Two Dollar Wal-Mart Cokes

Day 249
Poudre Canyon to Gould
Time: 4:02:00
Distance: 34.3 mi
Avg Speed: 8.6
Terrain: High Mountain Pass
Location: N 40˚ 33’ 17.2”, W 106˚ 02’ 11.1”

I believe in karma. In most instances I never had to wait long for bad karma to bite me in the behind. Today something caught up with me that’s been years in the making.

Cameron Pass was our objective today. At 10,276 ft it was no small undertaking and is the highest pass we’ve ridden over yet. The pace was slow – a trailer loaded with 45lbs of gear will do that to you. The weather was very spring like, a mix of sun, clouds, wind and gropple. You can be sure we stopped a few times to take off or put on extra layers as we reached the summit. Earlier, Chris had mentioned a new visitor’s center that one of our friends had told him about. My thoughts immediately turned to hot soup or a nice latte. I pictured tourists parked on the pass, snapping photos of each other while sipping coffee in to-go mugs and enjoying the spectacular views. Apparently, it’s been awhile since I’ve been over Cameron. There is one small sign, no view and a pit toilet - so much for my idyllic setting. We snapped our self-portrait, choked down an energy gel, put on several layers and began the decent.
Luckily, the views opened up and we were treated to a spectacular panorama of Mt Richthofen 12,940 ft, and Thunder Mountain, 12,070. Part of Rocky Mountain National Park, both mountains are in the far northwest corner and can be access by foot from Hwy 14.
We continued our quick downhill path towards Gould and finally spotted the Moose Visitor’s Center. It wasn’t exactly at the top of the pass, or anywhere near it, but a welcome sight nonetheless. Chris fixed up some peanut butter bagels and we enjoyed a life-size moose sculpture made out of barbed wire. After a short discussion, we decided to call it a day and check out the local KOA Kampground.
As we rolled on down the highway we spotted a convenience store/restaurant. I told Chris that a couple of cokes would be nice. He went in and came out five mintues later with sodas in hand. I noticed right away that they didn’t look like Coca-Cola or Pepsi. After further inspection, I saw that they were “Sams Cola”. I wrinkled my brow at Chris and he said “Ya, and they were two bucks each!”
Here’s to my continued boycott of Wal-Mart,
LK