Somewhere in the Desert to Baker, NV – 44 miles
Today I woke up a little surprised at how late it was. I slept past 8 no problem. I expected to wake up early due to the heat, but it was still pretty cool. When I looked out from my tent there was nothing – just vast open space. I packed up and ate fruit and granola bars for breakfast, so I could get pedaling as soon as possible. I only had 40-50 miles to cover until Baker, NV and I wanted to get them knocked out before it got hot.
There were a couple of trees next to the road and an abandon house just down the road from where I camped. Thierry had told me that there was water there when I met him at Hite a few weeks ago, so I looked around a little. He said I couldn’t miss it because it was the only tree for miles and sure enough there was a hose that was running that appeared to be watering the trees there. Strange. I didn’t really expect to run out before Baker, but I filled my empty bottles anyways just in case.
After that there was a long climb to the top of a pass. These passes take forever. They’re not steep, but you can see so far that it feels like you aren’t making any progress. Definitely a mental battle. I listen to a lot of podcasts to help pass the time.
Saw a dead cow on the side of the road during the climb. I guess that’s a part of the open range thing. I can only imagine the kind of damage a cow would do to a car…
The descent down the other side was awesome. Although the map showed what looked like one more pass it was really nothing and it was mostly flat the rest of the way to Baker. There were a couple ranches and various abandoned buildings.
I crossed into Nevada near the end of the ride. Utah is incredibly beautiful, but I couldn’t be happier to be moving on. I think Nevada is going to bring its own set of challenges, but that’s okay. Maybe I’ll run into ET! I’m getting closer to the coast everyday and the finish line feels closer than ever even though I’m still 10-15 days away.
Someone I use to work with (Peter) has a sister who lives in Baker. Her name is Gretchen and she works at Great Basin National Park. Peter connected us and I’m staying in their bunk house tonight. Sleeping in 3 beds over the past 4 nights has me feeling a little spoiled, but I have to admit it’s pretty nice. Tomorrow the plan is to explore Great Basin NP and hike Wheeler Peak!
