Today was another long driving day, and since we woke up to rain, I was just as glad that I would be inside and out of the weather. We were headed north further into Colorado, with our destination being a little south of Leadville near the old ghost town of Winfield. From there, I will be riding south again, ultimately ending up back at Lobo Overlook above Wolf Creek Pass, where we left Tuna Can a week ago.

Winfield turned out to be a well-preserved ghost town, with some restored building, situated 12 miles down a dirt road near the confluence of two forks of Clear Creek. The last few miles were particularly bumpy and rocky, and we were glad when we arrived at the campground just past the town, where we managed to find a site under some trees where the horses could have some shelter from the rain. It has been raining lightly all day, which is a good thing for the drought in Colorado (although there really hasn’t been enough rain to make a dent in that), but I am not looking forward to riding in it tomorrow, as it is supposed to continue. However, I am hoping that it might lead to the easing of the current fire closure of the CDT through the San Juan mountains. They are supposed to be one of the most scenic parts of the CDT in Colorado, but the entire forest has been closed while the fire in Durango is raging out of control. I have been in contact with the forest service and am keeping my fingers crossed that the closure might be lifted, although they didn’t give me much encouragement about that. Still, I am hopeful!

#2018CDT