Day 58: Granby to Timber Creek campground

June 25, 2010

In the morning I rode 3 miles in the wrong direction to get to the only supermarket in town. I pedaled 6.5 miles getting to US 34 even though it's less than 1/2 mile from the motel. I saw two westbound touring cyclists on long wheelbase recumbents. US 34 is easy gradual uphill past Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain Lake.

Water is diverted from the Colorado river headwaters to the Big Thompson river on the opposite side of the Continental Divide. It's the 4th major water diversion scheme I've encountered during this tour. The other diversions use gravity flow but this one requires some pumping. The tunnel flows under Rocky Mountain national park from Grand Lake to the Big Thompson river near the town of Estes Park.

Map showing the tunnels and canals that divert water to the east side of the Continental Divide.

Just before the park entrance I turned off US 34 to the town of Grand Lake and the lake itself. Grand Lake is "traditionally" considered the headwaters of the Colorado river. I'm not sure why, because I'm about to ride along the Colorado river for another 20 miles upstream from Grand Lake.

The town of Grand Lake is a typical National Park gateway town. It's not a historic mining town but everything is appropriately rustic. As if it's possible to look rustic with parked cars everywhere. I had an early lunch at a cafe, then stopped for a while along the lake shore.

The town of Grand Lake is the gateway community on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Back on US 34, the road promptly enters Rocky Mountain National Park and continues to go upstream in the Kawuneeche valley. Upstream along the (now very small) Colorado river, but the river is seldom visible. Tall mountains are closing in on both sides as I go upstream. I also start to see huge numbers of dead pine trees. Rocky Mountain National Park is rapidly being deforested by pine beetles.

Dead trees were a constant sight along Trail Ridge road.

I stopped to hike the 1-mile Coyote Valley trail. It goes alongside the river in a large alpine meadow. Very nice, and the weather was wonderful. 75F, mostly sunny.

Colorado river from the Coyote Valley trail. This is very near its headwaters.

Alpine meadow on the Coyote Valley trail.

Just before the campground I stopped to look at a homesteader's cabin that was built in 1902. It's not as old as my house in Oregon! Rocky Mountain national park was founded in 1915, but this area was only added to the park in the 1960's.

I had been warned that the Timber Creek campground was recently clearcut to remove all the dead pine trees (falling trees would be a major hazard to people camping there). But I wasn't prepared for what I saw. The logging was just completed months ago. The ground still has no grass and wood chips are strewn around everywhere. Worst of all there are still many ashes from burning the slash piles. Ashes stirred up whenever the wind blew. What was once a very popular campground is now mostly empty. No problem getting a campsite here!

5 years ago the Timber Creek campground was the shadiest campground in the park. Pine beetles killed all the trees.

I arrived at about 3 PM, which was probably a mistake. No shade and it's very warm despite being at 8900 feet elevation. Later in the afternoon I made a shower and walked around the riverbank. Mosquitoes were bad near the river, though. The campground is less than wonderful, but it's well positioned for me to cross Trail Ridge road tomorrow. I could easily go farther today but this is the only campground on the west side of the park.

Distance: 35.1 mi. (56 km)

Climbing: 1844 ft. (559 m)

Average Speed: 10.5 mph (16.8 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 28.5 mph (45.6 km/h)

Hiking: 2 mi. (3.2 km)

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 2,708 miles (4,358 km)

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