Distance: 34.2 miles
Avg speed: 13.2 mph
Max speed: 32.0 mph
Ascent: 1973 ft
Saddle time: 02:35

I woke up to a cloudy but dry morning! Will be nice packing up a dry tent for once! I told Rick I’d meet him for coffee and breakfast around 8:30AM. So, I quickly packed up and headed to the common area.

I was making my usual freeze dried meal and Rick was brewing some Dunkin donuts coffee. He is a Starbucks guy but friends have told he he should try Dunkin. He said he is kind of a coffee snob and that if he didn’t like it he could blend it in. He opened the package and said it smelled like Folgers! As we were enjoying breakfast a new comer arrived and joined us.

She is on a 4 month hike exploring various areas of Alaska and Canada. She is a park ranger in Utah and has been doing this for 13 years. She is very knowledgeable and full of interesting facts.she mentioned that Utah was considering a bus system much like Denali but decided against it as it was too expensive and would ruin the experience. I can understand that…

I said my goodbyes and thanked Rick for his hospitality. We will try to keep in touch and I shared my blog url. I loaded the panniers and off I went.p

The miles were normal until a gentleman in an RV stopped to inform me of a moose up ahead. I proceeded with caution and captured some photos.

It was total bliss once I reached the paved portion of the road. It felt like an instant boost in speed. I can now finally enjoy the downhills with confidence!

Eventually I rolled up to the visitor center. A few people came over and asked about my ride. A few older gentleman said that seems like a reasonable amount of miles. Clearly these guys had no idea! I said yes, but you’re forgetting about the gravel and the 4000 to 5000 ft of climbing involved. I’m not sure why I bothered…

I went in and immediately approached the only table near the wall with an outlet. I was running low and my backup battery ended this morning. A young German guy was sitting there juicing up his devices so I asked if I could sit and use the other available outlet. He was fine with that.

This young man is van/backpacking with a few friends in Canada and Alaska. He said his buddy had to secure the van as he wasn’t yet 25 so the rental company would rent to him. He saw my ortlieb panniers and asked about my travels. He also said he used to work in a bike shop in Germany and ortlieb was popular there. He didn’t realize they were also available in the US. I wanted to call Swati so I needed to cut the conversation.

I spoke with Swati to let her know I survived the arduous journey down Parks road. It was great hearing her voice and briefly catching up.

I then enjoyed a black bean burger with fries and a soda. It was magical. After about 1.5 hours I headed to the mercantile to do laundry.

As you can imagine my laundry wasn’t smelling very fresh. So, I grabbed a seat in the laundry room and waited our my load. I caught up on my blog and did a little shopping the the store. The lady behind the counter mentioned another store just a little out of my way but had a much larger selection. I’ll hit that for supplies on my to McKinley Creek Cabins..

I had noticed my rear fender had come loose so I popped off the rear tire and while doing so noticed I suffered a small sidewall tear likely from all the gravel riding. Not sure when it shortly happened or how long I’ve been riding like this. This is actually sort of a serious problem. Stupid me didn’t bring any spare folding tires (very dumb considering the terrain) but I did bring some tire boots which are meant to temporarily repair these kinds of injuries. I cleaned it up, applied the patch and reassembled. It looks good but only time will tell if I’ll make it to the nearest bike shop on my route some 180 miles away. I’ll have to keep a keen eye on this one…

After cleaning up I went into the restaurant for some dinner. They a few options that they could make vegan so I went with the stir fry. It was quite yummy. I also indulged in a beer and the drink special! I actually sort of regretted it as I felt a little tipsy afterwards…

Bed is soooooo soft and warm! Been 9 days camping and sleeping on an air mattress in the mummy sleeping bag. Will be nice to Stomach sleep comfortably again! Hopefully the tire issue won’t keep me awake…