July 22
50 miles
4100 feet elevation
Surprisingly, it did not rain in the night, so we actually woke up with everything dry. The morning was mostly clear with fantastic views.
There was a lot of climbing but it felt more gentle today, as we are headed back the way we came in.
We saw a handful of other cyclists out on the road, all of us enjoying this last season where bikes are essentially the only traffic west of the landslide. We took a nice break at the Eisleson Visitor Center, which was upgraded in 2018 only to be closed up when the landslide cut it off in 2021. The spot has practically perfect views of Denali and the surrounding peaks.
A ranger told us it would probably be reopened in 2028. For roughly the first half of the day the weather was perfect, until we came to Toklat River and a terrific wind started howling. Mostly it was a crosswind, but for a brief moment or two we actually got some tailwind. It was brief though.
In the afternoon we returned to the landslide closure for the hike a bike section, and ran into the two women we met yesterday who used to live in Tucson. We all hiked together for awhile, until one of them accidentally set off her bear spray and had to stop to get rearranged, so we continued on our own. In the gravel bar we saw a caribou that looked wounded and was limping. Hopefully he doesn’t become bear food.
The hardest part of the day might have been carrying our bikes back up the steep stairs to rejoin the road. Our feet were wet and it was windy, cloudy, and cold. For four more miles we climbed over Sable Pass, but once over the top we had about ten miles of descending. It was nice to not have to pedal, but my wet feet were freezing!
Tonight we are camped at an actual campground, and it might be our coldest night so far. We both wore our puffy jackets while we cooked dinner, and got in the tent almost as soon as we finished eating because it’s chilly.