June 28

-

 64 miles to Deer Haven Lodge.

Got up early (of course) and had breakfast at a local bar/cafe and hit the road.  The first 46 miles were relatively calm and took me to the town of Tensleep.  I saw some interesting rock colorations and formations along the way.



Once in the town of Tensleep I stopped at a convenience store to refill my water bottles for the upcoming climb to Powder River Pass.  I had 18 miles to go and 16 were up a mountain.

Here the road starts heading uphill.
Signposts along the way indicated what type of rock you were seeing and it's relative age.  (Really old!!)

From the beginning of the climb it took me 3 hours and 40 minutes to reach my campsite.  I was wiped out.  Even my diaphragm hurt from so much deep breathing.  I went into the lodge to register for the night and I asked the girl behind the counter "How much further to the top of this mountain?".  She said "You have more climbing to do tomorrow than you did today".  Well, my heart sank and I just wanted to call for a helicopter ride off that mountain!  But, I washed up, had a good steak dinner, and was soon in bed for the evening.






Comments

  1. BrianJuly 5, 2026 at 1:38 PM

    Yikes, exactly what you don't want to hear - not even halfway! Just gotta take it slow, one day at a time!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Ready - 10 Days to Go

-
Another bicycle trip is about to begin. Although I've done several multi-week bicycle tours over the last 10 years, the same questions and concerns always come to the surface about a week before the start date. Am I ready? Am I prepared? Did I pack everything I will need? Am I physically up for this challenge? Is my bike ready for this challenge? Have I planned everything to the best of my ability? So many questions. 40% of me says everything will be just fine. 60% of me is honestly a little worried. 100% of this overthinking will disappear the moment the trip begins and I start grinding the pedals. After that I have a set of milestones to reach:  First: every day is a new ride. I know how many miles I have to go and how many feet of elevation I have to climb to reach my stopping point for the day.  Second: If I make it to the end of the first 7 days I'll be very encouraged because days 3, 4, 5, and 6 involve crossing several peaks of the Cascade Mountains.  Third: Mak...
Read more

June 10

-
Image
Woke up early today, anxious to get going. It was a beautiful morning, blue skies, sunshine, and a gentle breeze. The tall grasses along the sides of the road were gently bending in the direction of my travel, as if they were pushing me along. Me and my trusty steed say goodbye to Winthrop and the snow capped Cascades.   After reaching the town of Riverside I went into the Town Hall and spoke to a woman about my route ahead.   This is the only store in Riverside - mostly some groceries and gas. She told me a shuttle bus could drop me off near the base of the next mountain in the "town" of Wauconda. So I waited an hour for the shuttle and jumped on. Unfortunately, the shuttle did not go to Wauconda but instead dropped me off at the Aeneas Valley Country Store - in the middle of nowhere!! The shuttle left and I went in and talked to the store owner about my route to the town of Republic. He promptly said "you'll never make it". None of the roads in this are...
Read more

June 7

-
Image
Today is Day 1, although it is a strange way to start a bike trip. Matt and Sue and I loaded the bike into the Uhaul truck and said our goodbyes. Then I drove a little over 5 hours to my Day 3 ending point, Winthrop Washington. I'll stay in a hostel here until Wednesday morning when I'll restart the trip on Day 4. After I drove over Steven's Pass and went through the lovely town of Leavenworth, the scenery really changed. The west side of the pass was chilly and wet and very green. The east side was warm and brown and almost devoid of any vegetation. Although the scenery was different, it was stunning. I dropped the truck off in the town of Twisp and then rode the bike 10 miles to Winthrop. Winthrop looks like a real wild west town with old wood buildings and wooden walkways between all the shops. To me, it looks more like Montana or Wyoming than Washington!!
Read more