DISTANCE TRAVELED: 46.62 Miles
AVERAGE SPEED: 9.92 MPH

          I got out of bed at 7:45 and went to get oatmeal for breakfast but it had already been packed away. Instead, I ate a granola bar, a few pop tarts, and a few cookies. Surprisingly, it filled me up. I packed quickly and by 9:15 left the makeshift campsite. We rode on pavement for the first 10 miles, gradually climbing to Doyleville, where we began riding on dirt. As of last year, there wasn't even a sign to say that Doyleville existed. On our maps, it said that there would be two houses with an unmarked road! We turned onto the dirt and rode uphill going away from the valley and toward the pass we would cross later in the day. We had a brief downhill before the final 20 miles to the top. So, I caught up to Stu and ate lunch, which consisted of left over chicken from the night before. We continued on watching the huge clouds grow and the rain fall on nearby hills. We came to a reservoir that had camping along the shore and it fortunately had a well. I pumped some water so I would not have to filter it for the next day. Ten miles later, I reached the top of Cochetopa Pass which was the Divide Crossing #17, I learned that this was also a stage road and had been built in the 1800's. (Picture151) I had anticipated a gradual downhill to the campground 2 miles away but found it to be flat all the way. When we finally arrived, I set up my tent at 3:00 and fell asleep until 5:00. When I climbed out, I ate some snacks to soothe my hunger until 6:30 when we had dinner. We had spicy rice with vegetables to begin with and then had chicken stroganoff. There was tons of food and we all ate well. We sat around the fire until 8:30 when we made hot chocolate. As it began to rain, I took the drink into my tent and got ready for bed. Unfortunately, I spilled it on the floor so I quickly grabbed my rags that were being sheltered by the rain under the vestibule and cleaned it up with some water from my camelback. After finishing the remains, I went to sleep at 9:15 with the rain hitting the tent.