Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (Del Norte to Grants)

This section was definitely the most challenging of the entire ride: the highest altitude, the coldest nights, the longest stretches of rough trail, the fiercest headwinds and the most persistent rain.

Before leaving Del Norte we were lucky to get two seats at the very first "farm to fork" dinner organised by the Windsor Hotel with all ingredients provided by Sol Mountain Farm. It was the best meal of the whole trip!

Kirsten eating the best Pecan Cinnamon Scroll ever! Breakfast number two - but we needed it for the long climb.

Indiana Pass was the highest mountain pass of the entire trail at 3,630m! We had the perfect weather for it!

Summitville is another environmental clean-up site with toxic sludge entering waterways. It was recommended not to drink any surface water while cycling through this area!

Nevertheless, the landscape was stunning!

The relentless up and down of the trail made us very hungry. After a full bacon and eggs breakfast, we ordered a pancake each for dessert - this must be the biggest pancake I have ever eaten!

Another day and another mountain to climb. While riding up Manga Pass we had the worst headwind! At over 3,000m altitude it was important to find a campsite out of the wind. Behind an empty log cabin was just perfect (besides the trespassing).

We are in New Mexico! Only another 700 miles to the Mexican border.

The landscape still looked like Colorado, but the quality of the trail got a lot worse.

Another primitive, but gorgeous camping spot. Note the food hanging in the tree - we are still in bear country!

This little creature is called a horny toad, even though it's a reptile. It was only about 2cm long!

At lower altitudes, the landscape started to look drier and the buildings more Mexican.

Abiquiu is a small town full of artists, which might have something to do with the fact that Georgia O'Keeffe lived there. The weather forecast for the next day was strong winds and rain, so we had a rest day at a cute B&B.

After Abiquiu, the trail climbed back up into high altitude and we had the coldest night of the trip. We had to wear every piece of clothing we had and all water bottles were frozen in the morning!

A local told us about this amazing spot to camp and we listened to bull elk bugling all night. It was so amazing (a bit like whales singing)!

After Cuba the landscape started to look like what we expected of New Mexico. Unfortunately, the weather seemed to have turned on us. The dirt tracks in New Mexico are impassable when wet and the forecast was for heavy rain. So we opted for the alternative route on paved roads.

Long, straight roads in the rain and with a strong headwind are not our favourite type of cycling. It was still beautiful though, especially with the dark clouds and rainbows.

The road leads through Navajo land with no services and nowhere to camp. We asked the pastor of a methodist chapel if we could camp in the churchyard (which turned out to be a graveyard) and he agreed. We even got invited to the evening revival, which was very interesting.

After 200km over two days with lots of headwind and lots of rain, we arrived in Grants.

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (Salida to Del Norte)

Salida is a small town with lots of character. The houses are humble in size and varied in style, some with Mexican influence.

Marshall Pass was our 17th crossing of the Continental Divide. Note the rain gear - afternoon thunderstorms are still building every day.

Beavers are herbivores and build large dams, which create wetlands that provide habitat for many other species. The size of some of these dams is impressive!

Some more photos of autumn colours and Aspen forests. We must have taken hundreds!

While descending into Sargents, the sky looked ominous again....

..... and the rain hit two minutes after arriving at the Pub. We decided to rent the little cabin (visible in the background), rather than camping. 

The next morning was beautiful again!

Riding up to Cochetopa Pass and having lunch along the way.

Luders Creek Campground was gorgeous - in an Aspen forest, beautifully maintained and with a natural spring. Our neighbours invited us to red wine and snacks! Note the new tent - our old one was falling apart after many years of use. 

The descent into Del Norte took us past some amazing rock formations and impressive canyons. We got so distracted, that by the time we got to town it was almost dark.