ridescottride

March 23rd to 24th Nasca, Peru

2009-03-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

This will probably be the last post of my South American trip since I am flying back to Austin tomorrow night. I don´t expect to be doing much in Lima, so unless something unexpected happens, this will wrap it up.

Yesterday I arrived in Nasca, Peru to put the final check in the box on this trip. My last ¨must do¨ item was to sandboard the Peruvian dunes. And Nasca is home to the tallest sand dune in the world. So after getting rebuffed yesterday due to road construction, I managed to book a private lesson this morning departing at 3 am.

We hiked until sunrise and then hiked another hour. Then finally at about 8 am, we hit the slopes for some pretty sick sandboarding.

This afternoon, I´m catching my bus to Lima and checking into my hostel for my last night in South America.

I´ll be back in Austin Thursday morning and plan to spend the weekend relaxing and eating Mexican food.

Thanks to everyone who followed along. I hope you enjoyed the blog. Until the next adventure.

Scott

March 21st to 22nd-El Misti Volcano, Peru

2009-03-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

At 8am I met the 2 guides and 4 other climbers that I would be attempting my El Misti summit with. We headed to the trailhead at 10,000 feet and started our climb toward base camp with all our tents and other camping gear.

We reached base camp (14,500´) at about 4pm, and the guides immediately starting preparing dinner. It would be an early night as we would wake up at 1 am and start our climbing at 2 am using our headlamps. They do this to give everyone the best chance of making the summit and returning to camp before sunset.

We lost one of our group and one of the guides at about 4am and 16,000 feet due to altitude sickness. I was feeling the affects already as well. I had just arrived from sea level 3 days prior which is really not enough time to acclimate.

So we pressed on and watched an amazing sunrise over the volcano, complete with the shadow of the volcano along the horizon. See the pic.

By 8 am we reached the lip of the crater at 18,500´ and then made the final push to the summit (19,100´) by just before 9 am. After a few high fives and some pics, we skied our way down the volcanic ash chute back to base camp. 6 hours to summit. 40 minutes of fantastic descent.

March 19th-Arequipa, Peru

2009-03-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Spent today touring around Arequipa and also decided to book a guide to attempt to ascend El Misti tomorrow. El Misti is the Volcano outside of Arequipa. At 19,100´ it´s taller than any mountain in the US except for Mckinley in Alaska.

I also took a tour of a famous convent here in town and saw how the nuns lived here for the past 400 years.

March 18th Arequipa, Peru

2009-03-23T09:53:00.001-07:00

Arrived in Arequipa last night a little later than planned. Hit 3 checkpoints on the bus route and on every single one, something was confiscated by the police. Fortunately none of it was mine.

The last time it happened one of the ladies who was about to lose a bag full of clothes actually got into a physical confrontation with the police. Not smart. Anyway, no pics, decided not to get involved.

So I arrived at my hostel which is very nice and close to the center of town. Got a private room for about $6 US and the hotel has a nice rooftop patio with great views of El Misti. The volcano outside of town.

March 16-17th Santiago to Arica

2009-03-23T09:46:00.001-07:00

Arrived in Arica this afternoon. Last town in Chile. Tomorrow morning I catch my bus across the border and then into Arequipa, Peru.

The 28 hour bus ride was uneventful. Fortunately i had the full folddown seat so i spent most of the trip catching up on sleep. The once i hit Arica, I checked into my hostel and went for a run along the beach at sunset. Nice finish to the day.

March 15th-Santiago

2009-03-16T14:46:00.001-07:00

So last night i drank too much and stayed out too late with some friends from Costa Rica. Then spent the day running around the city to catch some of the sights. Santiago is a pretty impressive city. Very modern, about 6 million people, and a bit smogy. But overall a pretty nice city.

Although i´ve seen about all i need. I´m ready to catch the bus tomorrow morning to Arica, which is on the Chile-Peru Border.

Hopefully I can get an excursion into the mountains so I can get a good run in. I´m starting to get a good running base in place which is good as I´m on the waiting list for the Pikes Peak Marathon and the NYC Marathon. So might one to be ready in case i get selected.

March 14th Valdivia to Santiago, Chile

2009-03-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

Caught the night bus to Santiago Chile. Ponied up the extra $10 for the executive service. Which basically means the seats fold completely flat. Very nice for the night bus.

Was woken up at 8 am when one of the bus guys nudged me as we rolled into the terminal. So i hoped up to grab my bags. Jerked the the earplugs out of my ears (with the attached string) and realized that something just wasn´t right.

I realized one of the earplugs had broken off inside my ear. So i had half an earplug jammed deeper into my head than i thought was possible.

So my first hour in Santiago was spent trying to remove the earplug with various objects including the tweezers and toothpic from my pocket knife. An hour later, I could hear again and the earplug was free.

So after that, I took the Santiago subway to my hostel and got situated for a couple days of touring around town.

March 13 Bariloche, Argentina to Valdivia, Chile

2009-03-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

So i bid farewell to Bariloche today and caught the bus to Valdivia. About an 8 hour ride with great views as I crossed over to the west side of the Andes.

hit valdivia at about 10 pm and checked into the hostel which had a pet duck and rabbit. And also, $5 hot rock massages. Which I scheduled immediately.

Woke up early in the morning and went for a run down by campus. They have a river that bisects town. They also have a pretty large rowing team, as the river was filled with sculls in the morning.

Spent the rest of the day running around town. Picking up bus tickets. And playing arcarde games.

March 8th-March13th Still in Bariloche Argentina

2009-03-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

So today (13th) I leave Bariloche after 2 great weeks. I´ll miss it. Definitely a highlight of the trip. The past week has been filled with more amazing views, hikes, runs, and rides around the islands on a motorized bicycle. Very cool.

Stopped by a cemetary at the base of the mountain where some people who died climbing are buried.

snapped a couple of pics of the hostel, and then caught a tango show.

This afternoon I´m catching the bus to Valdivia, Chile. And then Saturday night I plan to catch the overnight bus to Santiago Chile.

Then I´ll catch up with some friends I met in Bolivia who live in Santiago. And by midweek catch the bus north to Arequipa, Peru.

Only 13 more days in my trip. I fly back to Austin on the 25th of March from Lima, Peru.

Starting to crave margaritas and mexican food. See everyone soon.

February 28th-March 7th Bariloche, Argentina

2009-03-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay in posts, but after 2 months of travel I seem to have gotten myself stuck in a town. Bariloche, Argentina is like a cross between Colorado and British Columbia, but with more lakes. It´s summer here right now and it´s absolutely gorgeous. It´s also home to the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere. So it´s got me thinking about a future trip to check that out.

Also the town was mostly settled by the Swiss, so with the mountains and architecture, you feel like you´re in the Alps rather than the Andes.

Anyway, the point is, I can´t seem to leave. Sally flew back to Austin yesterday (stupid work) and I´m probably going to do 4 or 5 more days here before moving on to Chile.

Tomorrow I´m renting a motobike, which is a standard mountain bike with a small gas weed eater motor and drive wheel on it. Should have some good pics from that.

February 27th Bariloche Argentina

2009-02-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

So today we booked a ride out to El Tronador. A Volcano 2 hours from town that has a glacier on top. The hike was pretty challenging. About 3 hours up and about half that down. The views were spectacular. And we grabbed some wine for the trip back to town. Then spent the evening at the casino playing some blackjack and then off for a nice cut of Argentine beef before bed.

February 25th and 26th Mendoza to Bariloche Argentina

2009-02-28T04:26:00.000-08:00

Today, we hit some of the plazas in town and ran around the park. Then we packed our bags and caught the night bus to Bariloche. 17 hours, but we got front row top, so the view was excellent. Unfortunately, the view is even better than the one the driver has down below, so we were able to tell when he should and shouldn´t pass other cars with much more accuracy than he.

But we made it safely, so no harm, no foul.

We arrived in Bariloche in the afternoon and checked into a very cool hostel. It has a great view of the lake and eggs and coffeee for breakfast. Awesome.

We spent the afternoon checking out the town and hitting a church that has amazing stained glass.

February 24th Mendoza Argentina

2009-02-28T04:23:00.001-08:00

We caught a bus this morning to the base of Aconcagua. The tallest mountain in the southern hemisphere and the tallest mountain outside of the Himalayas. 22,850 ft.

We had more steak and more wine and met some trekkers that just finished the climb. It took them 10 days to climb it and 4 to get back down. So we decided to pass.

The ride up the canyon was gorgeous and relaxing, at least until Sally opened a 2 liter soda that had been rolling around under our feet. Have you seen those mentos videos? It was kindof like that.

After returning to Mendoza we called it an early night.

February 23rd Mendoza Argentina

2009-02-28T04:17:00.000-08:00

We caught the night bus from Buenos Aires to Mendoza and arrived early in the morning of the 23rd. The bus was great. A boutique service called Cata with flat folding seats and dinner and drinks served on the bus. Also a couple of movies in English. Sweet.

After dropping our bags at the hostel at about 8 30 am, we found that we could sign up for the bikes and wine tour that day, since pickup was 10 am. So we took a quick shower and by 11 am, we were pedaling through the wine country.

The tour was great. We hit 4 Bodegas (wineries) and a really great wine museum where they take you through the history of wine production in South America and show you how it is made today.

We rolled back into town late that night and went out to grab a Parilla dinner. Chorizo, steak, intestines (not good), etc. And of course, more wine.

