WWR Day 30 Restart - Tucker,UT to Skyline Drive above Beaver Dam Res.

WWR Day 30 Restart - Tucker,UT to Skyline Drive above Beaver Dam Res.
Sat Sept  7, 2019

Distance 34.4
Start elevation  6230
End elevation 9426
High point about 9426
Low point 6230
Climbing about  4800'??
Ride time 5:59
Total time about 8:00
Days bike camping: 20
Contiguous days riding : 1

Blues skies greet Glenda and I in Price  where we stayed the night and I repacked gear for bikepacking.
Hwy 6 is busy and a bit narrow at Soldier Summit so I start my day where the route leave the hwy, the Skyline Drive Road.
It looks like it rained yesterday, and there are warning about this road when wet, but it is dry and fast along the cottonwood shaded creek, below recently burned hillsides of juniper and high up, scrub oak. Regular debris has washed off those burned hillside, but riding is good for a few miles. The grade gets steeper and rough for 5 miles til I start cresting the plateau. While climbing I pass thru the scrub oak zone and into mixed aspen conifer forest , sometimes lush, sometimes burned. On top, the rolling ridge lines are dotted with groves of aspen, with parklands mosaicing  the ridges and valleys.





It is cool at 9000', and when the few clouds wander between me and ol' Sol, I miss the warm embrace.

Fall is definitely coming, the flowers are winding down, and the skunk cabbage is brown and laying down, with the tell take burnt smell they have as their last hurrah

Once again, there are many hunters and others on their ATVs. Some are bow hunting this weekend, some scouting for future pursuits.

My goal for the day is Beaver Dam Reservoir, but there is no camping there. After exhausting possibilities, I filter water and will climb up higher and look for a camp site. There are many up higher, but the weekend hunter and ATV crowds are plentiful as well.
While filtering, a fishing couple pack up gear and we chat ; they got their limit of rainbows and are amazed at my biking. One of there fathers makes three, and he helps out with  a bottle of water and a couple snacks. Sweet!!.
I filter a half gallon, and bring a spare half gallon to filter at camp. I need to hit the climb and find a spot before it gets too late.

After climbing 6-700"', and passing a few occupied sites disappointments,  I get one on the edge of a fine grove of aspen's, with a couple of ancient sentinels guarding the access.

At 9400 ', I am higher now than I have been yet, but record will stand for a day as tomorrow has me ridng over 10,000', with a high point over 10,800:. I guess I should rest.

Comments

  1. wOwSeptember 8, 2019 at 10:37 PM

    Looks like that high elevation hiking paid off.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DonSeptember 9, 2019 at 8:32 AM

    Dan should be in great shape since our camp at Verdi lakes was well above 12,000 ft.

    ReplyDelete

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