Wilson pass turned out to be a bit harder than expected, so we ended up camping right at the summit. (It didn’t help that I left my phone at the café i last posted from, and I had to tack on an extra seven miles doubling back to get it. Thankfully, we hadn’t started the real climbing before I noticed it was missing!)
In an effort to beat the heat, we were up at five and on the road just after six. After an amazing descent, we were plopped squarely into the desert, and the temperature started climbing rapidly. Thankfully, we had a really nice tailwind, which kept the heat from beginning unbearable, but we definitely stopped at every gas station to refill on cold water. (And dumping water over our heads) Can you believe we didn’t see a single Dairy Queen?
Andrew got a flat during the hottest part of the day (at least 100 degrees), after which we decided to reassess our original plan, which was to ride to the next restaurant and hang out there for five hours waiting for to cool down, and then beg them to let us camp behind the place. One of the nice things about not being broke while bike touring is that you can afford to stay in a motel when it’s too hot to camp, so that’s what we did. We got to the motel at 2pm, just as the tail wind shifted to become a cross wind. We showered, napped, made a quick run to the aforementioned restaurant for dinner, and are now going to bed, well rested and hydrated.
Tomorrow, we’re getting up even earlier, in the hopes of catching a bus in the next town to take us to Bishop, after which the temperature should be much more manageable. We certainly could ride the whole way – we’re right on schedule – but getting up before dawn in a mad race against the thermometer, then sheltering somewhere all afternoon to avoid getting cooked doesn’t leave a lot of room for fun. The bus let’s us skip two days of that malarkey, and gets us up to the mountains where there are lakes and streams ripe for the plunging a day sooner.
Photo dump incoming!