February 18th-22nd Buenos Aires

2009-02-22T05:01:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Buenos Aires on Wednesday morning and headed toward the hostel. It's actually a very nice hotel in the San Telmo neighborhood. Very clean and new. Just opened in November and had great ratings on Hostelworld.

It's kindof a simple Scandanavian design. And the coffee was good. Which is a first in South America.

So for the first two days, I explored around a bit and got a couple of runs in at the nature preserve which is only about a mile from the hotel and borders the coast. Very nice running area.

On Thursday night I was out way too late, and then had to get up early to hit the airport to pick up Sally. A rough morning for sure. This town parties way too late. Typical is dinner at 11 or 12 o'clock. And the clubs finally get jumping about 3 or 4 in the morning. Most mornings we see the revelers rolling in while we are having breakfast at 8am.

So Friday we took it easy. I was hungover and Sally was jetlagged and tired from all her Dell work she had to complete prior to leaving.

But Saturday was beautiful. Cool breeze, party sunny, terrific. We spent the day exploring the parks and famous cemetary in the Recoleta district.

That night we celebrated my birthday with a great Asado (Argentine BBQ) and some birthday flan for desert. And of course, way too much wine. Which is redicuously cheap here.

So today, we will tour around a bit more and then we are catching the night bus to Mendoza to hit the wine country for a couple of days.

February 15th-17th Iguazu Falls

2009-02-17T05:52:00.000-08:00

Caught a bus (24 hours) from Salta to Iguazu Falls on the Argentine, Brazil, Paraguay Border. Theres a spot where you can stand in Argentina and see both Brazil and Paraguay.

The falls or Cataratas as they are called, are billed as the largest falls in the world. I have to admit, they were pretty spectacular.

On the 17th, I´ll head to Buenos Aires and then Sally will arrive on the 20th. So we´ll celebrate my birthday on the 22nd in BA.

Also, so many great shots of the Falls, so if you want to see more, go to my facebook page and look at the Iguazu folder.

February 13th-Cafayate, Argentina-Wine Country

2009-02-14T02:48:00.001-08:00

Hit 2 bodegas in Cafayate today. A very nice trip and a good group. And the scenery on the way out was stunning.

We also had some time to explore the town after lunch, so I rented a bicycle for an hour and toured around the area a bit.

February 12th-Jujuy, Argentina

2009-02-14T02:37:00.001-08:00

So I booked a trip for today and tomorrow from Salta. Today I head to Jujuy, pronounced hooey-hooey. It´s the province north and had some very interesting towns and scenery. Similar to Utah and New Mexico but with bigger mountains.

Tomorrow is Bodega tour in the southern wine country.

February 11th-Salta-Finding a Hostel

2009-02-14T02:17:00.000-08:00

So I booked myself into a hostel that came recommended on Hostelworld.com, a great site. I was not dissapointed. A very nice, affordable place with friendly staff and a swimming pool. Sweet.

Spent the day relaxing by the pool, with one excursion out to ride the tram to the top of the hill and get a view of the city.

Then I returned to find we were having an Asado, or a BBQ. Which turned out to be a great party. Fantastic beef, pork, and Llama (Sorry Dolly). And a very fun group. We ate by the pool and spent the night drinking wine, playing pool, and listening to music.

February 9th and 10th- Recovery Days in Salta, Argentina

2009-02-14T02:14:00.001-08:00

So I spent 2 days taking antibiotics, eating soup, and rehydrating. Fortunately my room has TV, and I was able to find some English movies to watch. Ghostbusters was a favorite.

Feeling better little by little. Looking forward to striking out into town soon, and looking for a hostel so I can meet some people and start socializing again.

February 7th and 8th- Potosi Bolivia to Salta Argentina

2009-02-14T01:53:00.000-08:00

I caught the night bus from Potosi Bolivia toward the Argentine border. I managed to make it to the border by Sunday afternoon and crossed with relative ease.

The next trick was to find a bus that would take me to Salta that day. Which was important since the small border town of Aguas Blancas, had no hotels, so if i couldn´t find a bus i would have to cross back into Bolivia to find a place to stay. Which also sucks because I only get 3 entries into Bolivia per year on my visa.

Well, I managed to find a bus that would take me out that evening, so I decided to celebrate with a piece of pizza that a girl was selling by the bus. This is where the story gets interesting.

I hopped on the bus, one of those nice double decker jobs, and within a hour I could tell that my stomach wasn´t happy. I´ve had that many times before while traveling, but this was feeling more ominous.

Warning*** This next part is pretty graphic, but I don´t know how else to tell it, so read at your own risk.

So I was on the top deck and feeling pretty ill. Fortunately the bus had a bathroom, so I grabbed my lexan bottle and headed downstairs to hit the bathroom. I figured the bottle might save me if I didn´t make it.

So I got to the bathroom and the door was locked. I could hear someone washing up. Before they finished I hurled into the bottle and discovered that the contents of my stomach were about 3 times the capacity of the bottle. So I created a fountain of puke which soaked all my clothes and pretty much the entire entry area of the bus.

Normally, throwing up doesn´t really bother me all that much, but this time I had the added complication of having torn the muscles in my side in my fall last week in Bolivia. So every heave was met with the tearing of muscle tissue and a sort of battle between my stomach which wanted everything out and my muscles which were convulsing and ordering the stomach to stop.

So by the time the person came out of the bathroom. I was in the fetal position in about 2 inches of puke in the entryway of the bus. But heah.....only 5 hours to go.

So the bus driver, who very much wanted to just drop me off somewhere....anywhere....in Bolivia, stopped at the next gas station to get me some supplies to clean up the mess.

So for the next 5 hours it was pretty much the same. Running to the bathroom every hour to purge.

So I finally made it to Salta and after walking around in the night and the rain for an hour (can I catch a break here?), I finally found a hostel, bought some gatorade and water, and started on my meds.

February 13th- is anyone reading this

2009-02-13T05:41:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get a quick fix on whether anyone is following along on the blog. i´ve been posting pics to facebook as well but without the text.

So if you enjoy the verbage and this way of following along, comment to this post or send me an email, so i can decide whether to keep posting or just send pics to fb.

Thanks,

Scott

February 5th and 6th-Potosi, Bolivia

2009-02-06T05:42:00.000-08:00

I spent yesterday wandering around town and getting my blog updated. Also grabbed a seat on the night bus to Tarija for tonight. Full recline sleeper for $11. 12 hour bus ride.

Tarija is the last major city before I hit the Argentine border.

I had planned to head north to Sucre, but I´m really enjoying Potosi. Potosi is the highest city of it´s size in the world. The elevation is over 4000m or 13,000 feet.

It used to be one of the wealthiest cities in the world a hundred years or so ago when the silver mine was still producing silver. So it has very ornate buildings that are crumbling.

So you can look back in time and imagine the prosperity and culture that once existed. But now it has slipped backwards toward the poverty that is typical in other Bolivian cities.

An example is my $3 per night hotel which has terra cotta roofing which has deteriorated and is now being gradually replaced by tin. See pic on Feb 3rd post.

February 4th- Potosi, Bolivia

2009-02-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Hit the mine tour this morning, then off to the tour of the Bolivian mint. Back in the days when Bolivia was minting money. Sorry no pics. Actually only one for which I was promptly scolded.

Starting to like this town. Maybe one or two more days, then catching the night bus south toward the Argentine border.

February 3rd- Uyuni to Potosi

2009-02-04T16:37:00.001-08:00

Got back to Uyuni last night and went out for a nice dinner. Steak, fries, and vegetables for $2.25. 2 beers ran the tab up another $1.25.

Then grabbed the 9am bus to Pitosi, which is a mining town 6 hours east.

Found a hostel (private room) for $2.75 per night. A new record. The good news is that despite the recent stock market slump, you´re still rich in Bolivia.

Met a couple from Switzerland and set up our tour of the silver mine for tomorrow.

Check out the pics of my room and the courtyard at the hotel. A little banged up but quite a bit of character.

Also, the lady in the first pic was on our bus with the baby slung behind.

February 2nd- last day in Desert

2009-02-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

Headed out at 5 am this morning to see some geisers and catch the sun rise over the hot spring lake. Also, had a chance to take a dip in the hot spring prior to breakfast. Pancakes....mmmm

Then dropped two of our passengers off at the Chilean border and headed back to Uyuni

February 1st- More desert

2009-02-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

We left our guest house today and rolled out across the desert for more spectacular views. Had a nice party tonight at the lodge where we played cards and had a battle of wine vs. beer pyramid. I think team wine won based on height.

Keep in mind that in order to complete the pyramid, I had to run out into the desert to the "store" to grab another. While doing this, I busted my ass and bruised my hip. Ahhh the taste of victory.

January 31st- Into the Uyuni Desert

2009-02-04T16:01:00.001-08:00

Woke up early to grab some grub, water, and snacks for our jeep trip into the desert.

I´ll let the pictures tell the story from here.

Oh, almost forgot, be sure to check out the "where is scott" link at the top of the blog for a real time link to my location on google earth. Also, I´m posting additional pics to my facebook page.

January 30th La Paz to Uyuni

2009-02-04T15:56:00.000-08:00

Ouch. Spent a last celebratory night with my roomates in La Paz prior to my departure. So feeling a bit rough for my trip to the bus terminal for a 4 hour bus ride followed by a 7 hour train ride to Uyuni, where I will head into the Bolivian desert.

January 28th- La Paz Bolivia

2009-02-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

OK, this is a repost of my San Pedro Prison tour. Mainly because my initial entry contained a bit too much information. For the dirty details, you can ask me over beers when I get back. For now, lets just say this:

The tour was a riot. And it is not technically legal. So I was essentially paying off the guards and hiring a private security detail to ensure our groups safety in the prison.

