Day 3 Spring Creek to Columbine Hut

elevation profile
topo map

34.3 miles
1,800' ascent
1,800' descent
9,100' to 9,100'

Today was a warm day, in the mid 80's. Since I tended to ride faster than Obie, I waited at the first major turn after the long descent. After a long wait, I doubled back to find Obie with his rear tire off and flat fixing gear in use. Unfortunately, his tube tear was high in the side wall and we could not get a patch to hold air. My tires are a different size and with his spare lost we must think fast, with 20 miles to go to the next hut and NO bike store close by. We were at the only intersection that had a remote possibility for traffic and within 5 minutes we flagged down a pickup truck headed to Montrose, 23 miles away. He dropped us at the Walmart where we got a spare and then agreed to pick us back up in an hour when he planned to return to the same area where he found us to get some firewood. So, we bought the spare tubes, fixed the tire, and while melting in the intense heat of Montrose we found a coffee shop and got a frozen coffee drink while waiting for our good samaritan, Eric, to reappear. We were back at the same spot we broke down at by 3 pm and made it to out next hut by 5pm. Obie now had about 5 more pounds of tire tubes, etc to carry!