Poncha springs to canon~ city

Camp was surrounded by  mountains. We set up on a gravel parking lot at the fair grounds yesterday. It wasn't exactly shangri-La. But the view made up for everything else. This morning we got up at 530 am  the sunrise was awesome

. I wasn't too sure what today would bring. This has been a tough week. A lot of km and a lot of climbing. Turns out the scenery is amazing. 

The first 10km was from Poncha springs to solida. It was down hill and we were clipping along at 30-35 km per hour. I thought we'll this is going to be a good day. Boy was I wrong. We got out of town and headed along the Arkansas river. 

The river was winding through the canyon and the road was following it. Tall sharp cliffs lined one side of the road while the river followed the other side. 

People were fly fishing

And they were white water rafting. 

We came across deer grazing right next to the road. Two bucks in full velvet. I couldn't  get the camera out fast enough before they went into the woods. I pulled the camera out and kept it in my hand almost 50km. Around a few corners and wouldn't you know it two more deer, doe's and I was ready. 

The

The pics I took in the valley aren't as nice as I remember it but I took tons. Here are a few. 

We stopped at a store in a little town half way down. Oh ya did I mention that hit was mostly down hill. Not a good day, it was an awesome day. Not until the last 20 km did I have to climb. It was a long hill. 

This was half way up the last climb. Looked awesome but only when you stopped and looked back. 

At least we had a great ride down again, after a long climb up. I only got to 74 km per hour. Well I have a lot more pics but ill have to show you some other time. Good night.  Len