Note the pics of me with my body guards, lifting weights, and standing in the food line with the prisoners.

Ha. Crazy.

January 29th-La Paz, Bolivia

2009-01-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

Spent the day today touring the witches market and going through the coca museum.

Then shopping for booze for our last night of partying before I catch the train to the Uyuni desert tomorrow.

January 27th- Puno, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia

2009-01-29T09:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it through the border check pretty smoothly.

We rolled into Copacabana, Bolivia (not to be confused with Brazil) and stopped for lunch on the beach. 17 restaurants on the beach. All serve one dish. Trucha. Which is Bolivian Trout. You can get it prepared 5 different ways, but it´s the same fish.

Then we headed toward La Paz, the Bolivian capital, around 1pm.

We stopped again at 2. To pay a toll i thought. But then we were asked to show our passports and shuttled onto a dock.

So everyone was wondering why they were loading us on a boat and what would happen to our possessions which were still on the bus.

Turns out. the bus was ferried across the lake to meet us on the other side.

So about dinner time we descended down into the valley toward La Paz and checked into our hostel.

I hit my room and found my 4 roomates all napping. 2 Aussies. A brit. And a German.

So we hit the town together for a memorable first night.

January 26th-Trying to get to Bolivia

2009-01-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

I woke up early to exchange my bus ticket for a seat tomorrow. In hopes that I can work things out with the Bolivian Embassy.

I spent the morning putting together all the required items:
1. Application
2. Passport
3. Passport photo
4. Proof of hotel reservation
5. Proof of financial solvency
6. Return Plane Flight
7. $135 US
8. Proof of immunization for yellow fever.

Then after waiting an hour at the embassy with all my paperwork the ambassador basically said:¨looks good, you can take that to the border with you and they will issue your visa¨. REALLY. What is it you do exactly?

Anyway, so I think I´m good. Hopefully things go smoothly at the border tomorrow.

January 25th-Back to Puno

2009-01-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

We caught the boat back to Puno today after a great lunch and a tour of Taquille Island.

On the way I was informed by some American teachers living in Paraguay that my entry into Bolivia may not be as smooth as I hoped.

Evidently they have this policy they apply soley to Americans called recipricocity. Which basically means ¨George Bush treats us like crap so screw you rich American¨.

If you don´t believe me, feel free to link to the Bolivian Embassy site via the US embassy consular sheet.

Anyway, the short story is that I have to meet with the embassy in Puno prior to entering Bolivia. Since my bus is due to depart at 7am tomorrow (monday), I´m pretty much SOL.

So I´ve rebooked my bus trip for Tuesday morning and hoping I can get everything squared away with them tomorrow.

January 24th-Lake Titicaca

2009-01-26T11:18:00.000-08:00

We started our tour of the lake by visiting Uros, which is one of the floating islands. They were originally built when the Uros people fled their enemies near Puno by paddling out into the lake and constructing houses supported by reeds laid on top of each other.

They still live this way, but it has less to do with persecution and more to do with tourist dollars and tradition.

They are constantly laying new reeds on on the ground since the reeds on the bottom of the island are constantly rotting and sinking into the lake.

After visiting this island, it was off to Taquille to tour some inca ruins and meet our host families who we would be staying with for the night.

I was paired up with a nice couple from Bogota, Columbia. Adrian and Karina.

January 23rd-Cusco to Puno

2009-01-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning early to catch my bus and almost tripped over one of my roomates (i think he was) who passed out on the floor. i snapped a pic of him before i left.

Then a 6 hour bus ride to puno which is on lake Titicaca.

Strolled around the city in the afternoon. Tomorrow morning I´m catching a boat to the Floating Islands and staying the night with a family that lives on one of the island lakes.

January 22nd- Cusco

2009-01-23T15:11:00.000-08:00

Went out to see a latino band play last night with some people from the hostel. Hit the booze a bit too hard. 2 for 1 mojito night.

Woke up this morning missing my jacket which contained my mp3 player and headlamp.

Fortunately, i went back to the bar and recovered the jacket with headlamp, but mp3 player gone. So no music or audiobook for awhile.

Oh well.

Also, got my teeth cleaned (how interesting).

Tomorrow catching a bus to Puno (Lake Titicaca), so I think I´ll be good tonight.

January 21st - Cusco

2009-01-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

After a short run at 12,000 ft. I was off to shop for Ojotes, or local shoes made out of car tires. I was so proud to return and tell the hostel tour director of my new shoes I bought for $2.75 and then she informed me that locals only pay $1 for them. Dammit.

After that, I finally found a dentist that would do a cleaning for $10 US. I needed the help of the hostel worker who made the appointment for me in her dad´s name. So tomorrow at noon I am Pablo. Much better than the $25 that they wanted to charge me when I tried to make the appointment in my broken spanish.

Then I arranged my trip to Lake Titicaca for Friday. And then off to La Paz Bolivia on Monday.

And finished the day with a visit to the Inca Museum.

Also, here´s a link that is definitely worth viewing. Thanks Sean.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/01/11/120-taking-a-year-off/

January 20th Cusco

2009-01-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

Woke up with a hangover from too many pisco sours at the dance club. Pisco is the local drink. Sort of a grape liquor.

First priority is finding a place to stay as I just learned that the hostel did not hold my reservation. See, you know how to TAKE the reservation, you just don´t know how to HOLD the reservation. And holding the reservation is the most important part. Anyone can just take a reservation.

So I tagged along with some of my trip mates and found a bed at a local hostel for $7 per night.

Then i spent the rest of the day shopping for clothing and a dentist as i just found out i can get my teeth cleaned for $10 US here. Sweet

January 19th - Manchu Pichu

2009-01-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

The porters woke us up at 4 am this morning for a quick breakfast and a 5 am departure toward sungate. Fortunately the clouds held off and the views coming over sungate were stunning. Manchu did not fail to impress.

After a couple of hours touring around Manchu Pichu, we headed into Aguas Calientes for lunch and then a train ride to Ollyantumbo and a van shuttle back to our hotel in Cusco.

That night we all went out to celebrate our safe return from the Inca trail with dinner and dancing.

January 18-Day 3 on Inca Trail

2009-01-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

Well today started out wet and got wetter. Today was our longest day of hiking at about 10 miles. But it finished at a campsite just a mile from sungate, the entrance to manchu pichu. There was also a bar and showers there. So that helped a bit.

By the afternoon, the clouds cleared giving us hope of a clear view of machu tomorrow morning from Sungate.

The porters will wake us up at 4 am tommorrow so we can break camp and get to sungate before those lazy train riders show up. Oh, did i mention, they wake us up by tapping on the tent and handing us hot tea.

January 17-Day 2 on Inca Trail

2009-01-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

Got hit with some late thunderstorms last night, but the day started out sunny. Today is our biggest climb. Roughly 4000 of vertical over 3 miles of climbing. And mostly steps. Evidently the Incas never heard of switchbacks.

We topped out at 13,850 ft and descended down another mile or so to our campsite.

it pretty much rained all afternoon and most of the night.

January 16-Day 1 on Inca Trail

2009-01-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

Well the porters managed to drive through the night via a back route to reach Ollyantumbo in time for our departure. good news since even a one day delay would have voided out our trail permits. We have a total of 23 support personnel for our group of 14 travelers. 17 porters, one head porter, a chef, assistant chef, waiter, and 2 guides.

So our bus took us to km 82 on the trail which is where the road ends. the only options for getting to manchu pichu are to hike it from there or catch the train. trains are for wimps.

so we started our 25 mile hike which would take us 3 days. Sounds pretty easy, but as i was to find out, this was not your average 8 mile hike.

We stopped half way and were served trout for lunch and chicken later that day for dinner. I could get used to this.

January 15th Cusco to Ollyantumbo

2009-01-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

Rolled out of bed at 5:30 this morning to get a run in before our 8 am departure for the Sacred Valley. Ran up into the hills above Cusco. Unfortunately, I left my running pack at home, so I didn´t have my camera with me. I´m planning to pick up a new one when I return to Cusco later this week as I seem to see some of the best scenery on my runs.

Had a good run of about 8 miles on the ridge above Cusco. Elevation 12,000´ Should be good an acclimated for the hike along the Inca trail which starts tomorrow.

After leaving our hotel, the tour group I´m with (14 total) headed toward the sacred valley to tour a small village known for it´s handmade alpaca weavings and clothing. Sounds like a way to get the tourists to spend money. But enjoyable none the less. I picked up a small alpaca mascot made of alpaca fur.

We then bypasses Pisco along some offroad routes to avoid the farmers who had blocked the roads with boulders rolled off the mountains.

After that we toured a Salt Mine and headed toward Ollyantumbo where we planned to spend the night.

Unfortunately, our plans were thwarted by the farmers who blocked the only bridge to Ollyantumbo with boulders and flaming trees. So we were forced to walk 20k to our hotel, passing protesters every mile or so. Each time we passed easily with a friendly "Hola" and an occasional explanation from our guide that we were in support of their cause.

So after about a 3 hour hike, we arrived into Ollyantumbo late, checked into our hotel, and hoped our porters, cooks and other support personnel could make it into town over night.

January 14th Lima to Cusco

2009-01-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

Stopped in for the briefing last night to find that our bus leaves for the Lima airport at 3:30 a.m. So I decided to stay up drinking with my friends at the Loki Hostel.

I don´t want to say it was a bad idea, but I was out cold on the flight and had to grab an afternoon nap in Cusco.

