Nederland to Crested Butte - Day 0

As mentioned in the summary, we revised the original plan to take the bus from Boulder to Ned and ride a few extra miles out of Ned to find a camping spot. This was a fine way to kick off the trip, and it shaved a few miles off of Day 1, which ended up being a 100+ mile day anyway, with 9000 ft. of climbing.

What a deceptive way to start a hard trip!  An air-conditioned ride in a bus, a nice BBQ dinner and craft beer at the Wild Mountain in Ned, followed by an easy spin south on HW 119. Food is one of the most important and enjoyable parts of a trip like this, so I made a point of documenting comestibles on this trip, but I missed this meal. However, I did catch Rob enjoying desert after he grabbed Twizzlers at a convenience store on the way out of town:

Rob actually had these Twizzlers all the way through the Colorado Trail well past Copper, he must have gotten tired of them because he was handing them out to other trail users.

We saw a very nice sunset south of Ned, just one small example of what makes a trip like this worth it. We'll be crossing that mountain range in the background, and the two that follow it as well, before this trip is done:

After some hunting and pecking we found a nice spot to crash for the night, near some USFS outbuildings. That's my Tarptent Contrail on the right, half set up, with a 2 mil plastic sheet as a foot print. This was my first trip to use this tent (I did practice with it a bunch in the back yard though), and I loved it.  One and a half pounds, roomy, with space to sit up and dress, and it packs small. It's single wall, so you have to avoid touching the walls (they get wet), and it's not free standing, but the positives outweigh these concerns. I highly recommend it. I've got better pictures of it later:

A few more Twizzlers, then beddy time. Big day tomorrow! Continue reading, day 1.