Day 12, Tuesday, July 8, Parker Creek camp to Elkhorn Hotsprings: 40 miles, 8.6mph avg, 4:30 ride time, no CD crossings, but 30 miles mostly gradual climb, gaining 3,275 feet.
We've gotten more efficient with our mornings so that even if we have a 2 cup-o-coffee morning we can still pretty much get out of there in about an hour. Breakfast was some some trail butter (thank you Genevie and Steve and ther offerings at Fairhaven Runners!), dried cranberries, and strawberry cream cheese wraps, and then we went on our way.
It was a fast, flat, quiet morning ride with through river-valley, wooded farmland along the Jerry Creek area. But every few minutes crazy chipmunks raceed across our path all the way between camp and when we reached the Big Hole River 6 miles down the road. It was a hoot. (Finnian...made us think of you!)
In the small town of Wise River, we stopped at the little convenience store for just a few things, and then went on to the cafĂ© to use their Internet and have a small second breakfast. :-) love 2nd breakfasts! There we found out that the package we had shipped to be at our place we were staying at tonight was stuck in a nearby post office for… I don't know... Since June 27th! So we had to go back to the store to get, what we could, of more supplies. Our supply of coffee and dried whole milk and protein bars and freeze dried dinners and other necessaries... Not with us as expected. Big bummer. But, gotta get over it.
So, onward, and onto the absolute most scenic road --the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway-- and it was amazingly quiet on that road! Granted it was a Tuesday, but still it's summer! Yet we had very few cars, even fewer campers, even though they were loads of really nice Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest campgrounds right there along the Wise River.
The ride was mostly rolling-- a gradual 30 mile climb through gorgeous meadows of lupine and leftover tumblers from some 10,000 year ago bice flow... with the last 5 miles of steeper-- just shy of the last stetch up Highway 542 at home. Pretty exposed--no shade!-- and because it was paved, there weren't as many flatish spots for a rest. My bum was pretty sore from the lack of variety in the road. But I'm not complaining!
The 4mile downhill to Elkhorn Hotsprings, our destination, was slowed by my signature trepidation with free fall downhill (boy do my hands get hurting on those downhills-- while my shoulder hurts on the stretches of up!) as well as a couple cows with their calves at one switchback. But fun.
And then we got to Elkhorn. Cool cool place with friendly folk (Kristen, who I'd been in communication with before). Still no package... , but cold drinks, a hearty lunch, Heather, who helped us with throwing our stuff in the laundry (she let us help with the air drying), and meeting south-to-north riders Paula and David, teachers from Boone, NC. They're riding with Bobs and have done lots of summer rides/tours. After Paul and I got situated and ate, we enjoyed some time in the Hotsprings pool, and then hung out chatting with David and Paula for the evening, including dinner.
I left my audio book player and headphones at the Butte Copper King Mansion!! Under the pillow. Waaah! Erin, co owner, is mailing it hime me for me, so I'll be bookless on my sleepless nights.
--Alaine
No comments:
Post a Comment