Uraling along Lost Creek

September 12

Woke to temperatures in the low 40s, a tad chilly as I'd not run the catalytic heater.  Slept fine, but getting out from under the covers proved difficult until my bladder declared it was time.

Waited till the temperatures were above 50 degress (barely) and headed out on Fiona to check out the end of CR/FR 56, the Lost Creek Campground.  I should have added on a couple more layers under my riding jacket, it was quite "brisk" once I got moving.

The road is dirt all the way to the end, with several campsites off to the side of the road before one even enters the boundary of the Pike National Forest.  Scenery-wise, not that exciting, basically pine forests on both sides of the road; at least there's no evidence of Pine Beetle ravages here.

Got to the campground and before checking it out, climbed atop a small pile of boulders to get pictures:

 The campground is to the left, the road ends about here, so if

you wish to continue to where Lost Creek begins, you have to walk.

 Looking back down the narrow valley through which Lost Creek runs.

 Another view of the valley from the furthest point within the

campground, not a bad location and its only $15/night.

(No trash service, does have pit toilets, not sure on the water)

Heading back on CR/FR 56, the wind was now a headwind and it got much colder!  Yikes.  It slowed me down a bit to cut down on the wind chill effect.

I took Fiona down some side roads but they rapidly became very rocky and steep so we didn't go very far into any of them this time.

I stopped at the Long Gulch Trailhead to capture the rock formation below, no other reason.

As I neared Jefferson, the mountains presented themselves for a picture:

One of the side trails I took let me pose Fiona over a small hill overlooking a little valley with some nice mountains in the distance.

Finally, I got to the end of CR/FR 56 where it becomes just a road leading one to the big valley on which US285 is built.  Here's another view of some of the Continental Divide Mountains:

I got back to camp with no issues, and the day had warmed up quite a bit now that it was mid-afternoon and the wind had died down.  I discovered that there's a crack in Fiona's left muffler (no surprise given the punishment its taken), so that got added to the task list along with sealing up where the muffler connects to the header pipe.

I also tried to fix the connection for the Cylinder Head Temperature sensor but lacked the cutting tool to open it up further to access (hopefully) where the wires broke off recently.  Another item for the Fiona Task List.

I relaxed most of the rest of the afternoon, then as the sun started making its way down, I loaded up both motorcycles onto the trailer to save some time tomorrow morning.  I did take a moment to catch the sun setting through the trees though:

I'll be departing in the morning, heading for home.  Good camping trip, I must say.  No major mechanical issues, found the problem re the hanging high RPMs, weather cooperated for the most part and I didn't get any injuries this time.