WWR Day 13 O'Hara CG to Elk City

WWR Day 13 O'Hara CG to Elk City
The Aug 6 2019

Distance 39.8
Start elevation 1545
End elevation 4010
High point  about 6300
Low point 1645
Climbing ~ 5000!!!
Ride time 6:18
Total time about 8 hours
Days bike camping: 7
Contiguous days riding : 7+ tire half day

Day dawns bright with blue skies again, forecast high at slwway river if a mere 98.

So I get going early. Glenda generouslys  shuttles me to my turn around point route and I start climbing

And climbing

And climbing

For nearly a mile of elevation gain.

The road is good, and a reasonae grade for mostsections through there are the trying steeper sections, but they generally not to long.

I follow rehabilitated O'Hara creek for the first few miles in the shadow of the ridge to keep thing cool. But with so much climbing I leave the laughing creek behind and continue up up up.

The low mountains never break over Tree line, sunnier aspects are often logged or burned or both.

Up up up up up I go

I do finally run into my first road grading, the the bane of bikepakers, and sure enough it is loose in places. I finally pass the actual grader and is scrapped clean down to hard surface, pushing the loose stone aside and erasing the washboard along with it. This section is great for biking and I see I need to reconsider my view on the road grader.

Up up up up I go.

I am paused while a small logging crew is destroying some smaller trees down to the road. They pause to and let me by, where o see more of there relentless work. I suppose I buy some of the lumber at Home Depot.

Up up up I go

There is a shoulder I gain and get a quick mile of flat to slightly down and I crank down it.

Up up I go

Another shoulder and another quick mile.

Up up I go and I gain the summit of the day
Anti climatic  as it is round the side of a ridge and is fully treed.

Down down Down I go

I glimpse in the distance some peak on the north east horizon, rock peaks,sanstree.likely in the Bitterroot Wilderness. I am heading there way.

Down down I go.

 The waves of mountains  are layered to the west with Ever increasing obscuring due to a few small fires.

Down down I go, elk City is calling you know

I pull into town and see our rig and truck parked, not deployed. The trailer camping options did work out, but Glenda scored and got the last room at the town's motel.

The people are super friendly and welcoming here. We have home style cooking for dinner next door and wander over to the bar for a beer. We are immediately greeted by Cowboy Dean . We get beer as another rlocal generously yeils bar space so icansquint and the can and bottle of beer they serve.

We get our drinks and Cowboy come on over and we have a wonder conversion about. Elk City, Idaho, and his experiences in Alaska. He has been in the the Alaska Buskh People tv show.

Also caught up the Bram and Bram, the two Dutch riders and continue our aquaintance.

All in all a. Good day. Tomorrow is a. Recover and packip Glenda day, as she will.be heading back to Colorado at this point. It is a 5+ hour drive to the next place we *could * meet, and time to head backto real life.

For me, the MacGruder Corridor awaits with it's 14000'+ of tough climbing over 3 days.
But those rugged peaks beckonme on....