so long, for now, summit

09/03/2019

After just over two weeks, I said so long to Summit County. For now anyway. This area will most certainly be one I return to again and again. When I return, it will be to the same campground as well. I love it there. Even when the wind comes roaring through in the afternoons, whistling around the contours and sending the rig a-rockin’. It is still peaceful. All the trees were cut down because of the ravenous and too plentiful bark beetle. There are little saplings all around, but it will be quite some time before those provide any shade. In reading the reviews, you see some complain about the lack of trees or lake view. But I actually prefer it this way. I don’t like that the trees are in a losing battle with the beetle, but I like this campsite with the wide view. It sits on a rounded mound on the side of a mountain and is surrounded by the texture of peaks in every direction. It feels remote, yet it’s just a short ride or drive down to the bustling town of Dillon on one side or Frisco in the other direction. Breckenridge isn’t much further. Even without a car, I felt like Lowry was the perfect place to be.

    

    

wheeling on

After my bike was repaired, I set off on a ride around the lake. What a difference! Even the steep climbs were manageable. And the route was filled with some breathtaking views. I rode steadily but stopped several times to absorb it all. I got off track a few times because the area is littered with paved bike paths and it was easy to miss a turn here and there. Luckily, they have maps posted everywhere as well, so I never went too far astray before figuring it out. I made it back home just as the afternoon winds really got going and the clouds rolled in. 22 miles. I put my bike back in its place on my still damaged, but functional, rack to await another ride on another day.
 
I had hoped to ride that trail again, but that was not to be. I pulled my bike off to ride a couple of days later only to discover that the front tire was flat. The tire for the wheel that had just been replaced. So, I got to try out the bus system because I needed a few things from town because my floor pump broke. Before I left, however, I talked to the camp host. I wanted to know about moving into my new spot early, just in case I opted for a long hike the following day. In the course of the conversation, it came up that there was another spot that would be open that day because someone made a reservation and never showed and never canceled. Taking that spot meant that I would be able to stay through the weekend, instead of leaving on Saturday because the place was booked. What great luck! And, oh, yes. I’ll take that spot, please! The people currently occupying it left before I left for town, so I was able to move locations quickly and still have the rest of my day. 
 
Summit County has a great, free, bus system that connects the towns and even some of the trailheads. It was a two-mile walk from the campground to the nearest bus stop. No problem. Got to stretch my legs and get some exercise. Rode the bus in and got off by the REI and City Market. REI was holding my old wheel for me. They got it repaired enough to be rideable for a bit as a spare, should I need it. I had thought about telling them never mind, they could go ahead and recycle it because I wasn’t sure about getting it back to the rig. Taking the bus made it easier, so I decided to go ahead and pick it up. When I got to the bike shop desk, one of the techs came out to greet me. She asked if anyone had called me…noooo, no they hadn’t…why? Turns out that after they replaced my wheel, they found one just like my original one in their breakroom. It had been on a co-worker’s bike and that person had swapped it out for a different one. It was basically brand new. Had I purchased one like it as a replacement, it would have cost a fair amount more than the one I put on there. The good folks at REI…they gave it to me for the low, low price of zero dollars, in place of my original. So I’ve now got a really nice, brand new wheel as a spare! I had them recycle the old one. And to think I almost told them I had changed my mind on the idea of a spare. 
 
I finished up my errands and, with my new wheel in hand, caught the bus back towards the campground. Turned out that I had the same bus driver as on the way up. My wheel without a bike was a conversations starter. I ended up having a lovely conversation the entire ride back with the bus driver, talking bike tours and RV travel and living adventure when you can. It made for an enjoyable trip back and only added to the good feelings in a day that started off with a flat tire. It got me thinking about how we often get stuck in the mire of an event that we think of as bad or negative, but that when we let go, and take a step back, we might find that that event was actually the thing that spurred on something good or beautiful or amazing. Something we’d never have had the opportunity to experience if it weren’t for something gone wrong. I admit, I was frustrated when I saw my flat tire. I was exasperated. How could it be that I just got this wheel replaced and the tire has now gone flat? And why didn’t I get that bike pump when I was at REI in the first place? I quickly let it go, not really purposefully, but just in the course of planning for going to town on the bus, which I’d wanted to try out anyway. And right away, my day started turning around with the discovery that I’d be able to stick around for a bit longer. The good experiences kept coming for the rest of the day (including some pretty wicked storms missing our little corner of the mountains) and ended with a long conversation with the camp host outside my RV that evening about fulltime RV living and his and his wife’s winter experiences living in the RV in Breckenridge (think shoveling waste-high snow and ice from the rooftop of an RV as a regular experience and you’ll get the picture). I mused later that evening about the fact that my introverted self had multiple long conversations throughout that day, and not once had I felt my energy depleted from the effort of the encounters. The day was a gift. I went to bed that night grateful for every bit of it. Even the flat tire.
 
