Day Nine – Crested Butte CO. to Canon City CO. - Miles: 240
We got to Paradise Cafe before they opened and it was a good thing we did as many of the riders from our hotel had the same idea. The breakfast was very good and we were the first served and we got out in good time. We rode back down CO135 and headed north on Cottonwood Pass in Almont. We had ridden Cottonwood Pass in 2001 and greatly enjoyed it, so we wanted to do it again. This however the road was completely paved all the way to Buena Vista. In 2001 it was mostly dirt from the east side of the pass down to Almont. The road was in great condition and I think we both preferred the pavement. There were a few vestiges of the past dirt road but pavement followed the old road for the most part. We made a couple of stops along the way. One at the Taylor Park Reservoir, and one along the Taylor River and then one up on top. We rode US285 east and then south on CO9. We rode a county road into Cripple Creek that was a bit narrow and made passing a little challenging and we even had to stop once and just let some truck traffic go because we couldn't get around them. We rode through Cripple Creek without stopping but did stop in Victor for a bite to eat at the Mining Claim 1899 Saloon. After lunch we headed down the Phantom Canyon Road for at least the fourth time. We stopped just past the bridge spanning Eightmile Creek and found a shady spot. While we were stopped a car pulled up and the passenger started up a conversation with us and it turned out they were from Florence KY; small world. When we arrived in Canon City we rode to our hotel and were very unpleasantly surprised. The place was a dump. We looked at it on-line and thought it wasn't great but would be ok but it was really bad. So we booked the Hampton Inn on the opposite side of town but we made it work. Sadly this Hampton Inn was only a step above a dump. The pool was filthy and the place was just run-down. Before we got the hotel we rode West to Royal Gorge Park and rather than by-passing like we have many times we decided to go in. It was well worth the price of entry and walking across the bridge was quite an experience. We walked the ground and then got a bite to eat before riding the gondola across the gorge formed by the Arkansas River. It was a fantastic view. We got back to the bikes and rode to our hotel calling it a night.
