Kremmling

 Now I understand why some homeless people prefer streets over shelter. As hard as it is, you are alive out there. Inside shelter, you are just a homeless person in a cell.

How strange it is that I rather go home when I'm in a motel instead of looking forward for the day like I do when I'm in my tent. Maybe it's got to do with natural light. In a tent, you get tons of it even with the rain fly on. Wake up in wee hours, I'm happy. Waking up in a motel room in the other hand, is just waking up in a strange place. I'll have to admit though. Not knowing where you are going to sleep when you are tired and it's getting dark is not a good feeling.  And that's the true essence of homelessness.

So, the plan got shuffled again to my regret, so far. I skipped Breckenridge after Vail. Two resort towns in a row wasn't an exciting prospect, so I decided to do the Rockies loop instead and sleep in Silverthone hotel for 2 nights. That would also give me a chance to clean up, do the laundry and catch up with photos and blogs before I hit RMNP. What I didn't realize was that Priceline was up to its old resorts trick of listing rooms at a cheap and then charging huge hotel fees. The result was that rooms in Silverthone area was $150, not $60. By the time I found that out it was too late; I was all packed up and I wasn't going to go back and unpack, even if getting back to the campsite through that rough Roaring Creek Road was a synch. Not having the Internet connection has its consequences.

The loop wasn't particularly scenic or exiting either. Nothing compared to the Route 133 to Aspen or San Juan Mountains loop through 145 and US-550. It's rather plain series of towns from Georgetown to Granby. Even Bathoud Pass was rather plain with not much view, unless you are doing the Continental Divide Trail: there were nice long trails on the either side of the trail leading to 13000 feet peaks. The village of Grand Lake was charming enough though, somewhat like  Silverton. But the lake itself was not much to write home about: water was not crystal clear and the lake bottom was mossy.  I guess I expected pristine alpine lake, being near the RMNP and all. I'd prefer nearby Lake Granby with its sandy beaches and bottom.

On the way back I found a relatively cheap hostel style room in Kremmling. At $80 it's still ridiculously expensive for a basement dump with a single shared bathroom. Hospitality businesses are obviously having their day in the sun after enduring the year of COVID. It has a nice communal living room and the backyard though. Too bad I couldn't take advantage of the backyard because my laptop battery broke and I was tethered to a wall socket.

In all, the new plan added one more day in RMNP for Mt. Ida.  It is supposed to have the best view of the park. At 9.3 miles and 2400 feet, it's close to my goal of 10 miles and 3000 feet as well. About the same length as the Glacier Gorge to Sky Pond trail, but little more challenging. Add another short trail, perhaps to Emerald Lake, I'll be doing 3 hikes in RMNP. 

Let's how the grand finale unfolds. If it's a bust, I still have the Great Sand Dunes left to make up for it.