Life's Better With Shade

Finally, a library that will let me use a computer for more than 15 minutes...well, barely. The last two posts are new, and I added some pictures to the third one down.

I also have one big piece of news to report: I am awesome (Lisa got a full dose of this realization).

After a treacherously awesome ride up through Lassen Volcanic National Park, I have deemed that I can do anything. And I can do it fast.

But first thing's first...

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Day 71:

From Bliss State Park I rode north to a town called Quincy. Very beautiful ride, here are a few pictures from the road:

I got a fairly good night’s sleep quasi-stealth camping outside the town fairgrounds, and was up bright and early to tackle Lassen Mountain in style.

Miles Covered: 110

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Day 72:

This is how it today broke down:

Quincy is at an elevation of 3,500 feet.
From there I descended into a canyon to around 2,500 feet.
For the next 60 miles I climbed to 5,000 feet

Then I saw these:

One of those is Lassen Mountain...and I was going to the top. From here I started up a steep pass to the national park entrance. After I passed through the gate, riding turned a bit hairy. Crazy steep climbing, and barely any room for a bike. As the women at the vistor's center said:

"Be careful, you'll be looking straight into a deadly abyss." Great. Luckily there wasn't too much traffic and California law states that a bike can take up the entire road lane to safe-guard their life. I took full advantage of this.

Check out the road:

Finally reaching the summit at 8,500 feet, I got off my bike and hiked to the real summit at around 10,500 feet. This was one of the most amazing days I’ve had so far. Beautiful scenery, amazing vistas, and an incredible personal challenge.

Oh, and I left Quincy at 7:30 and was at the top of the mountain by 5:00. 90 miles of riding and 2.5 miles of hiking. Not bad, eh?

And this is just a taste of what I saw:

After a leisurely 10 mile decent down to the campground, I pulled in tired and starving. Two bikers from Germany biking down to San Francisco flagged me down and offered to let me stay at their site. Yes please.

Setting up camp, the family next door came over and offered me dinner. I’m starting to like this place...

For the rest of the night, we all hung out by a fire enjoying the cool mountain air at 7,000 feet. The downside? It was COLD. Forget Colorado and Nevada, this was the coldest night of my life. Of course, it was my own fault. I went to bed with minimal layers, and was too lazy to get up and put more on. Live and learn, I was up early anyway.

Miles Covered: 90