Day 26--A Much Better Day, And Back With Fred

Okay, this is the last I'll say about my sleeping pad/warmth issue. I think I've got it figured out now. I put the Z-Rest on top of the sleeping pad, under my sleeping bag. I was toasty warm, even a little, dare I say...hot! I slept really well! This was the view from my tent this morning.

By the time we left, the sun was on us.

Today, we had just 42 miles. We continued to ride along the remote dirt road, gradually gaining elevation.

Again, I was so thankful the road was dry!

I had talked to Derik about them maybe not getting so far ahead of me. Instead, stop, take in the scenery, maybe take a photo, and wait for me to catch up. It was a much more pleasant day for me. Connor and I rode together for a time too. 

The major climb of the day was not too long, but it was quite steep! However, I made it up without walking. I did take one break on a somewhat flat spot. Here's a photo looking back from almost the top.

Basically, you can't even see the lower part of the road. That curve is where I took my break.

The view from the top was quite nice.

This is the Old Bannack Road.

Although we didn't see as many cars as yesterday, there was still some traffic (good if something should happen).

The ride down was a blast. I got up to 42.6, and Derik (and probably Connor too) got up to 47mph! I could have gone faster, I'm just a little chicken. We saw a nice spot for lunch, so pulled over and ate. There was just a few more ups before the long gentle descent.

The next several miles went by pretty quickly. Connor had left our lunch spot ahead of us to make the 1/4 mile side trip to Morrison Lake in hopes that they had a potty shack. Oddly, the boy did not want to did a hole to do his business, something he had to do repeatedly on the PCT. Derik and I did not see the logic of riding 1/2 mile out of the way just to take a dump. Unfortunately for Connor, there was no potty shack at Morrison Lake. We kept seeing holes on the road, and tried to convince him to use one of those "pre-dug" holes for his deposit. He declined. We saw a cabin that had an outhouse. He decided he could make it the rest of the way to the campground. 

The road came out of the desolate nothingness of sagebrush into an area of cool rock formations.

We passed through that area, and came back out to a bit more sagebrush area. The campground we are at is called Deadwood Gulch. Fred planned to meet us here for one more night together. He had actually stayed here last night too. He chose the best campsite--protected from the wind, and shady too (it was another very warm day today--we all got a little sun)! We are right next to Big Sheep Creek and can hear it flowing. 

Before dinner, we taught Fred how to play "Golf". He caught on quite quickly. Our dinner was some sausages that Fred brought, Spanish rice, pulled pork in BBQ sauce, cheese, and tortillas. It was delicious! I'll miss Fred after tomorrow. It was really fun having him join us!