Started with the Hammerhead Karoo 2:
Switched to the Garmin Edge 520:
Monday 7/25 Frisco we got a late start. We picked up our resupply box at the post office, went through the contents, decided that we had too much stuff, sent the extra stuff back. I also got a package from Lauren, my old Garmin edge 520. The hammerhead was not working well, I think I might have fried it, charging it off of Mark's USB cigarette lighter adapter. It kind of burnt and so did the cable I was using. There was a piece missing out of the USB internal male part. It wasn't charging, so I figured I'd ask Lauren to send the Edge to replace it. I got some food at Whole Foods, including dehydrated bone broth packets. Then we rode the bike path to Copper Mountain instead of doing segment 7, Gold Hill to Copper Mountain. We had heard from several people that it was a useless climb, very steep, very high, very rocky only to be followed by a very steep, very scary descent that mountain bikers sometimes walk. I had no interest in wasting climbing legs on a bad segment, so we skipped it and did the bike path instead. We had a lunch, some antipasto I got at Whole Foods. I put the GPS track from Devon Balet, bikepacking.com on the Garmin and was immediately glad that I'd asked Lauren to send it. Not only could I charge it, but it had much more useful information, or at least I knew how to see it. We rode through the rather deluxe Copper Mountain ski resort grounds until we got two the center of it. We could see a trail traversing, climbing to the right if we looked at the hill, and as we approached it we saw a Colorado Trail sign, so we got on it. The trail coming from the ski resort going up defied the usual pattern of a straight up hike-a-bike, rather it was a very nice, gentle climb. Steep, but pedalable. We slowly gained altitude. At a road crossing we saw a cross country mountain bike mama, her mother and her daughter. They were very appreciative, and we talked a little bit about our trip. Further on, I had put a little distance on Mark, I was feeling better and I think now he was feeling worse. I caught up with a guy named Jason, trail name Elmo and we had a nice chat after some back and forth passing. We all stopped, filtered some water and ate snacks. He's ex-marine, infantry, has done the Appalachian Trail, the Colorado Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail. Really interesting guy. I gave him a bone broth packet after telling him about how good it was. We continued to climb and climb. Mark wasn't feeling so great, at the next water filter session he was in a bad mood. He said that he would need to camp soon, and that he could not go over the top; Searle Pass, then Kokomo Pass. I felt good and wanted to continue, but wanted to make sure that we both felt okay with where we stopped. We agreed to continue a bit further, but not go over the top. Near the summit of Searle Pass we saw Judy's cabin, quite breathtaking, a really beautiful A-frame out in the middle of nowhere. The trail forked, left to Judy's cabin, right for the CT. I got to another opportunity to filter, I think it was Guller Creek, we were above tree line at this point and Mark said that he was done climbing and needed to find a spot to sleep. A little further along there was a nice, natural campsite with a few level spots on a steep slope looking down on Judy's cabin and the valley. We agreed to stop there. Amazingly I had signal and was able to share some information and a picture and talk to family. Mark disappeared, I guess that he went down to Judy's cabin, because I heard voices. Knowing Mark, he was trying to see if we could stay there. Sure enough, when he got back, he said he did his very best and was very friendly but the house was full and they did not offer to let us stay there. I didn't really want to anyway, apparently it was full of teenagers. Mark had been in a bad mood, I was in a good mood so we were nice to each other and had a decent camp. I think I slept okay that night.
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