Day 70: Zero in Leadville

Mileage: zero

Me and Alex started our day with our favorite Leadville ritual - heading to the local coffee shop for some chemicals and a breakfast burrito (the chemical I'm referring to is caffeine). We hung out and chatted, wolfing down our burritos covered in hot green salsa. We didn't have too many plans for the day but figured we'd go fishing and maybe for a short hike with Margi, who wanted to test out her gimpy knee.

We drove up on a dirt road out of Leadville up towards Mt Sheridan, picnic supplies in the car, with the aim to walk until Margi's knee didn't feel good anymore. As we drove up the road I realized that we had skiied in that same valley this past winter and marveled how much it had changed - the slopes still had some remnants of snow, but were dark green and dotted with wildflowers of all varieties. We got out at the pullout and hiked up an old trail. We stopped often to admire the flowers and look up various ones we were unsure about - Alpine Primrose, Sulfur Cinquefoil, Alpine Sunflower - in addition to all the flowers Margi and Alex already knew by heart.

The dogs, Ziggy and Sadie, ran rampant up and down the alpine meadow, causing the Pika to hide int heir rocks and chirp at them angrily. We laid down in the grass and picked flowers - I was accused of picking the only Alpine Sunflower, which I still contend is false - which Margi was going to take home and press to preserve their fragile beauty.

Alex and their new dog, Sadie May, near Mt Sherman

We headed back down to the car after about an hour and wolfed down some honey-smoked salmon they'd brought home from Alaska and shared a couple ciders, while admiring the beautiful day.

Back in Leadville we looked at some fishing stuff while Margi helped assemble a colorful mural near the Post Office. I got some Chinese food from Szechuan Taste II and immediately regretted the decision not because it tasted bad (I mean, it wasn't good, but what do you expect?) but because the lady completely ripped me off, charging me $2 extra for tofu and billing me a total of close to $15 for lo mein and two egg rolls. I didn't get sick though, as Alex insisted I would.

After eating we headed down to go fishing near the Arkansas River and towards Twin Lakes so I could pick-up my box I'd had sent there. I really regret sending these boxes as I don't even want most of the food and am not really even using the maps. Maybe I'll have my mom stop sending them, but then what will I do with all that food later?

We didn't have much luck fishing and it began to rain. Alex fished for awhile longer and tried close to ten flies before he also gave up. I had tangled up the line pretty bad and realized the new spinning rod he'd just bought was also broken - not a good fishing day, so I just slept in the car.

After fishing we headed back towards Leadville for a BBQ at one of their friend's houses. I've pretty much stopped worrying about eating meat as it tastes really good right now and is probably good for me to gain back some weight. I had two sausages and a cheeseburger before I realized I should probably take it easy. We all had some beers and a good time just chatting and joking around.

Margi brought some lamb that Alex insisted was 'from the Reagan era' (Margi replied it might be 'Bush I' which didn't inspire confidence in any of us). I avoided the lamb and also the conversation because sometimes Alex doesn't know when to leave well enough alone. Whenever a new person arrived he'd tell them about the lamb while Margi would insist it was fine. She ate three pieces and took the rest home.

Fairy Primrose, a little blurry

We headed out by around 9pm as we were all tired from the long day. Back at home I laid out my mat for one last night in Leadville. I'd been there three separate times in the last three weeks, but it was time to say goodbye, for now.