Day 11 went smooth and sweet. A new friend Jeff bought me breakfast and helped me get out of Colorado Springs. I found a great spot to camp just outside of Penrose called Indian Springs.  The people there were awesome and made my stay great.  The morning of Day 12 was chilly so I warmed up to a fire and walked down to the office where I had some coffee and chatted it up with the people in the office. I met some good, funny people there.  I took a little hike around the campgrounds to look for arrow heads and hit the rode about noon.

Day 12, I made it to just outside of Cotopaxi, CO for the night. Set up camp right along the Arkansas river. The place was called Sweetwater campgrounds and the owner was nice enough to bring me a giant chicken taco.  The night was so peaceful you hear the big rocks make a single tumble down the river, from time to time.  Warm fire and a good night’s sleep.

Here are some pics from the day.

 

I accidentally deleted 483 pictures from my phone, some from the trip and most from the past 2 years.  Bummer. At least I have them in my head.

I have about an hour and a half away from Salida where I’ll stay for the night. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like I should tent camp because there have been a few mountain lions coming around town lately.

Day 13, so far has been gorgeous.  Near 80 degrees and sunny. I’m going to try and get through these mountains this week because the weather is supposed to be nice to me. Then, I can take a rest day, hopefully.