August 31, 2024
Day 13: The Rocky Canyon & Lima.
Today I woke up ahead of the alarm feeling well rested. We went to bed with enough time to get 9.5 hours if we fell asleep immediately and stayed asleep. That never seems to happen on an air mattress but the plan was solid.
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It was a similar temperature to the previous day so we bundled up, dismantled our tents and made oatmeal.
There’s a real hum drum of things to do on the trip. We have it pretty well down now. Every night we fill up all our water bottles, which usually involves filtering it. Then we figure out where to store our food and pull everything with a scent in the bear hang. We aren’t always able to find an appropriate place to hang it. Last night we had to use a low tree branch far away from where we slept.
After oatmeal and a rudimentary cleaning of the dishes we set out at about 740. Fortunately the day started with a climb to warm up and the hill were lower so the sun came over about 8:30 so we could start peeling layers.
We had a really nice day today. There was no smell of smoke although you could still see a bit of haze.
We climbed about 300 to the highest point yet on the trip 2410 metres. By then we were warm and we were treated to a very nice descent for well over 10 km. It was likely the fastest 10 km of the trip.
You’d think judging from the increased distances of the last two days that we magically got stronger but that’s not the case. The combination of elevation and distance is the real measuring stick for this ride. If you climb a lot you move slowly and don’t accumulate distance. The last 2 days have been more below average for elevation gain so we have plugged away getting further. It’s still exhausting at the end of every day.
After descending we were soon into this incredible stretch of amazing rock formations. I have never been to New Mexico or Colorado but I’d expect to see this terrain there and not in Montana. There were naturally more people in this area recreating. We saw several people fishing and a few backcountry RV experiences. We thought it was a good place to enjoy lunch after about 50 km of riding.
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After lunch our next goal was to get to Lima for resupply. On the map it said it has “all services” which typically implies a fully stocked grocery store. We were disappointed to only find an Exxon, which was well stocked for a gas station but it was hard to find ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner which is what we need to get to the next stop. I ended up with a loaf of bread and peanut butter for breakfast; very strange carrying a load of bread bikepacking but you do what you have to do.
After Lima the terrain was more arid and mostly sage brush and grasslands. Oh, the cows were back. At one point along the way it felt like Kamloops and I thought I wonder if they have sheep. And literally I looked up and spotted a big group of them. They don’t have the rounded horn. More of the pointy variety.
For the afternoon we just plodded along until we finally got to the first informal campground. It was incredibly informal because we couldn’t see anywhere to camp. The ground was all holes from the cows and it was brush and not grass. We decided to try the next one another 5 km away.
This spot is better, but certainly rustic with the only amenity being a small creek run ing nearby. We cooked our ordinary meal of creamy rice and then set ourselves up for the night.
The next two days we plan to ride 120 km a day of possible to get us to some cabins near the Idaho border. Fingers crossed they have space and we can have a nice place to stay.
Highlights:
-hitting peak elevation for the trip
-Rocky valley was spectacular
-we both rode well and we made good progress
Distance - 132 km / 1051 m elevation gain
Today's ride: 132 km (82 miles)
Total: 1,494 km (928 miles)
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