October 3
53mi/85km
3500ft/1060m elevation gain
We had a nice morning. It was chilly but not cold, and we chatted a little more with our cycling neighbors before we got on the road to climb out of the canyon.
Even after we climbed out of the canyon, we kept climbing, but the road had turned to gravel. In the morning we were riding through juniper trees but by the afternoon the trees were gone and it was just sagebrush.
We were drinking more water than we’d anticipated under the beating sun, and we knew we’d be dry camping tonight, so we were hoping that the one spring we were passing today might actually be running. It wasn’t, but the pond that it feeds still had some water in it, so we took a couple liters to filter later. It was murky, but we know from experience that doesn’t always mean it will taste terrible.
By this point, it was afternoon, and we’d finally reached 5000ft/1500m elevation after seemingly climbing all day, and we were back in the pine trees, so we finally got some shade. Unfortunately, the road was bumpy, washboarded, and sandy, none of which made for easy going. Plus, we weren’t going downhill, which is usually the reward at the end of a climb. It was a little bit frustrating. But flat terrain makes for good camping. There are a lot of RVs scattered around, but it was still easy to find an established campsite to set up at.
We used the pond water to cook dinner, so it got both filtered and boiled. We both still have enough water left that we won’t need to actually drink the pond water, and dinner tasted just fine.
We are so dusty tonight that the first thing we did when we stopped to camp was wipe ourselves down with wet wipes. I don’t think we’ll be showering for a couple more days, so that will have to do.