We checked into our hotel in Cusco about 9 am and soon thereafter I met Caleb, my roomate from Australia.

Wandered around town a bit and watched the local farmers protesting their poor wages. Not sure if I´m tired, hungover, still drunk, or just feeling the 11,000 elevation.

Finished out the night with a great $2 chicken dinner and drank Inca Cola for the first time. Pretty good actually. Like cream soda only not quite as sweet.

Bagged out early with hopes of getting an early run in before our day of touring around the Sacred Valley.

January 13th Lima Peru

2009-01-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning to the sounds of cars honking at each other. My room window faces the town roundabout, so I get to hear it all.

I rolled out for my run about 9 am and decided to run by tonights hotel on the way to the beach. Today, I check out of this hostel and head to another hotel to meet my travel mates for the 8 day tour through Cusco and Manchu Pichu.

The run was good. But it was pretty hot and smoggy along the beach. I also stopped at a beach porto pottie along the beach and noticed an older man and woman guarding the door. My spanish is no bueno, so I stepped inside, did my business, and then as I left I was asked for 10 centavos. Or about 3 cents US. Turns out, they keep the bathrooms clean in return for a small fee. Unfortunately, I was running without any money, So I got a dirty look from them after explaining "lo siento, no dinero".

Oh, well, another rich, insensitive American they can point to.

So now I'm off to buy a phone card and SIM card so I can stay in touch a bit better.

I fly to Cusco tomorrow morning early.

Ciao

January 12th Lima Peru

2009-01-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

I landed last night in Lima about midnight. There were a number of flights landing at the same time, so getting through customs took awhile. Finally about 1 am, I cleared customs and headed for currency exchange and the taxi stand. I managed to do quite a bit better than the $45 cab ride i was quoted in the airport. I found a driver out front willing to take me for $60 soles. Or $20.

I arrived at the Loki Hostel and was pleased that they were in fact open 24 hours and the bar was still open. So i checked into my room, which has a great view of McDonalds , grabbed a beer on the rooftop bar, and turned on my gps transmitter to give send the o.k. signal to the family.

Peru and Argentina

2009-01-12T05:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm heading out this morning for my flight to Lima. I leave Austin at 1:30 and arrive in Lima at 11:30 p.m. this evening (EST).

I'm packing pretty light in hopes of doing some running on the Inca Trail with my pack. My 1800 ccm pack is not even close to full and the weight is roughly 12 lbs total and much of that is books. We'll see how it works out.

Stay tuned.

October 24th-Columbus, NM to El Paso, TX

2008-10-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

So today was a victory lap of sorts. The road was paved, the weather was cool, and the wind was at our backs.

We rolled out of Columbus about 10 am and made the 70 mile ride to El Paso by 4pm.

Then we stopped at DQ for a celebratory burger.

Hitting El Paso right at rush hour was getting pretty crazy, so we stopped at a gas station to see if we could find a map and list of campgrounds, hopefully close to the airport.

After striking out on the phone book and map, I called my dad who googled up a list of campgrounds and state parks in the area. We called about 10 of them to no avail. Most were just RV parks only and didn't allow tent camping.

So we were running out of ideas when guy at the ATM machine beside us (Tony) overheard our conversation and offered to let us stay in his back pasture which was just down the road.

Turns out his back pasture was actually a lovely Casita on the back of his property. He and his wife Julie made us chicken curry and even happened to be going to the airport the next morning, so I was able to hitch a ride with them.

Oh and check out the photo of their family Christmas Card from last year.

So that's the final chapter of this adventure. The amazing scenery, I expected, but the amazing hospitality I experienced along the way made the trip.

Until the next adventure.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

Also, I plan to use this blog for my trip to Peru and Argentina in January, so you may want to keep the bookmark.

October 23rd-Deming, NM to Palomas, Mexico

2008-10-28T09:59:00.001-07:00

Well this is the big day. Our official route finish.

We broke camp and headed to the library to finalize arrangements for my rental car and Daniels flight from El Paso.

Then we grabbed lunch at KFC and started the leisurely 35 mile paved ride south to Columbus, NM which sits 3 miles north of the Mexico Border and Palomas Mexico. It also has a state park with campgrounds, so once we got into town, we setup camp, took a picture in front of the tank at Poncho Villa state park, and rolled south toward the border.

I was hoping to make it across with my driver's license and a photocopy of my birth certificate since my passport is being renewed right now.

Once we hit the border we rode across and the border agents didn't even ask to see ID. Guess I should be more concerned with how I'm getting back in.

We snapped a quick picture and then at the urging of the border patrol, rode back into the US and locked our bikes up on the US side of the border. Then we walked back into Mexico to hit the Pink House, a local Mexican food joint.

The owners of the Pink House were very gracious and excited to hear that we had finished the route. We had 3 negro modelo's each which were all paid for by either the owner of the restaurant or other customers excited to toast our finish.

Shortly before dark, we said goodbye to Mexico and rode back to our campsite where we at icecream and recounted our adventure.

October 22nd-Silver City to Deming

2008-10-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning at Jamie's. Had a great cup of coffee from his french press. Local beans as well I think.

Then we met up with Pokey and Erica to hit the Badass Bakery in town for some grub and coffee.

Pokey is a French guy who has been hiking around the region for a bit and has settled into Silver City for a bit.

Erica is an Art student at the local University who likes to hang out with smelly hikers and bikers.

After breakfast we hit the bike shop one more time. Which was good because I had another flat and then Daniel broke a spoke with lead us to find out that he had 9 damaged spokes on the rear wheel.

So a quickie wheel rebuild compliments of Gila and we were out the door about 1pm.

A little later than planned for our 50 mile ride to Deming, but fortunately, it was paved and the wind was at our backs.

So by 6 pm we had scored a campsite at a trailer park and were eating Taco Bell while watching Dog the Bounty Hunter in the Rec Room.

October 21st Part 2

2008-10-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

So we stopped by Gila bikes in Silver City today to pick up some tubes and other nick nacks. I grabbed a 4L dromedary bag since water has been pretty scarce in NM and all my other water carriers have ruptured from all the bouncing around in the panniers.

We grabbed some coffee and were just about to hit the grocery store and setup at the campsite when Daniel struck up a conversation with a fellow cyclist at the post office.

He gave us a phone number of a local biker (Jamie) who he said would probably put us up for the night. So we gave him a call and sure enough, 30 minutes later we were drinking beer and grabbing supplies for the enchilada dinner that was soon to come.

We stayed up late (11 pm) drinking and generally talking about bikes and travel.

I crashed on the futon and Daniel threw his air mattress and sleeping bag on the floor in the living room.

It also turns out that Jamie is a teacher at the local university and teaches a life skills type program that has a financial component as well as some general counseling. So hopefully I can plagiarize some of it for a similar presentation I'm working on for graduating high school seniors.

October 21st-Mimbres to Silver City

2008-10-21T14:44:00.001-07:00

Got up. Grabbed the package at the post office. Ate breakfast at the store (3 cups of coffee, 3 packs of mini donuts, 2 chocolate chip cookies, 2 oatmeat raisin cookies). Mmmmm.

We rode the 20 miles to Silver City. Looking forward to an easy day of resupply, internet check, and bike tuneup getting ready for the final push.

The new schedule is as follows.

Wednesday-Ride 40 miles south and camp in Gila National Forest just north of Separ.
Thursday-80 miles to Columbus, NM. Border town. Official finish.
Friday-70 miles to El Paso.

See ya'll soon

October 20th-Dead Elk to Mimbres

2008-10-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

OK. I lost a day somewhere. Sorry about that.

But I know what we did yesterday. We rode up, down, and up again. Went through numerous valleys and climbed back to the top of the plateau. It was a very scenic ride. I thought we were done with trees, but we got a couple more days.

We also stopped at this windmill and swiped some water out of the tank. Daniel has a sweet water filtration system which is coming in very handy as water is getting scarce.

We rolled into Mimbres about 6pm to find that the store and the post office closed at 5pm. So rather than ride back into the forest, we hid behind some brush at the Mason's hall right across the street from the post office and store. Looking forward to their 8am open.

October 18th-Pie Town to dead Elk 30 miles away

2008-10-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

After eating awesome breakfast burritos and waiting for the Pie-O-Neer cafe to open up at 11am (I had blueberry a la mode and a slice of chocolate), Daniel and I rode south out of Pie Town toward a campsite that reportedly has springwater.

About 5pm we found the spring and made camp with some Elk Hunters who were in the process of gutting an Elk. They gave us beer and some backstrap which we cooked and at that evening.

October 17th-Limping into Pie Town

2008-10-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

So I woke up at 5 am and put my hand outside the tent to see if the tires still had air in them....Flat as a pancake.

So I found one more leak. Added one more patch. Aired them both up, and started riding to see how far I could go before they went flat again.

I made it about 30 minutes. So I started a routine that every half hour I would stop, pump the tires, and eat, drink, put on sunscreen, etc.

By just after noon I hit Pie Town looking for Pie and a patch kit.

I also passed some CDT hikers (continental divide trail) about 5 miles outside Pie Town. I suggested that we hang out once the got there.

I hit Pie Town and other than two cafe's (both claiming to have the best pie in town) there was no store or patch kits. So it was looking pretty gloomy until I met Nita and Andrew. Who turned out to be my personal Saviours.

Nita had a house in town for CDT hikers and GDR bikers. She told me to grab a bed, shower, laundry, etc. And that there was ice cream and frozen shwanns meals in the freezer. Sweeeet.

