Waking up and still alive. I must admit that I dreamt of cougars circling me in the night. I think I was dreaming. As I heard the few other racers that slept in the cabin starting to stir I started assessing the day and realised I actually got 5 hours of sleep the rain had stopped for now, and I would be able to pack up with out getting any more wet. The tent worked great (Big Agnus one man) as the vestibule, while tiny, was just big enough to store my pack and shoes and my ultralight sleeping pad was minimal but awesome. The pad rolls up to about the size of a coke can. It was about 5:30 am and the sun was breaking out. I just wanted to get going so I just threw my wet gear together. I thought about waiting for Chris to wake up and ride out with him again but once I was packed I couldn't wait and the reality was we all had our different goals and expectations for the day. I needed to get out of the Flathead and I needed all the time I could to get to Eureka. I think I was starting to find the spirit of this race. I was starting to feel a sense of belonging now.
I rolled out about 6 and was relying on the tracks ahead to help me navigate. Not sure what to expect. A couple hours in I ran into Adam repairing a flat. Turns out he picked something up from beside the cabin on the previous night. I guess there were some roofing materials on the ground. Prior to the race he had ridden in from Washington St. to Banff with a friend of his. Crazy.
Today was brutal! I arrived at Cabin Pass. The snow seemed to go on forever and every time I thought I could see the top it continued on. Like a mirage in the desert. I had a hard time making sense of things. Several false flats, even short descents seemed uphill. When I finally got over the top the descent was snowy, wet and slippery initially.
I was running low on food when I was introduced to the wall on the single track extention. Along the river and then a wall of mud that required lifting and pushing and climbing for what seemed to be a quarter mile. Wore me out. This lead me to Galton Pass. This to me was the worst of the snow. the map told me to switch back right and it would be 0.3 miles the Galton Pass. So believing this I ate the last half of my last energy bar and started the trek in the snow. On the way up I noticed parallelling the racer footprints where Grizzly tracks. So hungry and tired was I, that I didn't really care. I couldn't see the bear so right now it wasn't a concern. 0.3 miles came and went. 1 mile came and went and I was still climbing. At this point I did not know how far this was going to go on for so I was looking for sleeping options in the snow. Do I build an igloo? I was starting to go through all the episodes of Man vs. Wild for pointers. So what I decided was to keep moving. Moving kept me warm, moving meant I didn't have to camp with the grizzly and moving meant I may get out of this and find food. Man I was tired. It must have been 3-4 mile of pushing through deep snow before I noticed I was headed down the other side. What a reward! That was the best downhill by far. A little dicey in places and later I was told of a few big crashes by other riders there. It was a blast! Racing down at 40 plus mph it took what felt like 10-15 minutes to go down what took my 4+ hours to go up.
As I approached the highway and then headed for the border I turned noticed an incredible contrast. It was peaceful now. Sunny. I looked back to the hills of Mordor and couldn't believe I made it out of there!
I passed through the border and passed on by a restaurant that I noticed some other racers at. I was hungry but didn't want to stop twice. 10 miles to Eureka and the first warm bed in days, warm food and shower. I felt like a King! I made it 270 miles and counting!
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