You know what the best way to start a ride is after a brutal climb the day before? Descend around two thousand feet in a few miles to start your morning on day two!

It was nice to drop back down below 9,000′ first thing. Today was a fairly easy day of rolling along gravel roads. The only singletrack options took place after we arrived at the hut. So, while day 1 was 28 miles and almost 4,100′ in elevation gain. Today was a modest 27 miles and just over 1,900′ in elevation gain.

Mountain bikes were definitely overkill for today’s ride. I personally was still feeling rather beat up from yesterday, so an “easy” day was totally fine by me. We cycled by many ranches out in the middle of what felt like nowhere. Quite a few properties for sale too. At one point we passed the ranch where True Grit with John Wayne was filmed.

The oddest part of today was during a random roadside stop for snacks and to admire a ranch for sale. A baby deer and mother were bounding through the property parallel to all of us. For some unknow reason the fawn hauled ass right towards Colby and Carl. What the poor little guy didn’t take into account was the barbed wire fence. The fawn nailed the fence at full throttle right into its neck. Colby saw it all happen and the rest of us just heard this awful loud twang of the fence. The poor fawn must have collapsed its throat or broke its spine. It passed away in less than two minutes right in front of Colby and Carl. Seriously one of the strangest things of the whole trip.

The whole group made good time to hut two. Upon arrival one of the SJ Huts employees was restocking and he had brought his dog with him. I’m never one to give up the opportunity to pet a dog when possible so he and I became quick friends.

Matt, Carl and Colby went off to explore the singletrack options for the day. They were able to drop all their gear at the hut and head out for about an hour or so. The rest of us just sat back and enjoyed a quiet and mellow afternoon of lounging around.

The afternoon was comfortable, and the evening was just a bit above cool. We all hit the sack pretty early this night. At one point I got up to pee in the middle of the night and while outside I heard something breathing very loudly in the woods. I flashed my headlamp around and didn’t see any glowing eyes. It was pretty spooky though. A napping bear? Carl confirmed that he heard it too, so it wasn’t just me.

Anyways, day 2 was a straightforward and simple affair. We’d be spending most of the next two days hovering between 8,000 to 9,000′ along a ridgeline.

Day 1 summary here

Thanks for reading,

-Pete