Day 1: From Durango to Purgatory Ski Area

Today we ride 43 kilometers in 3 hours and 40 minutes. We climb 2232' (680m).

We have a long way to go in our first day, but we only make half of it. We start in Durango (elev. 6512') early in the morning with an intent to go over two mountain passes: Coal Bank and Molas. By the time we reach Purgatory Ski Area (elev. 8744') early afternoon we are dead. Pretty early we revised the plan to have rest stops every fifteen minutes, instead of stopping once or twice an hour. Still, every time we stop, I almost faint. It is not the climbing, it is not the weight, it is the altitude, that we are not used to.

Colorado Atlas and Gazetteer told us that there is a campground at the Purgatory Ski Area, which is kind of true. But what turned out not to be true, is that the camp site has some services, such as toilets and showers. Literally speaking it only has a small stamped area for a tent and fire rink some 50 meters away from the highway, surrounded by trees, though. Liberally speaking, it is by a tiny lake and there are plenty of trees to hide when needed.

We choose Best Western motel, which comes with a shower and a bar. After resting for a while in our room watching NHL finals game seven (someone chooses to watch his own videos, though), we head to the restaurant for dinner. We have mussels in curry-coconut sauce for starter, and snapper and salmon for entrees with Pinot Grigio, all summing up to $103. Relatively good but expensive.

Rest of the night we spend in the bar. Skiing is not that popular this time of the year, so it is pretty slow there. For the first time in this country we familiarize ourselves with Pabst Blue Ribbon.