Today we rode from the Mountain View RV Park to a dispersed campsite 25km before Bellevue (just before a large climb). The weather was great again, blue skies, with only a few clouds, warm temps, strong winds. Most of the day was on non-paved, a section at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve was paved highway.
Riding statistics: No data available for Tuesday June 4, 2024.
This morning we started our ride around 6:40. No groceries needed, we did that yesterday because I checked the opening hours, and they only open at 8am. Soon after leaving Arco, we already cycled on a good gravel road. We would follow the contours of some mountains without having to climb them. About 2 hours later we arrived at the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. We stopped at some viewpoints to look at the spectacular landscape.
A couple of kilometers after Craters of the Moon, we turned onto a double-track path. It wasn’t used often and there was vegetation on both sides, and in the middle. We also had to be careful of rocks on the path, so, take it easy. Although we didn’t go really fast, I have now, 100 percent sure, driven over a snake. The poor fella was crossing the track we were riding on. In a split second I noticed the snake crossing from left to right. Head in the vegetation at one side, tail at the other side, so I could not see those. I would guess its body had a diameter of about 4cm, and it had beautiful brown and black-ish colors with a nice pattern. I was able to quickly lift the front wheel, but was not able to lift the rear wheel so quickly. The rear wheel went full over the middle of the snake. I am so sorry Mr or Mrs snake. And to make things worse, I shouted ‘snake’ to Fons, but het couldn’t go anywhere but over the snake as well. The rest of the double-track went without issues. Meanwhile the winds had started again and we had to fight them by changing positions over and over again. Today we have been fighting the winds again for several hours.
Eventually the direction changed, and we had the winds from our left side and slightly from behind. That felt much better. We had two options for dispersed camping, and decided to go to the second location, and then decide if we would move onto Bellevue today or pass it tomorrow. It was already 15:45 and when we arrived at the campground. Continuing to Bellevue included a 10km climb, and who knows wat kind of road quality. Add the strong winds to that, and the conclusion was quickly made to stay at the campground for the night. We found a nice spot at the river sides and setup camp. After having our dinner, one of the other camping guests walked by, Jerome. He offered spaghetti and cold drinks. I already had enough food, but Fons can always eat more and enjoyed the spaghetti.
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