Walden, CO to Wyoming border! (22 miles) ( car to Steamboat Springs)

I awoke to a lot of condensation this morning on pretty much everything. It was sort of expected since the ground was damp from the rain and the wildlife viewing area was in a low area near a wetlands. At least there was a moose nearby to see.

We fueled up with a hearty breakfast at the same restaurant in town and headed off, all of us carrying a little more water this time. The weather was again in our favor; mostly cloudy, light breeze, and no rain. We had to deal with more traffic on the road today; a busier road feeds into highway 125 at Walden. But the valley has really opened up wide by this point so we are in wide open country of sagebrush and can usually see several miles ahead of us.

Our first possible water source (a stream) was great and we topped off our water. The map showed going through a small town next, and we could see it for three miles before we got there. But it was no more than a collection of houses and an even smaller post office than Rand. There was no store at all. Oh well. We were surprised about 5 miles later by a small RV park near where the highway branched that had a small convenience store. Yeah! Hot Pocket sandwich, Gatorade, and ice cream sandwich for lunch.

Since we were meeting my wife at the border, we were on a timeline and got going again. The highway branched here, one way going to Laramie, Wyoming and the other towards Riverside, where we were going. This reduced the traffic greatly again.

The highway climbed some over a low ridge into another valley. Though we were still in Colorado, it felt and looked different, a welcome to Wyoming. We crossed the Platte River as the valley opened up to the point it really didn’t feel like a valley anymore. We saw more pronghorn antelope, though always at a distance. They are very skittish and run off. Feral and I saw a badger as well, though he was hard to capture in a picture as he just popped up occasionally from his burrow. It was the first time either of us had seen a badger in the wild.

We made good time and arrived at the Wyoming border before my wife arrived. Whoohoo! Two states completed! And it was a joy to see my wife drive up as well! What a great day. She took our picture and drive us back to Steamboat Springs where she had found a condo at a great price for us to stay. My mother-in-law had fixed us supper including some veggies from her garden. A good day indeed.