Day 20 - ending near Council Grove, KS - Following the Ponca Trail

August 3, 2024

Day 20 - ending near Council Grove, KS

Day 20 - Manhattan, KS to Council Grove, KS

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Up from this motel room bed in 'The Little Apple' at 5:32am. Grabbed a coffee from the breakfast room, then sat in the lobby to post yesterday's report. Motel breakfast next. Packed up, rolled the bike down the hallway the length of the motel, and was on my way at 8:03am. Another sunny and hot day predicted.

I was a little concerned about getting through downtown Manhattan, but it wasn't a problem on this Saturday morning. My destination today is Richey Cove Recreation Area on Council Grove Lake north of Council Grove, Kansas. To get to picture locations, my routing was mostly backroads. First was to get to Deep Creek Road, and I was there at 9:03am. That road started out with quite a hill that had me walking, but it was paved. I had distant views, including Manhattan behind me, when I was at the top.

I like the landscape; it is kind of sparse of trees. There were ups and downs and some walking today. There was no noticeable wind, and a light cloud cover that kept me out of direct sunshine.

The road flattened out on a divide just before noon and stayed that way for about an hour. That was fun riding.

At noon, I was at the Deep Creek Road junction with Old K-18 Road, and wrote down 15.2 miles. Then I had a crunch bar. I turned on my radio and was able to turn in KDVV, 100.3 MHz out of Topeka. Classic Rock that I enjoyed listening to for part of the afternoon, when I was high enough to receive their signal.

I was at the end of Deep Creek Road at 12:37pm. More back roads until I came to Old K-10 Road. Rode that paved road southwest. Finally back in civilization at 3:09pm when I went through Alta Vista, Kansas. Stopped at the mercantile there for a piece of pizza and some chocolate milk. Also bought Gatorade, toaster pastries, and canned coffee for tomorrow. Now I see that Starbucks Doubleshot is $4.39 a can. I better not do that again!

I was back on gravel roads later, heading to another picture location. There were hills, but not too bad. I only fell over once today.

Got on KS-177 for the last four miles to Richey Cove Campground. It's run by the Army Corps of Engineers, and I had to register and pay online for a site. Not as painful as I thought it would be. Just another password to remember. I was all set for site #25 at 7:16pm.

Set the tent up, then started sorting through too many pictures. They all look the same, so it's a chore to pick out a few good ones. I stopped that later than I should have, since I needed to send out my evening report. Once that was done I was ready for bed.

Jeff

Spent: $18.10 (canned coffee, Gatorade, toaster pastries) + $13 (campsite) = $31.10