I did end up changing that flat. It was my first time ever having to change a flat on a bike. I’ve been exceptionally lucky in my life never to have experienced a blown bike tire. Not sure how that happened! And I did find out why it was flat. Somehow, in the course of putting a valve adapter on, a piece of the tire got caught between the adapter and the valve. I somehow got lucky yet again. The tire didn’t blow out while I was riding it. I assume it happened when they replaced my wheel. I rode back to the campground and then all the way around the lake without incident. It only gave way, with the stress of the pulled rubber finally breaking away and creating a rather good-sized hole in the tire, when my bike was safely back in the rack and not in use. 

      

    

wandering forth

Aside from the whole bike saga, and a few opportunities to ride in Dillon, I managed to get some hiking in while I was in the area as well. Twice I hiked a trail that I was able to access from the campground by walking over the ridge and into Keystone. The first time I hiked 2.5 miles in, and then turned around and came back. With the 1.5 miles between the campground and the trailhead, it would have made for an 8-mile hike. Except. I made it longer. When I got to the base of the path that would take me back to camp, I decided I was thirsty for a hoppy beverage, and I had nothing in the rig. A quick peruse on Yelp and I discovered I could walk a mile from that spot to a liquor store. So I did. Priorities, you know? What is it about a good, long hike that makes one crave a nice cold brew? I try to blame it on friends in Germany who introduced me to that habit while I was living there…The second time I hiked that trail, I went further on the trail and ended up hiking 10 miles total again, just without the detour at the end. It was a great hike, and one mountain bikers seem to love even more than hikers, but everyone I came across on a bike was exceptionally nice, and not a one was put out by coming across a hiker. Even so, I would often go for quite some time without seeing a soul on the trail. Where I became lost in the sound of the wind through trees or across grasses and wildflowers. Or looking up to snow-dotted peaks and billowing white clouds. No man-made sounds to interrupt the symphony of nature. In places like this, I often fantasize about walking forever or just living off the land (I pretend I would know how) because it all feels so right and so perfect, I don’t want it to ever end. 

One other hike of note was not quite as long. Only about six miles. I was having a low-threshold day. One where I wasn’t feeling quite certain of myself and what I was doing. The great thing about living out here is that when a day feels that way, it is easy enough to change your perspective by heading outside, and that is just what I did. I went for a hike. I decided to head towards a place I’d seen on my ride around the lake, where there were great views of the lake and a place where there was a ¾ mile scenic loop that I’d not been on. When I got to the trail, I opted to go in the opposite direction from the one I was seeing everyone else go. Because of this, I quickly found myself at what was, for everyone else, the grand finale of the loop: a spectacular scenic overlook. I was gazing across the view over the lake, a smile now planted on my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a young man taking a photo of his girlfriend and their dog. I offered to take one of the both of them, for which they were grateful. As I was handing back the phone, the young man asked if I would take one more photo. He was reaching into his backpack, so I thought he was going for a big camera. I told him I would be happy to, as he pulled out, not a camera, but a small(ish) fancy blue box. I flipped the phone’s camera to video and captured the young man’s proposal on bended knee and his now fiancée’s acceptance. It was very moving. I was glad for my sunglasses. And even gladder that I happened to be there at the right time. 

    

    

    

    

    

   

moving on

Dillon was the place where I felt I was truly able to let go since I’ve been out on the road solo, to be fully here, present with myself, and open to whatever came my way. I adjusted to the wind. I moved when I needed to. I allowed myself the flexibility to adapt and change my point of view. I was reminded of how often it is necessary to do so. Even in a place as lovely as Dillon, life happens. When we can take a step back, change our perspective, we often find that in the downtimes or the low spots or the negative space, lies opportunity, if we can pull our heads out of the muck and walk down the path that opens before us. So, while I have said so long for now to Summit County, I will carry a piece of it with me in the memories, yes, but also in the experiences that reminded me what I am out here to learn and what I mean by shiftingspace: find your path and take it. 

peace.

​Des