Start - Stemple pass 6376 ft
High pt approx 6900'
Low pt 4320
End moose creek campground on Rimini Alt 4400
Miles 45.75
Total time 7:45
Ride time 5:40
Climbing 3000' est.
Well I made it on my 1st day. Did have a late start due to road construction delay, misunderestimated shuttle time, and several mis packing adventures of Dans at the put in point ; thus resulted in a crack of 11 start.
The days stats are fairly typical for the GDT, though the riding elevation was convenient entrée to the adventure for this Colorado Springs tourer.
I did cross the divide 3 times today; there is only 1 divide crossing further north that I missed with my Helena starting point.
I will say I was impressed with the ride ability of the route on this day. Bodes well for the future.
I did use the Delorme Earthmate app with the 1 GB of downloaded topo maps to help through some confusing junctions. The maps had the level of detail I needed today.
Rain - had to hide from the rain and lightning 3 times today; twice in the trees and once in an old cabin, which was both welcome and cool. With rain came the inevitable mud, I will need a thorough cleaning before riding sunday.
Another delay found me waiting for trains to pass on a siding. I was eager to do the last climb and start a 1500 foot descent, but just have to take it as its dealt. So I started reading the graffiti on the coal cars, some not friendly to our current green president, one advocated stopping jihad, with mushroom cloud art. Others were more artistic, should have snapped some shots. Will do that next time.
FUBAR
I did do a fubar with my inReach tracking today; I diligently started the tracking at the start, and then mistaken turn the unit off, instead of turning off the display to conserve the battery. But rest assured, I did do my 45 miles and am wicked tired to prove it.
The other fubar is really the 1st equipment failure; I went to retreive my last full water bottle from the back of the BOB, but it was no longer there. Also missing was the cage as it had broken off. I will stop in Helena tomorrow and pick up a new set.
Tomorrow is a tourista day for Glenda and I, and I hope my butt can recover.
