Bannick Park to Lima

(as dictated by Tracy)

It was a long climb from Bannick Park to Medicine Lodge Pass. With constant wind I averaged 5 miles an hour. I and a group of cyclists pull into a dry irrigation ditch next to the driveway to a ranch and underneath the only tree on the whole horizon. We all fell out and fell asleep after biking 20 miles in 4 hours. There are 5 of us there huddled under the narrow piece of shade this tree provides. Two and a half hours later two of the riders decide to go on, and two of us decide to wait until the evening hours. Twenty minutes later a woman from the ranch pulls up and asks if we want to come up to the house to rest. We accept.

At the house we learn a bit about the ranch. They had 30 sq. miles of land. Their little girl wanted to show us her new pony, Elvis. When we got out to the corral several horses were accidentally let out when we let Elvis into a corral. And the rodeo began. They were kicking and running and the lady was trying to catch them. It was a real ranch experience. We were closing gates, opening other gates, trying to corner the ponies. None of them would let us go near them. Eventually we sorted them out until Elvis-pony stood alone in the middle of the corral. The little girl walked right up to him.

After that mess we decided to excuse ourselves. By the time we got to our bikes it was 6:30 in the evening. We finished the pass which took another 3 hours then we had a long winding beautiful downhill in the middle of a moonlit canyon. We stopped several times to shut off our lights to look at the outline of the rocks.

We camped on the side of the road. I woke up to find I had set my tent up in a rock garden. I had a horrible nights sleep. Every twist and turn I made landed me on yet another rock. I woke up in the bottom of a beautiful canyon near a creek, watching an otter playing in the river.

Now it is back onto the road and fighting the wind, back to 6 miles an hour on flat ground, and it is awesome.

This is Tracy at Lima