Day 6 Hartsel Ranch to Salida

23 June 2023 5 By SoCal Brummie

I woke up to the mist rolling over the river. It was a chilly morning but beautiful

We packed up and rode into Hartsel for breakfast. Hartsel is a cowboy town as indicated by this notice in the bathroom.

Yee Haa

We started the journey and passed a field of buffalo, or they could have been bison. Ask anyone from Birmingham the difference between a buffalo and a bison and they’ll tell you that you can’t wash your hands in a buffalo 😂. When Brummies say words like bison, the “i” sounds like an “a”. Get it?

Buffalo or Bison?

Yesterdays ride was the easiest so far, today’s was by far the hardest. More prairie land but this time we had a strong headwind all day. County Road 53 is an unpaved road with a variety of surfaces from packed hardcore, loose gravel and dry mud. The upshot is a very bumpy ride. Mike commented that you know the road is bumpy when the cattle grids are smoother than the road.

County Road 53

Two days of this bumpy surface led me to my song of the day. To the tune of Rawhide 🎶Rollin rollin rollin, man my arse is swollen, gotta keep on rollin, rawhide 🎶

I’m still amazed at the amount of open space and how little cattle you see. It’s just so vast.

The wind was brutal. You could see it whip up the loose road surface in the distance and watch the dust cloud come hurtling towards you and give you a good sandblasting.

More Vast Prairie

After about 30 miles we finally found a slightly sheltered place for lunch. I excelled with lunch today. Bread rolls filled with crisps followed by a peanut and caramel Payday bar.

Lunch Spot

After lunch we started a 5 mile climb out of the prairies and into the Aspen trees, still into the wind. Parts of this climb were 17% gradient but the scenery was stunning!

The Climb
The Summit

After reaching the top we had an 11 mile downhill to the town of Salida, our destination for the night. We managed to find available rooms at the Gateway Inn and, since we were completely exhausted, decided to treat ourselves.

If you zoom in and look to the right you can see a deer chomping through some scrub.

After a couple of beers and an obscene amount of food at the neighbouring Mexican restaurant, we called it a day.

A tough day, another incredible day and I’m still smiling.

Today we rode 51 miles and climbed 2,972ft