Quiet cold night @ Boggy Draw TH, 17 degrees in the dark when i crawled out from under the covers. Ran the heater on high, 53 degrees inside.
Yesterday I hiked several miles of the Boggy Draw trail and noticed patches of freeze thaw mud. Today i could either ride early when the mud was frozen but temps below freezing or, the better choice, wait till temp climbed above freezing and deal w/ the slime. I rode Bean Canyon. The trail climbed over several USFS cattle guards separating grazing lands from thinned P-pine forests. The trail wiggled and waggled thru the forest. On the cattle grazing side the trail was either a cow path or the trail became a cow path. Very water run off gulleyed. Out by myself. Nice day. Cottonwoods seem to be holding onto golden leaves. I made first tracks in patches of fresh snow.
Wore long underwear top, short sleeve jersey, lycra shorts, Zoic baggies over, insulated leg warmers, & long fingered gloves.
Finished ride. Changed clothes and headed for Cortez. First was a shower, then laundry, check out Kokopeli Bike and Board, grocery shop, brew pub beer, check mail for forwarded mail, then drive out to airport parking lot for dinner and sleep. For spending the night places I seek a mostly flat surface that is safe and either on free public land or on less threatening private land. Aesthetics is of little concern. Senior discount @ the Cortez rec center for a shower. Tabs not in the mail.Parked in same parking lot @ the municipal airport.
Forecast undulates between clear skies and next day some precipitation, some is forecast as snow.
Tomorrow is Phil’s World in high winds. Might stay overnight in Cortez again to wait out snowy drive to Durango.