Day 30 Dolores, CO to Trout Lake, CO

I had a great sleep in the rec room last night. It's not raining this morning, but it sure looks like it wants to out there. Well, those mountains I could see outlined days ago, they are now here. I will be climbing over Lizard Head Pass at 10,222' today. I climbed a good part of the day, but the one thing I noticed that is different here than in Utah is that the grades of the mountain passes are not as steep here in Colorado. That is good news for me. Mountains are popping up out of everywhere, as I gain elevation. Though I climbed all morning and part of the afternoon, my legs aren't as bad as those crazy climbs in Utah. Made it to the summit of Lizard Head and met another biker on top, next to the elevation sign post. "Brandon" was biking west, heading for Arizona, looking for work. Downhill at long last, and fast. Getting late I knew of a campground just a few miles from the summit. I passed Trout Lake (Photo Above), which was worth a stop. A beautiful lake with mountains behind it, and my camp spot right next to it. Well, the campground was closed! It was under construction but I didn't care and went around the locked gate, something you can't do in a vehicle. People were there working, but I just kept out of the way and out of site and set up camp. The next thing I knew, it was raining and raining hard. I went into my tent to stay dry and a few minutes later the construction managers came over to me and said I couldn't stay here and had to leave. They were being nice about it, but they said the big boss said no one is allowed to camp here while the camp is closed. I tried to beg but nothing doing. They left and I started to panic. It was very cold, getting late, and was raining very hard outside. The worst part was, that I would have to break down camp and bike off to find another spot, more than likely just down the street in the woods. The more I waited the harder the rain came down. It was pouring out, and I'm freezing cold. I ran out of my tent and over to the managers RV. This time I must have really looked down and out, because the first thing they said to me was "you can't move in this rain". After some sweet talking, they said that they would let me stay for the night but I had to leave early in the morning, before the big boss showed up. No problem, I said as I leave early anyway. I ran back to my tent so happy that I didn't have to move. Wow, that was close, I said to myself.