Ah yes, take me back to the old backpacking days, only this time I awaken in the damp dawn with an awful stiff neck. Gosh, that never used to happen on those month-long treks of my youth! Shake it off dude, you have a pass to climb. Noone else up at Bonneville CG, so I slip out (coffeeless again) onto SR 21 and begin the slow climb into the clouds. Must have been a gentle grade; 2 hours later I'm tieing a piece of celebratory blue ribbon (a "banner") on my flagpole, claiming conquest of 7200' Banner Pass. A Heath Bar assists the final push. (I've taken to loading up my handlebar bag with a shortlist of treats: Mounds, Butterfingers, Heath and Snickers bars, all on the ready for immediate devouring.) Basiclly, I'm having trouble inputting enough fuel by day to keep my 5000+ calorie needs met. (Where are those Pumphaus leftovers, boyz??) No serious "bonking" as yet, but close a couple times.
Very grey all day and temps in the 40's, at best. The descent off Banner is freezing; my fingers go numb but I can't let off the brakes (BTW, these disc brakes rock!) Then come my first views of the awesome Sawtooth Range, aptly named and snow-spangled. Wow! Miles of high elevation bogs bring me to Stanley, a collection of log structures spread out on a plain along the Salmon River. A mocha and large cheese pizza greet me, and are conquered as easily as the pass. Just down the road, in Lower Stanley is the Redwood Motel, our home for the night.
At dinner that night, I remember hearing the jukebox mornfully singing out the Seals and Crofts tune from decades ago "We, may never pass this way again..."
Being the nostalgic road warrior I am, this made me a little sad...
Life is short.
No comments:
Post a Comment