A primeira encosta, dividida em dois pela paragem em Goffey, foi muito mais facilmente superada nas primeiras horas da manhã, pelo ar fresco matinal. Em pouco mais de uma hora, em grande parte ao longo do Currant Creek, num vale ladeado por floresta, chegámos ao passe. A descida do outro lado revelou-se para além de longa, demorada. Sem floresta para mitigar o vento que nos fustigava a face, éramos obrigados a pedalar sem parar para manter a velocidade de cruzeiro. Felizmente a dimensão do vale era magnânima, e apaziguava-nos a alma enchendo-nos o olho. No final do vale fica Hartsel, uma pequena povoação com o título de coração do Colorado. O Garry que se tinha adiantado pela manhã ainda na subida, já tinha almoçado quando chegámos e regressava da biblioteca encontrando-nos à espera dos nossos hamburguers no restaurante, que nada tardaram.

Já saciados, seguimos caminho mais para norte, transitando para outro vale ventoso que nos desafiava ainda mais. Mal acreditávamos que descíamos, tal o esforço necessário para progredir. A recta deixava ver ao longe o cruzamento que antecedia o nosso destino demasiado cedo, e parecia uma miragem inalcançável. Num dos momentos de quase delírio fomos surpreendidos na retaguarda! Um rapaz bem parecido, com caracóis no cabelo e um sorriso genuíno de quem vem do Sul, apresentou-se como Evan, e que vinha da Geórgia com destino ao estado de Washington. Entrámos distraídos em Fairplay, e após localizarmos o Garry, ficámos a saber que o RV park já não recebia tendas, mas que o Russ, um tipo simpático tinha um relvado onde as nossas tendas caberiam na esquadria. Esperámos por ele no Java Moose cafe, saboreando um gelado enorme enquanto tagarelávamos os quatro. Ele chegou estavámos ainda de gelado na mão, mas mal terminámos e já com as instruções para chegar a sua casa, partimos para o destino final daquele dia.

Instalados, fomos brindados com umas cervejas de produção local, e uma sessão de cinema após duche. Sem jantar, seguimos para a cama pensando em ficar por Fairplay no dia seguinte…

The first slope, divided in two by stopping at Goffey, was much more easily overcome in the early hours of the morning, on the fresh morning air. In just over an hour, mostly along the Currant Creek, a valley flanked by forest, we reached the pass. The descent on the other hand more than long, was time consuming. With no forest to mitigate the wind that blew us on the face, we were forced to pedal constantly to maintain cruising speed. Fortunately the size of the valley was magnanimous, and soothed our souls filling our eyes. At the end of the valley is Hartsel, a small village entitled the “Heart of Colorado”. Garry who had pushed on early in the morning still before the pass, already had lunch when we arrived and was returning from the library, finding ourselves waiting for our burgers at the restaurant, which didn’t took long.

Already filled up, we followed the path further north, moving to another windy valley that challenged us even more. We could barely believe we were going down, as the effort we had to make to push forward was indeed substantial. The straight road enabled us to see the crossing that preceded our destination too early, and it seemed an unattainable mirage. In one of the moments of almost delirium were surprised in our rear! A good looking young man, with curls in his hair and a genuine smile from someone who comes from the south presented himself as Evan, and he was coming from Georgia bound for Washington state. We entered Fairplay toghether and distracted, and after we located Garry, we learned that the RV park was no longer receiving tents, but that Ross who worked there, was a nice guy that had a lawn where our tents would fit just right. We waited for him at the Java Moose cafe,  while we four chattered over huge ice-creams. He arrived we were still holding our ice-creams, but soon as we finished and already with all the instructions to get to his house, we went to the final destination that day.

With camp setup, we were treated to locally produced beers, and a film session after shower. With no dinner, we went to bed thinking of staying in Fairplay for the next day…