Today was a longer day than I planned. I mean, sure, I knew it was going to be on par with my longest day, and for that reason, I was up at the butt crack of dawn.
 |
| Not quite sunrise yet |
I headed out at 5:40 after Sue (of Scott and Sue who I met last night) took my photo. It was a wonderfully chilly 57 degrees! It wouldn’t stay that way.
The trail at this end went through a lot of different landscapes.
 |
| It’s way down there! |
I still had about 7 miles to go, but it was all downhill. I arrived in Edgemont. There’s not much to the town. I stopped at the Trailhead for the obligatory photo to finish off the Mickelson Trail,
The gas station was back on the hwy. I just stopped at the campground and filled up my water for the remaining 40 miles. I added an extra 1/2 liter in my frame bag.
Edgemont was the end of Segment 3 (Steppe) of the route. Now I am halfway through the segments. I loaded up Segment 4 (Plains), and headed out of town. I encountered this before I turned off the hwy and back onto gravel.
 |
| It was a funny little passenger train. |
Onto the gravel, I had the first climb. For the first 490 miles of this segment, there are only 10 climbs that will initiate the climb pro! After the first climb, the second one was right away. Then it said the next climb isn’t for 77 miles!
 |
| Can see why they call this the Plains segment |
I had several miles of rolling gravel roads, and a whole lotta nothing. Eventually, I popped out onto pavement. At 12 miles to go to my planned destination, I crossed into state number 6…Nebraska!
 |
| I couldn’t hold up 6 fingers AND take the photo! |
Now I was really counting down the miles to Toadstool Geological Park Campground. It was hotter than hot! I still had a good amount of water (even though it was hot water). I stopped every mile, and allowed myself to drink 100ml.
 |
| Woo Hoo 3 miles to go! |
I made it to the turn to go to the park. It was another 1 1/2 miles. Okay, I can do this! The road was horrible washboard. The closer I got, the more worried I became as to whether there would be water. Sure enough, I got there, and there was no water pump! Well crap!!! I, by no means, had enough water left…maybe about 400ml. A car drove up. I told them there was no water here, and asked if they had any. They gave me all they had which amounted to a little over a liter for me. I was very grateful, but it still wasn’t enough for me to be able to camp there. I was about to ask if there was any way they could give me a ride when they said there was a guest ranch about 4 miles further. Okay, I could manage that (thanks to their water donation).
 |
| Toadstool |
I rode the washboarded road back out (so 3 gratuitous extra miles) to the main road. I could see what looked like a ranch in the distance. The whole time I was riding toward it, I kept saying, “Please be the guest ranch. Please be the guest ranch!” Thankfully, it was! I rolled up and parked Wanda. The dogs were barking, but were friendly. I knocked on the front door. No answer. I sat down on the porch and finished the rest of the water the guys had given me. I decided to search out more water. I followed a hose around the back of the house. When I got there, the woman who runs the guest ranch came out. I guess she didn’t hear me knock. Her name is Jean. She’s has a variety of accommodations here. I’m in the little place in the barn. She charged me $50. I did not complain.
 |
| The bed is to the left |
In the fridge there are bottles of flavored water. I’ve already drank two! The shower was the BEST SHOWER EVER!
I was just supposed to do 84 miles today. Instead I ended up with 89. Tomorrow I will go to Chadron. It’s about 39 miles from here. The heat persists! Jean said this is the worst drought they’ve had.
No comments:
Post a Comment