3000 feet. Today, the climbing was against the wind, making it that much worse. Starting tomorrow, I head toward the Lizard Head Pass, a 10,000 foot pass with nearly 4000 feet of climbing from where I ended today. It doesn’t end when I get out of the Rockies. Utah has a 9,000 foot pass and a 10,000 foot pass. Nevada has many smaller mountain ranges all the way across the state. Then I hit the Sierra Nevadas. If this is all that is left, is it really worth it?

When I started, someone asked if I had a deadline to finish the ride. I told her I planned to finish by Labor Day. Asked what I would do if I hadn’t finished by Labor Day, I said it depended on where I was. If I was a week away from finishing, I would probably finish. If I was four weeks away from finishing, I would have to think about it. Today is Labor Day, and I am at least four weeks from the west coast. Maybe it is time to find the closest Amtrak station, and head that way.

The only positive thing today happened at the end of the day. I made it to a free campground about two and a half miles north of Placerville. There is a small grocery in Placerville, but it was closed for Labor Day. Anyway, as I was taking a break before setting up camp, a fisherman came by and started packing away his things for the night. He gave me some water and a couple of Larabars. It was awful nice of him, especially since I wasn’t able to refill my water bottles at Placerville.

At the end of today’s ride, I thought about taking rest day tomorrow. I will see how I feel in the morning. If I can make it to Dolores before I take a rest day, maybe I will take two days. I will at least be out of the Rockies at that time.