Andrew had been in town for 3 days waiting on a new bike wheel and a mail package. It just turned out that she and Nita were headed to the nearest big town (80 miles) and the town had a bike shop.

So I gave Andrew $25 for 4 new tubes and a new patch kit. I went over to Nita's a.k.a. "The Toaster House" to clean up, grub down, and jam out to beatles tunes.

Numerous pics. But this place rocks.

October 16th-Grants, NM to almost Pie Town

2008-10-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well I rolled out of town today feeling pretty cocky. My legs felt good. I'd updated my blog and by the afternoon, it was looking as though I might make Pie Town by dark. A solid 100 mile performance.

But my plans were thwarted around 2pm. I was flying across the Mesa with the wind at my back zipping right to left across the road to pick the smoothest line and avoid any sharp rocks as this entire area is built up on lava rock.

About then I noticed that my rear tire was low so I pulled over. What I discoverd was that the rear tire had no less than 20 thorns in it. When I pulled out the first one I heard a disconcerting hiss. So I spent the next 30 minutes pulling thorns out with my pliers and replacing the tube with the spare.

Then just as I was about to ride off, I thought.."Hmmmm, what are the odds of getting 20 thorns in your rear tire and none in your front tire?" Answer....zero.

So now I notice that my other spare has a tear in it. So I patch up the large holes in the front tire and spend the next 10 miles limping to the campsite. Ride 15 minutes, pump 2. And repeat.

By dark I found a campsite and spent the night putting patches on the various holes. Trying to piece together 2 tubes that might get me the last 30 miles to Pie Town where I hoped to find a patch kit to get more tubes.

I pumped up my tires and set them outside my tent. Telling myself that I should't get my hopes up.

See picture attached of road with thorns in the center. Looked like dead grass to me too.

October 16th-Grants, NM to ?

2008-10-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

I'm heading out this morning and hope to make it at least halfway to pie town by the end of the day. Pie Town, NM supposedly has two pie baking stores which compete for the title of best pie in town. So I guess I'll have to try both.

My plan for the final leg of the ride is as follows:

Pie Town: Arrive Friday
Mimbres: Arrive Monday
Las Cruces: Arrive Wednesday
El Paso: Arrive Thursday
Dallas:Friday/Saturday
Austin:Sunday

Home stretch.

October 15th-National Forest to Grants, NM

2008-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Headed out early today to make the 72 miles to Grants, NM. Today is my last big climb of the trip (2500') and my last day at over 9000'.

Gorgeous views of the deserts all morning. Almost grabbed some water out of a cattle trough because it looked pretty clean, but decided to make what I have last. I've started carrying alot more water now that I'm in the desert and what water there is is a bit suspect.

About 2pm I began the climb over the large Mesa between me and Grants. On the way up I left the scrub brush of the desert and re-entered the pine and aspen trees for what is probably the last time on this trip.

As soon as I hit the pine trees I started seeing cars parked in strange places on the side of the road at campsites, etc.

Then I realized that they were locals picking pinon. Which I learned is Cuba is the pine nut which is pretty scarce this year and is sold and bought by just about every grocery store and curbside merchant in this area. Signs everywhere read "we buy pinon".

I crested the summit a little after 3pm and enjoyed the 20 mile decent (mostly) into Grants. Dropping from 9000' to 6500' in Grants, NM.

I managed to find an RV park that allowed campers. I slept within 100' of I-40 and was lulled to sleep by the sounds of passing semis.

October 14th Cuba, NM to the top of a mesa somewhere

2008-10-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

While the weather looked pretty awful, weather.com insisted that no measurable precipitation was being registered anywhere west of I-25. And also that the chances of rain were dropping from 30% to 10% over the next 6 hours (2pm to 8pm).

So I rolled out into 35 degree weather with light winds and an occasional spritz of ice/sleet stuff.

Sure enough. After about 2 hours of riding, the clouds started to clear to the south and I started descending into some of the most barren and open scenery since Wyoming.

I thought Wyoming and New Mexico would be my least favorite part of the ride due to the empty landscape, but it has actually been some of my favorite give the long views.

About 6pm I found a great camping spot on top of a mesa with a great view of the surrounding desert and a good spot for early morning sunshine.

Unfortunately, no pics today. The library in Grants has disabled all external drives and ports due to numerous virus infections.

October 13th-Cuba, NM

2008-10-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

Holy crap it's cold. I know I start many of my posts this way, and I've made a decision. I will stop doing this.....As soon as it stops being so freaking cold in the morning.

I slept all night in my 15 degree bag with the mummy hood zipped over my head. I slept warm enough. But breaking camp is the tough part.

I've started bringing my water bladder into the tent with me at night so I don't have to boil water starting from a block of ice. Guess what. Last night the water inside my tent froze solid. That's cold. O.k. Sorry, beating a dead horse.

So I decended from 9000' down into Cuba at about 7000'. Brrr. Sorry.

I found what is a suprisingly well equipped town considering the population is only 850. And also......laundromat...cha-ching.

So the plan was to do my laundry, grab my mail drop, quick blog update and get moving toward Grants, NM. But guess what? Anyone? Correct, Columbus Day. No post office.

So I'm faced with 3 options.

1. Forget the package and grocery shop. Nah.
2. Ride 10 miles back up the hill to the National Forest and Camp for another night. Nope.
3. Get a hotel room and catch up on the status of my 401k. Aaaaaaaaaaaaa. My eyes!!!

I picked 3. So I'm getting comfy for the afternoon. Think I'll have an iced coffee and whisky tonight and watch the Tele.

Oh. McCain's bus is here as well. Pic included.

Ciao'

October 12th, Carson, NF to Almost Cuba, NM

2008-10-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Awoke this morning early with the signs of some clearing in the weather. Plus some Elk hunter fired off his rifle at 6 am. Don't they have quiet hours in the National Forest?

That reminds me, saw my second Elk today. The same way I saw the first. Jumped out of the woods and ran across the road in front of me. This one even closer. Maybe 30 yards in front of me.

Had my last 10,000' summit today. Actually had about 4 of them because I rode on top of a plateau that ran between 9800-10,200'.

In the afternoon, the clouds cleared and the cold front blew in. But my legs felt good, so it was a very nice day.

After decending to about 9000' and getting within 10 miles of Cuba, I decide to make camp and hit Cuba to pickup my mail packages in the morning. No camping in Cuba, so I figured, no need to get to town till morning.

I made a quick dehydrated dinner and prayed that there's a laundromat in Cuba. It's been a week since I've seen a laundromat. I'm starting to offend.

October 11th-El Rito, NM to just inside the Carson National Forest

2008-10-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

So after El Rito, I rode up to the Abiqui resevoir and grabbed a campsite. Nice place run by the Corps of Engineers. Only $5 with shower. Felt like I should give them more given their required investment in New Orleans.

Anyway, the camp hosts were super cool. They gave me a mountain dew and let me borrow their needle nosed pliers which I used to fix the zipper on my tent. If anyone cares, you can fix a broken zipper by pinching down on the back side of the zipper closure. Or throw it away and buy a new one. Earth Killer. But I digress.

I also stopped by the convenience store to juice up my gorp, which is already heavily centered around sugared and dried fruit, with a bit of candy (cherry sours and gumdrops).

In the morning, the clouds were looking ominous. So I phoned dad for a quick check of satellite weather which confirmed that the chances of thunderstorms were "only" 40%. Which my dad pointed out means that there's a 60% chance you won't see anything.

Hmmm. Makes sense I guess. Plus I'm ready to ride. So I rolled out.

Before I get into the details of how soaked I got about 8 miles down the road, I have a question. Since you can look at the hour by hour weather and determine that from say 10-11 am there is a 20% chance of rain, shouldn't 5 hours of 20% rain chance constitute a 100% chance of rain at some point during that window? Would someone that I copied off of in Stats class at SMU chime in?

Anyway, I got soaked. To the bone. And I also discovered that the soil in NM becomes immediately unrideable in a deluge. So I was pretty much caught out in the middle of a plain, only 1 mile from the national forest, with a bike I couldn't ride (or push for that matter). So I waited for a break in the rain. Drug my bike under a tree just into the National forest. And quickly set up camp while the rain had stopped.

Fortunate, because it pretty much rained and thundered for the rest of the night.

Oh wait. I also bought a strawberry cupcake from this little girl before riding out of town.

October 10th-Hopewell Lake to El Rito, NM

2008-10-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

Started out the day at 9900'. The only pass of the day was at 10,200' and only a mile and a half from the campsite. So after a quick warm up climb, most of the rest of the day was spent on flats or descents through the aspens. Also saw my first elk today. Jumped across the road about 50 yards ahead of me.

Also, the squirrels here are grey and have tails that are bigger than the rest of their bodies. Sorry about the lack of wildlife pics, but they move pretty quick.

I hit El Rito and had a great mexican food lunch and am now sitting at the library. Updating the blog. Charging up the phone and mp3 player, and ripping audiobooks down to listen to later. Right now I'm ripping "The Omnivore's Delemma" and "God is not great"

Plan to roll out of here in the next hour so I can make the campground at Abiqui resevoir by nightfall.

Should be able to post up again on Monday in Cuba.

Till Then.....

October 9th-NM Border to Hopewell Lake, NM

2008-10-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

Shortly after summitting my first pass about 11 a.m., I was treated with a fantastic view of the valley below. Just as I hit the ridge I heard my phone beeping as 2 days of text messages came through. Middle of nowhere, but there's a cell phone tower around here somewhere.

