Day 1 - From Boreas Pass, through Como and South Park, to Hartsel, Colorado

Above Left: We are at Continental Divide Crossing #15 of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route at Boreas Pass (11,482'/3499m). The Breckenridge to Boreas Pass road (on the west side of the mountain) is an old railroad path that served the mining industry. HOWEVER, we are going the other direction, east, toward Como, Colorado. Como had a different railroad system and the miners on the east side, who wanted to take their ore downhill (versus uphill to Boreas Pass) took their ore to Como, Colorado, by wagon teams and/or mule trains. The train at Como was connected to Denver.

The road to Como is NOT a railroad grade, luckily we are heading downhill.

Above Right: Terry is getting ready and it is chilly outside with ongoing snow melt. We last rode up to here in August, 2011, from Breckenridge (to which the GDMBR North Buttons will link).

Above Left: It happens that the arrow on the map is pointing to our exact position on the map.

Above Right: Riding SW above 10,000'.

Above: Sunlight is making its way into the Tarryall Creek Valley.

Above Left: We're going straight.

Above Right: An early morning view south into Tarryall Creek Valley.

Above Left: Here, we were looking SE but riding around the mountain road and eventually turning west.

Above Right: Our Warning, Steep Grades ahead, they are much more fun to ride downhill.

Above Left: The neat rows of rocks are mine tailings; they have been there for over 100 years.

Above Right: Rocky Road, Colorado.

Above Left: We had ridden almost to the turn-back. That cabin is a National Forest rental.

Above Right: Creek Meadow.

Above: This is our road turn-back; we're turning left/southeast for Como on CR-33.

Above Left: See it?

Above Right: Paralleling Tarryall Creek SE.

Above Left: Old mine tailings deposited in Tarryall Creek's watershed.

Above Right: Paralleling Tarryall Creek. Lesson: Never collect water around old mining areas, old miners used to dump mercury into the water table and the water usually tests high in heavy metal content.

Above Left: Paralleling Tarryall Creek SE.

Above Right: We were officially in South Park, heading for Como.

Above Left: Ranch Gateway.

Above Right: Heading SE for Como.

Above Left: CR-33 becomes paved entering Como, Colorado. Como used to be quite the Colorado mining town with the mine railroad round house and a small milling operation plus most of the boom-town ways to lose money.

Above Right: Wild Columbines (the Blue and White Columbine is typical of Colorado).

Above Left: The old railroad depot (under restoration, see restoration pictures, scroll down).

Above Right: Old Hotel/Inn, now an active US Post Office.

Above Left: Old Bar and Gambling Parlor.

Above Right: Old School Building.

Above Left: Old Bar and Gambling Parlor and other service buildings of the time period.

Above Right: The old Roundhouse of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad (DSP&PR).

Above Left: Heading east from Como, toward CO Hwy-285.

Above Right: Looking north at some [Indian] Pain Brush Plant.

Above Left: Como's Welcome Sign - I like the comment, 'Take nothing but pictures'.

Above Right: We had reached CO Hwy-285, we turned left/north but only for about one mile.

Above: Hwy-285, we are turning left/north.

Above: We were turning from northbound Hwy-285 to Elkhorn Road (aka CR-15).

Above: We were eastbound on Elkhorn Road.

Above Left: A view to the NE.

Above Right: A view to the SW.

Above Left: Eastbound on Elkhorn Road.

Above Right: Looking to the SW, the afternoon clouds are starting convection and precipitation.

Above Left: We had reached a Volunteer Fire Department, the end of the paved road, and the end of the eastbound portion of CR-15. Now, the road trekking would be more or less south bound.

Above Right: As soon as we turned south, the pavement ended, and road construction began. The Good News was that this road was known for being 'Washboard Rough' and now the road surface was being road-graded smooth. The Bad News is that the new smooth surface was soft to bicycle wheel movement, our motion was quite slow, and with much lower gear settings than was typical.

Above Left: Playing CHICKEN with a ROAD-GRADER - This side of the road was smoother. We got out of his way and we both waved at each other.

Above Right: Why is the left side of the road always smoother than the right side?

Above Left: It was not windy per se, but there is enough wind to support these birds into HOVER MODE. These birds are riding a wind updraft from a long hill.

Above Right: Southbound on CR-15.

Above Left: Our view to the side.

Above Right: We're climbing to a little watershed crest.

Above Left: We were among some old structures in the middle of a knoll in south park; they seem to be from around the 1900s.

Above Right: An old Aspen Grove.

Above Left: Southbound on CR-15.

Above Right: An old log cabin that is even listed on the AC Trail Map. The cabin is occupied and has frilly lace curtains in the windows.

Above Left: There must be an interesting story here, there is a canoe stowed inside the windmill.

Above Right: Many Indian Paint Brush Flowers.

Above Left: We never saw any road damage but I suspect that it may be a heavy rain issue.

Above Right: Heading south on CR-15.

Above Left: That body of water is Spinney Mountain Reservoir and State Park.

Above Right: The far white object is a tractor-trailer rig on US-24 which is our next turning point.

Above Left: We were about to turn right/west on to US-24. We waited for a traffic break.

Above Right: We were westbound on to US-24. The traffic was light and everyone was nice to us.

Above Left: Antelope with fawns.

Above Right: Horses with foals.

Above: Hartsel, Colorado, our destination for this day.

Above: CR-9 is the path of the GDMBR, we have already biked that segment [see the button, Next Segment South]. We are heading into town for lunch.

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