Sept. 19 – The Old Man and The Pass

Since I had camped at the top of the pass, I got a nice, brisk downhill ride early in the morning to wake me up! I had about a 30 mile ride into Milford, which was beckoning at the end of that long stretch of road with no services. My water and food were running out, so sustenance was a motivator as I cycled across the valley against a pretty stiff headwind. It was a beautiful day though, and not too hot.

I thought I would get to Milford for breakfast……but I guess I wasn’t moving as fast as I wanted to and hit town at lunchtime instead. I haven’t been taking as many photos as usual, but here is my welcome to Milford:

I went to the grocery store got a couple of days worth of food, then scouted the restaurants in town before settling on a nice-looking diner called Penny’s. It was a good choice as the meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy were dee-licious, and they had wifi – so that is where I wrote yesterdays post. They also filled up my water bottles with ice and water, which was much appreciated. I lingered long enough to officially be a “camper” before gathering all my stuff and hitting the road. After 13 miles or so I came to the little town of Minersville, where I figured it was time for dessert – and that ice cream sandwich tasted so good. An old-timer came over to see what I was up to and he let me know that last year a 70 year old guy came through on a coast-to-coast ride, so it shouldn’t be that hard for me. Then he proceeded to tell me how tough the upcoming pass was. Damn that guy! He was right though – I started climbing and then kept climbing. I had planned to camp at the top of the pass like the night before, but by the time the sun was pretty low on the horizon I still wasn’t there – so when I saw a dirt road off to the left that had the signs of a good campsite up on a hill, I deviated to plan B and stopped for the night. One good piece of advice I got from a seasoned tourer was “never pass up a good campsite” – and for sure you never want to be tromping around in the dark looking for one! I set up on a nice flat spot on a hillside and kicked back to watch the sunset. I had eaten so much earlier that I just snacked a little before heading into my tent and that was just fine. I read a little of my book “Kon-Tiki” (recommended by a fellow bike tourer and I am enjoying it) and since I amazingly had one bar of cell service I gave Carmenza a call. But by 8:30 or so I was falling asleep. No elk bugles that night!