Monday, July 24, 2023

Rested very well in-spite of traffic noise near the campground. We took our time, enjoying the setting, and good company. Today is Harmony’s birthday!

Breakfast was pancakes and leftover steak from dinner with sausage gravy and biscuits on the side.

Coffee was a delicious roast by Defined Coffee. Unfortunately my Sea to Summit brewer isn’t living up to my expectations. It’s super compact which is why I bought it, but the mesh filter isn’t working well and gets jammed with the coffee fines. I threw out the mesh filter and will try to find paper filters at the next town.

Bike Trouble and Seth Haley

Seth spent some time looking at the Tiger to diagnose the clutch issue. Turns out the dealer may have misadjusted the cable tension on that lever and the clutch wasn’t engaging properly for perhaps the past 2k miles or so. It was a slow wearing of the friction plates and the aggressive hill climb yesterday was the final straw. Seth offered to loan us his KTM and to return the Tiger to our waiting Jeep and trailer in Denver. I think that makes Seth todays hero.

Hitting the trail

We parted ways with the Haley’s and headed for Leadville. Picked up hotdogs and snacks for dinner. Officially picked up the BDR (Backcountry Discovery Route) just outside of Leadville and headed south.