Day 42: Dolores to Rico - Sacramento to Loveland via 11 National Parks 2010 - CycleBlaze

June 9, 2010

Day 42: Dolores to Rico

54F in the tent at 6 AM, perfect. I got on the road at 8:30. Today will be a short easy day, less than 40 miles upstream to Rico. Highway 145 stays close to the river all the way to Rico. The forested mountains looked wonderful.

Farm near Dolores.
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Luminous green I haven't seen in a long time.
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Dolores river.
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Dolores river and highway 145.
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The temperature climbed to 85F in the afternoon. Noticeably cooler as I gain elevation. As usual I had a southwest tailwind.

Downtown Rico.
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Courthouse at Rico.
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The Enterprise Bar and Grill was closed (it was packed during a tour in 1998).
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I took a long stop in Rico (population 205, elevation 8825 ft.). Rico was once a thriving mining town, but now it's a very small low-key historic tourist town. I had lunch at the Mine Shaft hotel because the main cafe was closed. I used the Wi-Fi for quite a while, and finally left Rico at 4 PM to find the hot spring.

Old mine shaft in Rico.
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Dolores river at Rico.
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Rico hot spring is exactly 1 mile from downtown Rico. It's near a gravel road about 1/4 off the highway, across the river from the highway. The water has a high mineral content that builds travertine that looks very similar to my local hot spring (Umpqua hot spring). It's only a few feet from the river, so you can cool down there any time. The water was 110F when I got there, so I diverted the flow and waited an hour before having a soak.

Rico hot spring.
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I set up my camp on a bluff overlooking the hot spring, in a grove of young aspens. I had another nice soak starting at about sunset. I soaked until 12:30 AM. Another old guy showed up for a while. He claimed that he and Edward Abbey were once buddies.

Distance: 39 mi. (62.4 km)

Climbing: 2600 ft. (788 m)

Today's ride: 39 miles (63 km)
Total: 1,951 miles (3,140 km)

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