Riding the rOAd and meeting the lOcal sheriff

Day 48. 64.6 miles, all but 9 on pavement. Gunnison to middle of nowhere. Informal campground 6, On the edge of a forest near a field with a beautiful view of a dusted snowcapped mountain. Said goodbye to our hosts and rode back the way we had come into town, about 8 miles and turned onto PAVED route 114. We cruised to 114 and up the canyon enjoying the pavement. Lois is disappointed that Jarral said we would see big horn sheep, moose and elk and we saw a herd of pronghorn when the sheriff stopped us on the road. We had been cruising down from North Cochetopa pass at 10,135 feet. He pulled across the road, turned in our direction and jumped out of his unmarked blazer. Did we go too fast? Not stop at the stop sign? Or was he after Lois and Jon for trespassing across a field (shortcut) a few days ago?! He only wanted to offer us Gatorade (orange flavored, a bottle for each of us with full calories, none of that diet crap…..) and we happily accepted following Jon’s rule to accept all offerings of food and drink. The sheriff was very friendly, we drank our Gatorade and continued on our way. We turned back onto the trail with about 9 miles to go and climbed up a moderate grade on a solid dirt road. It was overcast and chilly most of the day but as we passed through a mile or so of meadow, approaching the campsite, the sun came out a bit. We camped in a remote spot and had a fire for the first time. It was nice to take the chill off. We all contributed to Jon’s efforts to start it as the woods wet and it took some effort.