So a couple miles down the ridge I ran into a group of hunters on one of those juiced up golf carts trying to get cell reception. They were staying at a hunting camp down in the valley and were told that they could get a cell signal if they rode up to the ridge.

So I talked to them for awhile and found out they were from San Antonio. They also offered my food and water, which I gladly took. Including some m&m's, granola bars, and some great pork sausage. Mmmmmmmm.

Then I descended down to the highway and then a short climb up to Hopewell Lake campground. I decided to stay a couple of miles down from the campsite, mainly because it was free down the road and the Hopewell campsite had turned off the water, so I had to grab water from a nearby creek and purify it.

October 8th-Platoro to CO/NM border

2008-10-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

Stopped in Platoro to grab a gallon of water at the lodge/store. The maps have reported that all water (ground and tap) in Platoro is unsafe to drink. So fortunately they had gallons of filtered water for sale. I also grabbed some donuts.

Headed down the road to Horca. Which was also a town with nothing more than a Mexican food restaurant/store. So I grabbed some chicken enchiladas and cookies and headed up the pass.

After descending down toward the the NM border, I crossed a set of narrow guage railroad tracks. Turns out the narrow width was used in the mountainous regions during the gold rush since the narrow tracks allow for a tighter railbed and tighter turns through canyons. They were also more prone to derailment. There's your history lesson for the day.

So just after crossing into NM. I found a nice place to camp under a large tree, and hopefully in a spot that would catch some early morning sunshine. My new #1 criteria for campsite selection as it is freaking cold at 10,000' until you can get some sunshine.

I've attached some photos of the ice on my bike and campsite in the early morning.

October 7th-Del Norte Colorado to Stunner Camground-Platoro, CO

2008-10-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Headed out early with visions of making the biggest climb of the trip (4000' of vertical with a 11,900' summit) my bitch.

So about 1000' from the summit I see a very disconcerting sign indicating that the road I'm on is closed for the next month. Hmmmmm. Checked my map and no clear detour option was available.

So I kept climbing, hoping that I could guilt someone into letting me through given the impressiveness of my effort. But about 500' from the summit a couple of dirt bikers were coming back down the mountain (they'd passed me going up earlier in the morning). So I flagged them down to get the scoop.

So what I found out was this: They were a couple from Toronto riding dirt bikes on the same route I was on. They also informed me that a reroute was posted to the internet a couple of weeks ago. Does me alot of good when I've been riding for 6 weeks now.

So fortunately, the gave me the details of the reroute which only added like 15 miles and 1000' of climbing. Right before the summit of blowout pass (11,800'), the road split without any markers. As I stopped for a moment to determine the best route, I looked down and saw the note which I've attached to this post.

Shortly after the summit, another note awaited me. Those Canadians are pretty good folks.

So after an ugly descent I rolled into Stunner campground exhausted about 5pm. I fell asleep at 8 pm and slept soundly until 6:30.

October 6th-Sargents, CO to Del Norte, CO

2008-10-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the snow never materialized, but yesterday's rest day was welcome nonetheless. Left early this morning very eager to put in some miles. After turning off the highway around mile 15, I was greeted with a nice tail wind which helped push me over the first pass by 1:00. So I pressed on and cleared the second pass by 4:00.

This put me at about 80 miles for the day, but the weather was terrific and with 35 miles to Del Norte, I figured with a 2000' drop and a tail wind, I could make it by 6:30.

So I rode into Del Norte as the sun set. Asked the local police if I could pitch my tent in the city park. They said "no problem". But then added "just for one night, o.k.?"

Translation: We'd rather know where you're going to be and could you please leave tomorrow.

So I hit the local gas station to put hot water in my instant dehydrated meal, which saves camp fuel and avoids violating any rules about fires in the park. And to be a good citizen I purchased a Starbucks iced coffee to mix with my whiskey later that night.

Spent the night listening to all the dogs in town bark at each other.

Oh, and the picture of the dehyrated food is one of my new concoctions. Add 1 bag of rice and chicken to one bag of eggs and bacon, dash with some "slap-ya-mamma" cajun spice (shipped from home) and you get something that tastes like pad-thai.

October 5th-Sargents Colorado to Nowhere?

2008-10-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

That's right. My first full day of rest.

I rode into Sargents yesterday afternoon and the weather was looking pretty ominous. The forecast was for 6-12" of snow over the next 36 hours.

So I decided to see about camping here in Sargents through the weekend and wait out the weather.

So the campsite operator informed me that campsites were $20, but for $25 I could have a Teepee with a gas fire pit. Hmmmmmmmm. Sold.

So I've been reading and catching up on some audiobooks. No snow yet, but I have another pass to climb tomorrow, so I figure I should wait for some sunshine to clear the route before pressing on. Plus they have 75 cent tacos during the broncos game today. What would you do?

October 4th-Salida to Sargents

2008-10-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

After my blog update last night I rode down to the only campsite in town to find it was closed. Or at least there was a closed sign on the gate, which was unlocked. A couple of RVs were still inside, so I setup camp and figured I'd ask for forgiveness if I broke some rule.

Anyway, no one came to rush me off so I stayed the night.

Also, there was a Walmart and Sonic close, so after eating a sonic burger with jalapenos and tots with chili and cheese, I walked across to Walmart and bought a box of 10 chocolate chip pecan cookies and managed to eat all of them before I fell asleep. I should write a diet book.

1. Ride 80 miles
2. Eat

Got up in the morning and rode to Sargents. Had about a 3000' climb and about 1000' in another mountain biker pulled up beside me. He was driving from Portland, Oregon to Maine and riding/hiking along the way.

He asked about my sabbatical, so I told him about the ride, New York, Peru, yada yada.

He listened quietly and then told me about his plans to fly to the far corner of Australia and then walk to the other side of the continent. Not my idea of fun. But not bad, sir.

October 3rd-Como to Salida

2008-10-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

Started out the day by heating up the wood stove in the cabin. Rolled out about 8:30 as the sun was just hitting the road.

Had some rain today around midday and some fierce wind, but was able to top out over the watershed divide (10,050') and descend into Salida by 5pm.

I'm at the library now. It's about 5:30, but I need to run. It gets dark by 6:30 and I haven't scoped out the campground yet. Also need to get some grub.

I'm heading to Poncha Springs in the morning to grab the mail package and then off to Sargent in the afternoon.

Gonna have to watch the weather in Sargent. There's supposed to be a good snow storm coming on Sunday.

See ya'll next post.

October 2nd-Breckenridge to Como, CO

2008-10-03T16:29:00.001-07:00

Easy day today. One because I drank too much whiskey last night, but mainly because the next campsite after Como is 70 miles away. So after grabbing my mail pickup in Breckenridge there's just no time to do the 20 miles to Como plus another 70.

So I zipped over the pass to como (11,600') and zipped down just ahead of a big storm. Did get snowed on at the top, but was able to get into the Como restaurant prior to the serious weather hitting.

At lunch I was talking to some fellow patrons and I was invited to stay at a cabin in town with a guy who just graduated from Ole Miss. (Sorry Man, I forgot your name, but feel free to post it as a comment. Need your email as well.)

So I stayed at the cabin and we talked religeon until late (8:15 pm).

October 1st-Radium to Breckenridge CO

2008-10-03T16:22:00.001-07:00

Headed out early today to try to make the 75 miles and 9600' pass before dark. I was hoping to catch up with Jamie and Tiff in Frisco, but when I called Jamie at midday, they were unfortunately unable to join. But he did give me the contact of a friend in Breckenridge that might be willing to put me up.

So after arriving in Frisco to find the campsite closed, I call Yvonne and Drew to see if they would let me couch surf for the night. I would have been happy with the Motel 6 treatment, but they were truly 5 star hosts.

So after a quick shower and laundry, they took me over to Drew's parents condo where I proceeded to eat everything in the house (they insisted). Then we hung out and talked politics for the evening.

Thanks Drew and Yvonne!!!

September 30th-Steamboat Springs to Radium CO

2008-10-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

Had breakfast with my new friends, Ian and Craig, then after checking email at the library, rode off to try to catch Craig.

Craig and I hit Radium after a gnarly 2000' descent into the canyon at sunset. They just as Craig was lamenting the fact that without our Native American friends, we were beerless, a couple guys pulling their boat out of the river at the campsite walked over and gave us 6 beers. Wierd. I immediately commented on how I was lacking spiritual enlightenment, but I don't think anything happened.

The view of the stars was Sofa King awesome. You could see the milky way crystal clear.

I fell asleep shortly after the train rolled through at 9.

September 29th-Medicine Creek NF to Steamboat Springs CO

2008-09-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Started out this morning using my GPS to try to cut through the National forest to Hwy 129, which leads through Columbine and down to Steamboat Springs.

Marked off a route that looked promising and after 2 hours of riding I was within 1 mile of the highway. 2 problems. 1-there was a river between me and the hwy. 2-the only bridge and last mile of road were on a private ranch. No Trespassing.

So now I'm faced with 2 choices.

1. Climb 2 hours back north out of the forest.
2. Slip through a couple of cattle gates and hope to zip through the ranch and across the bridge and apologize if caught.

Needless to say. 30 minutes later I was safely on Hwy 129 and rolling toward Columbine.

Shortly thereafter my front derailleur stopped working and I realized my shift cable had rusted and ripped through the housing. So I took the derailleur off and made due with just the rear gears.

Had a nice decent into Steamboat, grabbed my mail drop and new shifter cable, and settled into my campsite for the afternoon.

