I went to sleep in a comfortable 25-ish degrees but woke up very cold with the thermometer saying it was 8 degrees. Sad morning. Since I woke up cold, I decided to hit the road and I was able to see the sun creep down the face of the mountains as it came up which was cool and something I don’t get to see very often.

Today was all about getting the miles down so I can get back home in a descent time. BUT, one thing that I could not pass up was another mining ghost town which offered some pretty interesting sights. It was closed while I was there but apparently, they do tours in the warmer months.

Check out their website for details and this is something I must do if I am ever back out that way.

South Pass City

After the mine I spent a couple of hours on dirt roads with nothing to look at but frozen sage bushes…

Then, I got a flat and had to empty the whole rig to get to the jack. Overall it was a pretty quick change and I was back on the road. All I need now is for the rest of the tires to hold up. Fingers crossed!

Finally, I made it to some good views and found myself riding the valleys watching the mountains pass by and waiting for the next turn to see what amazing view would be revealed next.

I found out that I could only ride the valleys for so long and began climbing up and over mountain passes. Several of these passes crossed the Continental Divide so I had to stop and take pictures. All of these passes were very steep climbs to the top and most of the time it revealed a parking lot and a sign denoting the pass name, elevation, and whether or not it was crossing the Continental Divide. This is a great touch and added a little pep in my step after reaching each peak.

During the whole day I was debating whether or not to take any of my planned routes and kept going back to the fact that I would waste a LOT of time if any of those routes were closed and I’m pretty crunched on time. If you read the day 5 recap, you’ll know that I am being held to a strict timeline by my 4-year-old son. He’s the boss so its gotta happen. Lol. I pushed through the evening and rolled into camp around 7:30. Not too bad.

That is it for the day. Time to do some computer work and hit the bed. I have to plan out tomorrow’s route because I have to be at the end of the trail the day after tomorrow.