54: Valles Caldera
Spent most of the day on the GDMBR, climbing from cholla cactus desert through pygmy piñon pines into proper ponderosa forests.
I gave a steady push in hopes of making it to Cuba, NM, both before the forecasted rain, feeling notably strong on the bike.
Finished the day with a short and quite fun section of CDT into Cuba.
It’s remarkable to me how quickly I’ve gone from worrying about snow storms to keeping an eye out for cactus spikes.
The rain caught me about 45 minutes from Cuba, but fortunately in a section of mostly decomposing granite (see: not death mud).
In Cuba I found the thing that I’ve come to look forward to most in civilization: not beer, not hamburgers, not a hot shower, but a car wash where I can take and clean my bike. Lightened of several pounds of cemented clay, I checked into my motel for the evening and have been watching the rain (flood watch!) ever since.
Listening to: “No Ordinary Times: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: the Home Front in World War II” by Doris Kearns Goodwin