Category Archives: hostel or church

Fairplay, CO

hostel or church
It was a bike-friendly area.
It’s pretty high up.

The next day, the trail started to level out. I started seeing tons of cyclists, but no one on a long distance tour. Soon, I realized that I was entering Breckenridge, which was a big tourist spot. I paid $3.75 for a tiny pasta salad with bread. An iced mocha was $2.25.

There was an excellent, clean bike path into Breckenridge. The path does not go up the hill, by the way.
I likely took this picture in Breckenridge because the prices seemed exhorbitant at the time.

Late in the afternoon, I climbed to Hoosier Pass, the highest point on the TransAmerica Trail. The climb was slow. I used my granny, but didn’t need to stand. Thunder, lightning, and drizzles were all over. Like thousands of cyclists before me, I stopped to get my picture taken near the Hoosier Pass sign.

Continuing to gain altitude.
After I took the picture of the Blue River sign, I looked down and saw tiny wild strawberries. If you look carefully, you can see one under the leaves in the center. I tried one – it was tart.
Almost there. It probably wasn’t that steep, but I was in my granny gear. Perhaps it was the altitude.
Top of the TransAmerica trail.

It was an easy descent into Fairplay, which sat at about 10,000 feet.

The descent from Hoosier to Alma was at 35-40 mph, and I was braking. Losing altitude fast. The further descent into Fairplay was at 20 mph.
No, I didn’t want to camp there.

Right outside the restaurant, I got incredible stomach pains. I couldn’t walk or even move. All I could do was squat there groaning. After a few minutes, I was able to walk a few steps, and made it over to the bench outside. I stayed there, kneeling on one knee, with my head on the bench, for ten minutes. It took twenty minutes to release enough gas so I could walk. At long last, I got into the restaurant, and asked where the bathroom was.

i’d never had such immobilizing gas pain before or since. could it have been the altitude? Or that wild strawberry that i ate?

That night, I stayed at the hostel, which was actually a daycare center run by the local Presbyterian Church. I had to get out by 7:30 am, so that they could open the center for the children.

This is the inside of the daycare center run by South Park Community Church. It was a $3 suggested donation, so I gave the woman a $5 bill. After that, I was simply left alone in the place with a kitchen, shower, and a couch to sleep on. My setup has my inflatable pillow and sleeping bag. On the floor are my shoes and front pack. There is also my compact Bible by the front pack.
This is the daycare center, next to the church, where I stayed. This picture was actually taken the next morning.