Ran into a Nomad named Ian. Who also happens to be buddhist. And he shared some very interesting life stories which I won't publish here to protect the not so innocent.

Also ran into another GDR rider. Craig from Minnesota. We all ended up camping in the same area and were telling lies as the sun set when 2 indians from the site over invited us to join them for a beer at their campsite.

We drank beer and whiskey and listened to country and metal music until the campground police shut us down at 11:30pm.

Great night.

September 28th-Rawlins, WY to Medicine Creek NF

2008-09-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Today should be my last day of riding in Wyoming. Looking forward to hitting the mountain range south of Rawlins. Haven't seen trees in awhile. Rode about 60 miles today to a free campground (Battle creeek) in a deep valley of Medicine Creek NF. Here Elk making a sort of honking noise as I was falling asleep. Sound pretty close to the site. Although the hunters make me more nervous than the Elk. Fell asleep with bugs all over the outside of the tent trying to figure out how to get in. So glad I didn't try to do this trip with a tarp setup like I originally considered.

September 27th-Rest Day-Rawlins, WY

2008-09-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Feeling sooooore this morning. The 8 miles into town were filled with moans and other various whiney sounds. Also, I drank from 2 questionable water sources yesterday. The first was the town of South Pass where the city worker said "I'm required by law to inform you that this water is not potable. But I drink it all the time." So since I was out of water, I of course drank it.

The second questionable source was a resevoir at the 80 mile mark. But I did throw some purification tablets into it.

I'm pretty sure that one of those sources is the culprit for my involuntary cleansing today. We'll just leave it at that.

So after grabbing my mail drop, hitting McD's, and grabbing some supplies, I'm at the library checking in. I'll spend the afternoon doing laundry and probably drinking my new favorite beverage. Starbucks iced coffee with Whiskey.

Then tomorrow morning I'm headed back out. Planning to hit Steamboat Springs Colorado by Monday afternoon.

Also, given my current rate of progress and assuming no injuries or major bike malfunctions, I should be back to Austin in time for Halloween festivities.

See you next post

September 26th-Going the Distance

2008-09-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

Woke up early this morning in my makeshift camping area, determined to cover as many of the 150 miles to Rawlins as possible. The post office closes at noon on Saturday and I didn't want to leave myself with too many miles on Saturday morning. Plus the first hour or two of the day are the most painful. So hammering right out of the gate can be pretty miserable.

So after a full day of pedaling the stats are as follows: 140 miles ridden. 110 offroad. 30 paved. A new personal best for daily mileage on any type of bike or surface. So feeling pretty stoked. The Ride was across a Wyoming plain devoid of any trees. Pretty much just scrub brush and antelope. But still a terrific day of riding.

Ended up finding a camping spot 8 miles north of Rawlings in the dark. So just an easy cruise into town for tomorrow.

Oh yea, there were also these canisters every so many miles where hunters were to deposit one wing of the birds they shot. I guess so the game control can track the hunting volume. New to me.

September 25th part 2-Pinedale to South Pass City (Almost)

2008-09-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Got my passport photos processed and passport mailed off on my way out of pinedale. Miscalculated the mileage to Rawlins. It's actually a little over 200 miles. So I'm going to have to hustle to make it there in 2 days.

After stopping at the Boulder, WY post office for a food pickup, and some quick bike maintenance (see attached photo of my improvised wheel truing device---is there anything you can't do with duck tape?) I rode toward South Pass City.

Unfortunately, I ran out of daylight before I coudl reach South Pass City, so I swerved off the road toward some rock outcroppings that appeared to provide good protection from the Wyoming winds. No animal encounters overnight. Just a couple of sheep/goats/something or others.

September 25th-Still in Pinedale

2008-09-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

Was planning to roll out this morning and make some progress toward Rawlins, WY, where my next mail drop is. But I need to get my passport mailed off and processed for my trip to South America. Specifically to get my permit approved for Manchu Pichu. So I'm back at the library waiting for the town photographer to finish up with some baby shots so she can snap my passport photos. Hmmmm. Mohawk up or down?

I plan to get photos done at 11:30 and she said she can get them processed in about an hour for me. So I can hopefully mail all this off and get rolling by 1 o'clock. I need to make it to Rawlins by noon on Saturday before the post office closes for the weekend. So that's 160 miles sometime in the next 48 hours to make it work. Come on legs.

September 24th. Whiskey Creek to Pinedale WY

2008-09-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning. Very cold. Lit the fire and shortly thereafter got my hand and glove smashed in the hot grate over the fire. Whoops. Good thing there's duck tape.

Headed out for Pinedale. A pretty easy 35 miles.

Grabbed another Subway meatball sandwich, some camp fuel, a torx wrench for my bike (to remove my disc brake and install a new spoke). Replaced my brake pads and headed to the libary to get updated.

I'll probably ride to Boulder this afternoon and pick up my mail drop there tomorrow morning.

See you guys next post.

S

September 23rd. Togatee Lodge to Whiskey River Campground

2008-09-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

Started this morning with a pretty easy 1200' climb over Togatee pass. Then was greeted with the most excellent descent of the trip. 3000' of downhill over a 10 mile stretch of pavement with a 30mph tail wind. Unbelieveable.

Of course that kind of fun comes with a price. That afternoon I had to climb back over Union pass 9200' which my map failed to tell me is preceded by a 9600' top out and 10 miles of riding above the treeline in the wind. Holy crap it's cold and windy in Wyoming!! And shouldn't the pass be the highest point? False advertising.

Anyway....my afternoon was spent in a mad dash to get off the 9000' plateau before sunset. I barely managed to descend into the Whiskey River campground (8000') prior to dark. Overnight low. 22 degrees. Fortunately, I got my fire ready prior to packing in for the night. So I could rush over and start it up first thing.

Unfortunately, I injured myself a bit the next morning. But that's tomorrow.

Sept. 22nd JD Rockefeller NF WY to Togatee Lodge WY

2008-09-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Got some pavement miles today which felt good after all the bumping along washboard roads for the past couple of days.

Grabbed some water purification tabs at the local store (mine leaked out into my bag), and started climbing toward Togatee pass (9600').

Made it to Togatee lodge (8500') at the base of Togatee passs about 5pm and decided to take advantage of their laundry facilities. Camped about a mile up the road where they had bear boxes for my food and bathrooms, but no water. No big deal, I'll grab water on the way out tomorrow.

After washing and drying my clothes, I popped into the bar for a drink prior to bedtime. Tomorrow....some serious climbing.

September 21-Macks Inn ID to JD Rockefeler NF WY

2008-09-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

Packed up my wet gear and managed to find my camp fuel this morning. But no laundromat. I've decided to deal with a wet tent and thermarest and just stuff my sleeping bag (which thankfully stayed dry) into my bivy sack.

Jumped on to a 30 mile stretch of rail trail which may be my favorite section of riding so far. Smooth, remote, beautiful scenery, and a consistent 2% downhill slope.

Felt good in the afternoon and the clouds were clearing, so I took the opportunity to push on toward Wyoming.

September 20th Lakeview MT to Macks Inn ID

2008-09-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Easy day today. 30 mile trip over a snowmobile trail and across the ID border. Descended into Macks Inn where they had a Subway. Ordered a footlong meatball sandwich with mayonnaise. Hmmmm.

Also, bought a new bear bell as mine broke yesterday.

Camped near the Highway in hopes of finding some camp fuel in the morning. Was awakened by a big storm at about 6am. Evidently I picked the lowest spot in my camping area because I stepped out into 2 inches of water. Going to need to find a laundromat soon.

September 19th Lima to Lakeview MT

2008-09-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

Quick note: I've added some more ride pics to my facebook page under the "great divide ride album".

After my hotel splurge and blog update, I grabbed some blueberry pancakes and bacon at the local diner prior to departure. I was planning a pretty easy day, but the 50 miles to the camp site turned out to be a bit of a death march on a washboard road with no protection from the sun.

I did make it to the site prior to dark. It was on a wildlife preserve bordering a lake with spring fed drinking water. Oh, did I mention it was free?

September 18th-Wise River to Lima

2008-09-19T07:24:00.001-07:00

Left Wise River this morning. Definitely a cold one to start. I need to alter my sleep and ride schedule a bit. I've been going to sleep at dark (8:30) and getting up at 6am for an 8:30 departure. The problem is that it doesn't really start warming up until about 10am, so the first hour or so can be a bit chilly. Fortunately it was all uphill, so I warmed up pretty quick. My goal was to stay in Grant tonight and push on to Lima tomorrow. But after arriving in Grant to find that the store/motel was closed and no camping was available, I decided that I felt good enough to make a push toward Lima. I haven't calculated exactly how far the total ride was, but it was definitely over 80 miles, making it the longest day so far. So after 10 hours of riding, I rolled into Lima about 6:30 and promptly checked into the only hotel in town. Which also has a laundry facility and a manager who offered up the use of his laptop to update my blog

So I'm logging off now. Not sure how long it will be before my next update but will probably be a few days as I'm heading back into the wilderness for awhile.

S

September 17th-Butte to Wise River

2008-09-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

After grabbing a sausage egg and cheese croissant and an order of cini minis from Burger King, I rode south out of Butte toward the town of Wise River.

The day started with a climb to 7300' over a forestry access road and then a descent down to the highway. The rest of the day was an easy cruise following along the Wise River to the town of Wise River.

The river is wide and shallow and filled with black rocks that give it a unique look.

I made Wise River a bit earlier than expected, so after grabbing my food drop at the post office, I decided to ride up the Canyon and stay at a campground rather than in town.

