We were up early and quickly headed to the town's bar & grill for breakfast. Our waitress was the same young lady who tended bar at the pizzeria the previous night. When the troupe of actors is small, each one needs to play more than one role.
The day was cool but comfortable, with rain showers visible in the distance as we started. On the way to Jackson Hot Springs, a caravan of 50 antique cars passed us going the other direction. Each one waved and most gave us a sample of their oogah horn. When we reached Jackson, of course there was no sign of the feared Rainbow People. At Jackson we picked up sandwiches for lunch somewhere in the lonely miles ahead.
After a few miles of easy upgrade, we started a five-mile climb to the first of the day's two mountain passes, Big Hole Pass at 7400'. It was a steady but sustainable climb until the steeper last two miles. We had to stop several times to catch our breath. For any reader who is a cyclist, let me put it in perspective: we did this same ride on a tour twelve years ago, and my memory is that we climbed this pass easily. More important than the twelve years that we are older, riding unsupported (carrying our own gear) is a huge difference on climbs. Our trailer and cases and contents are about 80#, and even so we are compulsive about not carrying anything not absolutely necessary. A week ago we collected everything we thought was expendable weight to mail home, and it only came to 1 1/4 pounds.
A descent of 1500' over 12 miles took us to the foot of the second climb, up to Badger Pass at 6700'. Before starting up, we stopped and ate our sandwiches. I later discovered that my bike computer was gone, doubtlessly at that lunch stop when the bike fell over. Anyway, the climb to Badger Pass was difficult, mostly because we were pretty thoroughly depleted, despite the lunch. Another 20 miles of mostly downhill took us to the large town of Dillon. Our total for the day was nearly 70 miles, with plenty of hard climbing. We discussed taking a day off at Dillon, but a good dinner and a soak in the motel's hot tub revived us.
Wildlife notes: Around Wisdom we saw first one, then many, yellow-headed blackbirds. I don't think we'd ever seen them before, and I would remember, because they are spectacularly beautiful. They are common in an uncommon habitat, fresh water marsh. Later in the day we saw a badger, which ran along side us for about 100 yards before reaching a hole where he could hide. And we saw our first three pronghorns, confirming that we are out where the deer and the antelope play.
No comments:
Post a Comment