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<\/a><\/p>\nlow tire] departed our safe haven on the Smoke Creek for the Gerlach Post Office, then onwards<\/p>\n
through Empire,<\/p>\n Nixon…<\/a><\/p>\n Wadsworth, Fernley, Fallon for gas [none shown] and beyond<\/p>\n Cold Springs stopped for lunch at New Pass Summit.<\/a><\/p>\n After that more basins, more ranges, Austin [never stop there], Eureka, Ely [second gas],<\/p>\n Spring Valley<\/a> and after Sacramento Pass, last pass in Nevada, let the dogs out,<\/p>\n before losing an hour to MDT at the state line<\/p>\n and crossing Utah’s Western Desert<\/p>\n to wash up at the Taco Shop<\/a>, then Delta’s Day’s Inn for enchiladas and the night.<\/p>\n We left there on the first day of July,<\/p>\n stopped to feed the Inkies after Scipio<\/a> and then<\/p>\n in Salina had an extended stop for gas and stomach afflictions [not shown],<\/p>\n Sand Bench View Area<\/a>,<\/p>\n the Eastern [I guess] Desert<\/p>\n and finally Colorado, the Recreation State, where lunch at the Trail Through Time<\/a> was<\/p>\n unbearably hot for some…a heat unrelenting all down the western slope [gas in Delta, Co.] and even up through an unusually dry Gunnison<\/a> until we crossed the Divide on Monarch Pass,<\/a><\/p>\n making it down to Salida and the Loyal Duke<\/a>, a dog friendly venue in a dog friendly town as was<\/p>\n the<\/a> Boathouse<\/a> where we enjoyed dinner and celebratory libations [across the Great Divide!].<\/p>\n A somewhat sleepless night was followed by a clear mountain morning, Safeway shopping and<\/p>\n by far the easiest drive down the Arkansas to Cotopaxi ever.<\/a>..only a jeep from Minnesota<\/p>\n who tried to race and a much more accommodating hay truck before 1A, the formerly unknown<\/p>\n now “secret” cutoff\u00a0to 69, a chaotic fuel stop in Westcliffe,<\/p>\n the clear [save for a small herd of motorcycles] road to Gardner and<\/p>\n Libre<\/a> by around noon, elevation 8130’…longer each year to adjust. Sore and sorely exhausted<\/p>\n taking time to slowly unload, rest, slowly unload…<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n