I met a nice couple from a couple Valley's over. We discussed politics and the fringe Wackos in Montana.

He mentioned that he was at a cafe in Montana last week where the locals remarked "If that Obama guy gets elected, he won't survive long". Hmmm. Brought to you by the region that gave us the unibomber.

But honesty, 99% of Montanan's are great people. But there is a fringe of derelicts who move out here to plot their next revolution. Or just shoot stuff.

So after drinking my neighbor's beers and eating some of their food (they insisted).

It was off to sleep early for what would turn out to be my longest ride to date.

September 16th Basin to Butte

2008-09-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

Easy day today. Rode along a converted rail line that borders the interstate. Even got to go through an old rail tunnel. Pretty cool.

Taking it easy today in Butte. Going to try to push on to Wise River tomorrow if the legs feel fresh enough.

S

Sept. 15th part 2

2008-09-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Rode from Helena to Basin yesterday afternoon. The new stem is making the ride much more comfortable. No more back and neck pain. I've attached a photo to show the difference in position. Had a wicked climb up some atv trail to 7300' yesterday afternoon. Took me 5 hours to ride the first 20 miles and 45 minutes to cover the last 15. Glorious sunset decent into Basin. Where I stayed at the Happy Widow campground. Right by the river with showers, kitchen, and laundry for $12. Sweet. I'm going to try to attach 2 videos to this post as well. One is a self interview on the second morning in Elkford BC. The other I shot while riding into Fernie, BC. OK. No video tried uploading for about 30 minutes, but no luck. Maybe a faster connection another day.

September 15th-Helena to ? PICS UP!!!!

2008-09-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

Back to real time.

I woke up this morning in Dump Gulch and headed into town for a massive latte and breakfast sandwich. At 8am the other coffee shop with computers in the back openened and the owner was kind enough to log me in as the administrator so I could load my camera drivers and upload the pics.

Now I'm off to the bike shop to grab a new chain and stem for my bike. I broke the chain twice during climbs and each time had to removed a bent link to repair it. So the chain is getting a bit short for certain gear combinations.

The stem will give me a bit more of an upright position which I'm hoping will eleviate some of the back and neck pain I've been experiencing. Evidently the position that is comfortable for a 2 hour spin around the Barton Creek Greenbelt is a little too aggressive for 8 hours in the saddle.

Be sure to check out the older posts which now have pics attached.

Blog you later.

September 14th-Ovando to Helena

2008-09-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

A hot shower to get ready for the 32 degreee morning and off I go. I made breakfast in the room this morning party to get a faster start, but mainly because I'm food heavy after picking up my package yesterday and wanted to eat down my load a bit.

Finished the 2500' climb over the continental divide this morning by 10 am. Then had a fast 10 mile descent (easy Scott) down into the valley. I'm glad I switched to disc brakes prior to departure after that downhill. With 30lbs of pack load on a 30 lb. bike, the brakes can get plenty hot on a 30 minute descent. I won't bore you with the details of heat transfer on disc vs. cantilever brakes, but let's just say you don't want your rim/tire/tube overheating on a mountain descent.

After rolling into Helena in the afternoon and finding that the campsite and 3 hotels were booked up, I took the advice of the salesman at the local gear shop and slept in dump gulch. The name the locals give to the ditch at the edge of town where everyone dumps their trash. (Really not as bad as it sounds).

The good news is that I wasn't joined by any local homeless or stoner kids. Of which there seemed to be plenty in town. GET A JOB YOU SLACKERS!

September 13th -Ovando to Lincoln-Rest Day

2008-09-15T08:14:00.001-07:00

I rode out early this morning to Lincoln to intercept my package prior to the post office closing at noon. Actually they are closed all day on Saturday, but I called on Friday and they said that Linda would be sorting mail in the back so just knock and she'll grab the package for you.

After grabbing the package and locating the camping area and library (closed), I decided to see about splurging on a hotel room for the night. 20 minutes and $37 later, I was taking a hot shower at the Blue Sky motel. First chance to watch TV in 10 days and guess what? There's still nothing on.

But it was an excellent day of rest, hot showers, laundry and beer with the locals.

September 12th-Holland Lake to Ovando

2008-09-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Got up pretty early this morning and shook hands goodbye to Stein. He was jumping on the highway to cutoff some distance. He only has 3 weeks to ride from Banff to Colorado before his plane leaves from Denver, so he is having to modify the course somewhat.

I setoff up the mountain for a 65 mile day starting with 2500 feet of vertical culminating in a 500 foot singletrack top out and 1500 feet of super narrow singletrack decent. It was so tight on the descent that at times both my pannier bags were hitting the trees or rocks simultaneously.

I descended into Ovando, Mt whose sign reads "Ovando over 100 dogs and about 50 people". I hit the local tavern for a fish sandwich and beer and then while brushing my teeth, ran into a couple of locals sitting by the general store telling stories. I hung around with them and helped them polish off their whiskey while we watched the sun set.

Then I pitched my tent in the front yard of the store owner to get ready for an early ride to lincoln the next morning.

September 11th

2008-09-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

The next morning I hit the post office to grab my package (that's what she said) and caught up to Stein a few miles in. We passed two town fire departments with fireman standing in the parking lot with an American Flag staring off into space.

In the second town, I had to ask. "What's up with all the flag holding?" September 11th, they replied. Evidently all the towns in the area have someone man a flag for the entire day. Very cool.

Stein and I had a wicked 70 mile day over some brutal climbs. But stayed at a picturesque campsite at Holland Lake Montana. After a dunk in the lake we discussed buddist philosophy and Stein recommended some classes for Buddism and also for meditation in Nepal. He is actually using the GDR ride as practice for a 3500 mile bike ride across Nepal. At like 15,000 ft. elevation. Holy Crap.

He's also taken a land route through the Bolivian desert from Peru to Argentina, so I may use that strategy for my trip next year.

September 10th-Part Deux

2008-09-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Helena Montana. I'll try to get you guys caught up best I can, but I'm on a 30 minute guest pass on the library computer and picture uploading is looking doubtful as well. There is an internet cafe in town that opens tomorrow morning, so I'll finish up there and maybe get some pics out.

So after posting my last blog on September 10th, I rode out of Whitefish toward Big Fork. A pretty easy 40 miler on smooth roads.

About 5 miles out of town I caught up to another GDR rider (Great Divide Route). A bloke named Stein from England. We rode for the rest of the day together, telling stories and exchanging philosophy.

That night we hit the bar in Big Fork for a burger and a couple of beers. When we returned to our campsite, another bike was parked there. A guy riding his road bike from Eugene Oregon to Minneapolis, MN.

We stayed up into the wee hours of the night (10:30) drinking rum tea and geeking out on bike porn.

September 10th-Day 7

2008-09-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

Got up this morning and headed out to the laundromat to wash clothes and dry out my tent and sleeping bag.

Now I've made it over to the library where I'm finishing up my posts and checking emails. Sorry no photos, but the computers here are locked down. Hopefully I can get some posted tomorrow.

Anyway.....I'll be incommunicado after tomorrow for a few days as I push down toward Yellowstone.

Ciao'

September 9th-Day 6

2008-09-10T11:06:00.001-07:00

After having some very strong coffee with Britt, I waved him goodbye and headed out for a 70 mile push over Red Mountain pass and into Whitefish, Montana.

I made suprisingly good time (in spite of having my first flat) and found a great campsite right by the lake.

I also found a bike shop and outdoor shop to get some additional gear.

After a long night of thunderstorms and trains running by all night, I awoke to a bit of water in the tent. I'll be sure to put some seam sealer on the tent tomorrow.

September 8th-Day 5

2008-09-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Grabbed breakfast this morning while waiting for the post office to open at 8:30. This is my first mail drop pickup and everything went well.

A thanks to mom and dad for handling the packages.

It's a good thing I had to pickup a package because when I went to pull out ID for the package I realized I'd left my wallet at the breakfast restaurant.

I would have been Sofa King pissed if I had ridden 100 miles to Whitefish before figuring it out.

Anyway, 110 miles and 3000 feet of vertical between me and the next town (Whitefish). So I'll be splitting this up into 2 days and staying deep in the woods tonight.

So 40 miles in I arrived at the campsite. It was unmanned and initially appeared to be unoccupied. I've been advised by a couple of passing forestry students that this area of Montana has the highest concentration of Grizzlies in the lower 48 and that the forest service uses this area to reintroduce trouble grizzlies from other areas. Very nice.

Fortunately, I found protection in a 60 year old recently divorced and very jaded mountain dude named Britt. He was sleeping in his 1978 Mercedes with his two dogs and his shotgun. Which according to him are the only possessions that bitch didn't get away with.

So after a long night of telling lies with Britt, I called it a night knowing that he, his dogs, and his gun had my back.

September 7th-Day 4

2008-09-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

Rolled out early in the morning. Grabbed some McDonalds on the way out of town and started for the US border.

Made it to the Border by 5 in the afternoon. A fair bit faster that I thought.

I've been averaging 55 miles a day, well above by 35 mile estimate. But I'm not getting cocky just yet. My highest altitude so far has been just 6400'. I'll be at over 11,000' in Colorado in a few weeks. That might slow me down a bit.

Rolled into Eureka at 5pm and found a campsite right in the middle of town. The police stopped by and told me that they had turned off the water after the holiday weekend, so they wouldn't charge me the $5 camping fee. Hmmmm. I think I'd rather have a hot shower, but there was a gas station across the street, so I got to take a nice sink bath.