Day 25 - ending near St. Paul, KS - Following the Ponca Trail

August 8, 2024

Day 25 - ending near St. Paul, KS

Day 25 - Iola, KS to St. Paul, KS

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The sound of thunder woke me up at 5:26am. It was predicted yesterday that it might rain this early morning, so I had rigged everything up for rain last night by tucking in the edges of the ground cloth under the tent, and covering the bike's front basket with a plastic bag to protect the electronics. The first round of rain was here at 5:48am and done at 6:13am. More was coming - almost 2 hours' worth starting at 6:58am. During that time, using the excellent wifi here at this campground, I was able to get yesterday's report posted. Fortunately the branch that fell out of the pecan tree this morning missed the tent.

My weather radio said yesterday's high was 92F. With the cooling breeze that was quite tolerable.

I went to get some cookies out of my lunch bag to eat before I took my morning pills, and discovered that one (or both) of the two cans of sardines I had in there had sprung a leak. There was olive oil on everything at the bottom of the bag. The bag's inside is lined with plastic, so I was able to clean it up using wipes. But I'm out of sardines at the moment.

I packed up and left at 10:08am, stopping at the office to say goodbye to the manager. I headed east towards town, stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. (The hash browns that come with their Big Breakfast with Hotcakes didn't make the picture.) Then across the street to Conoco for ice and Powerade.

Where I wanted to be this evening, according to my plan, is Neosho Wildlife Area just east of St. Paul, Kansas. What surprised me was most of today's routing had me on paved roads. Later when I saw that I'd routed on some gravel roads, I just changed the plan to stay on pavement.

So I went east on US-54 through Iola and Gas to LaHarpe. I was in Gas when noon arrived. Only 4.1 miles to report.

It was 12:17pm when I made the turn south at LaHarpe. Then I just kept following paved roads east and south and east to get to US-59 near Elsmore (at 2:35pm). US-59 is flat, and the pavement is in good condition. There was a strong north wind this afternoon. I was really moving along, heading south on this highway. I stayed with that highway until it curved west, where I continued south on Udall Road.

At 3:52pm, I did leave pavement to get to a picture location. Then I backtracked on a road a mile south to get back to Udall Road. St. Paul was next. When I got to town, I went to Mac's Get-N-Split for supper (at 5:42pm). Had a corn dog, a piece of chicken, cookies and a chocolate milk. Before I left I bought and drank one more chocolate milk. Afterwards I looked at the newer church where the Osage Mission had been. Then I headed east out of town on KS-47 a few miles to the wildlife refuge, arriving at 6:56pm.

No one's here. It seems pretty remote. I found a place weed-free enough for the tent at the side of the road, and got set up. I was glad to be camping tonight to let the wet tent dry out. Starting mid-afternoon, I'd been hearing a clicking noise from the bike, and hadn't been able to figure out what was causing it. So I flipped the bike upside down this evening and checked the wheels carefully. The only thing I found was the rear skewer seemed to be a little loose. Hopefully that was it. The bike's rolling fine, it's just that a new noise makes me suspect that something is different.

I sure enjoyed the paved road riding today. I think it's what allowed me to get here at a reasonable time with such a late start.

It's not supposed to rain tonight or tomorrow, but there's a chance every day after that for a while. I'm thankful I was able to work around today's rain.

Jeff

Spent: $12.69 (breakfast) + $6.23 (Powerade) + $7.61 (supper items) + $1.88 (chocolate milk) = $28.41