Day 68, September 12, rest day Lima
Day 69, September 13, 82.81km and 671m climb, Lima to Red Hawk Lodge, Red Rock Wildlife Refuge.
After a quiet day off in Lima, where we said farewell to Tommy and Michelle who were continuing on, we woke to clear skies for the first time in weeks, the smoke was largely gone. It was also a fairly warm morning so we were up and away pretty promptly. Today's ride took us onto the Lima Dam road and we rode through more high country ranches as we made our way up to the dam. As we departed Lima we went past a sign that said road closed 12 miles. Being good bikepackers we just rode on past and figured we'd jump that hurdle when we got there. Yep, we found the closed bit with graders and diggers and trucks but just carried on. Everyone seemed to wave us through until the very last person who said 'didn't you see the closed sign'? Oops! Oh well, half the time we see these signs and you get there and noone is working so it's always worth checking out.
From the dam, we skirted the reservoir looking for our intended stopping point at around the 55km mark. The wind had picked up and the spot was very uninviting so we pushed on into the wind knowing we would turn soon enough and the wind would be behind us. Through this section there was also 2km of sand just to keep us on our toes - we were very grateful for our 2.6inch tires!
The next potential stopping spot was also equally uninviting so we carried on with the wind now behind us. Taking advantage of this we pushed on to finish our biggest day of the trip at 82km. This conveniently finished at a lodge which offers cyclist only camping. They also have a dinner bed and breakfast option for $75 which Gordon rapidly agreed to when this was offered! I can't say I'm too disappointed! It was forecast to rain today and although that didn't happen we are anticipating it over night so a night of luxury won't go amiss! In fact, we just counted up and found only 4 nights where we've actually slept in a bed in a bedroom since we started the trip!
Stunning views from the house over the refuge and we had elk for dinner!
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